Celtic have now been approached with the chance to sign a Premier League striker who could become Wilfried Nancy’s first arrival, according to reports.
Nancy delivers "honest" response to Celtic criticism
It’s been a tough start for Nancy at Celtic, who lost their first game under the Frenchman against title rivals Hearts last time out. One image, one tactics board and one defeat have already raised concerns around Glasgow, but the new manager has been quick to point out that he won’t pay attention to such criticism.
The Celtic manager told reporters: “People deserve the right to talk. I’m going to dress one way, maybe they are going to say that they don’t like the way I dress, so I don’t waste time on that.
“If I use it [the tactics board], it’s because it’s good for me. Simple as that and I’m not saying that I’m going to use it all the time.
“I’m going to be really honest with you. When I decided to become a coach – sorry, when I had the opportunity to become a coach – I was an assistant coach for seven years, so I worked with many coaches. I always told myself that when you become a coach, cut everything. So this is what I did.”
Celtic star was "set to" leave, now he could be the new Tierney under Nancy
This Celtic star who was set to leave the club in the summer could emerge as Wilfried Nancy’s own Kieran Tierney.
ByDan Emery 6 days ago
It doesn’t get any easier for Nancy, either. Up next, Celtic square off against AS Roma in the Europa League tonight and could get the chance to see Evan Ferguson in action for themselves ahead of a potential January move.
Celtic offered chance to sign Evan Ferguson
As reported by TeamTalk, Celtic have now been contacted with the chance to sign Ferguson, with Roma increasingly likely to cut his loan spell short in Italy.
The Brighton & Hove Albion forward was once valued at as much as £100m, but is now in the most difficult moment of his career after scoring just once in 14 games at Roma.
The Republic of Ireland forward now needs the Hoops just as much as they need the best version of him in January, as they aim to come from behind and retain their Scottish Premiership crown.
At his very best at Brighton, Ferguson was never short on praise with the Premier League’s record goalscorer, Alan Shearer, among those who had plenty of positives to say in 2023.
Two years on, the 21-year-old may be out of form, but the potential is still there and Celtic should look to take full advantage in the winter window next month.
£5m Celtic star is one of their biggest wastes of money since Albian Ajeti
Nearly one full year from his last Major League game on May 26, 2024 when he tore his left ACL, Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. is set to make his season debut on Friday night against the San Diego Padres.
The Braves plan to activate Acuña from the 60-day injured list ahead of the weekend series to set up his season debut. He was a healthy scratch for Triple A Gwinnett on Thursday night, signaling that Acuna was nearing a return to the big leagues.
Acuña's last full season in 2023 resulted in the outfielder batting .337 with 41 home runs, 106 RBI and 73 stolen bases. He was named the unanimous National League MVP.
The Braves star will look to return to prior form when he takes the field on Friday for the first time in nearly a full calendar year.
Harris strained her calf in the final ODI against India on Saturday while fielding
Alex Malcolm23-Sep-2025Australia batter Grace Harris has been ruled out of the upcoming ODI World Cup due to a calf strain, with Western Australia allrounder Heather Graham called up to replace her.Harris injured her calf while fielding in the final ODI of the three-match series against India in Delhi on Saturday. It was the only match that Harris played in the series having been called in when Annabel Sutherland was ruled out with hip soreness.Harris was unlikely to be in Australia’s first-choice XI at the start of the World Cup but was a key reserve player given her lower-order hitting ability. She may have played a part in the tournament as Australia do have some injury issues. Sutherland’s hip soreness was the latest niggle to crop up after Phoebe Litchfield missed the last two matches of the ODI series with a quad issue and Darcie Brown suffered back spasms.Sophie Molineux was unavailable for the entire series as she is still working to full fitness coming off her major knee injury. Georgia Wareham is coming off a groin and adductor strain that saw her miss the Hundred and skipper Alyssa Healy is on return from her major foot problems but both got through all three matches against India.Graham, 28, has only played one ODI for Australia back in 2019 but has been part of many squads since. However, she has not played an international since the last of her five career T20Is in September last year.
Old Firm weeks are never quiet in Glasgow, but this one has been off the scale.
On Monday night, completely out of the blue, Brendan Roders resigned as Celtic manager, not the first time he has abruptly departed the club, despite reiterating “without any avoidance of doubt, I will be here next year 200%” following last season’s Premiership title was clinched at Tannadice in April.
However, in the intervening six months, plenty has clearly changed, with owner Dermot Desmond releasing a scathing statement against Rodgers following his resignation, blaming him for creating a ‘toxic atmosphere around the club that had fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team’ and describing the manager’s actions as ‘divisive, misleading, and self-serving’.
Fair to say, he’s probably not returning for a third time!
With Martin O’Neill back in interim charge for now, ahead of Sunday’s Glasgow derby at Hampden, all eyes are on who will be the next appointment, so should the board target a manager currently coaching in the Champions League?
Whether Ange Postecoglou could return to Celtic
Of course, the populist appointment would be to re-hire Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian is out of work following his ill-fated 39 days in charge of Nottingham Forest, but is still ultra-popular in Glasgow’s East End, having won five trophies across two seasons in charge of the club, turning the team around after Rangers had won the Premiership title by 25 points the year before.
However, Lyall Thomas of Sky Sports reports that a Postecoglou return to Parkhead is ‘very unlikely’ as he seeks to take a break from football, but would he actually be the right appointment anyway?
Well, Celtic do love re-hiring managers, with Neil Lennon, Rodgers and now O’Neill all given second stints; since 2000, only seven men have managed Celtic, three of which have had multiple spells.
However, despite Europa League glory in May, thereby ending Spurs’ infamous trophy draught, Postecoglou’s reputation may be seriously damaged, considering he’s lost 31 of his last 48 Premier League matches, accumulating just 45 points across this period, his teams conceding 91 goals.
So, rather than looking to the past, seeking to recapture former glories, Desmond, Peter Lawwell and Michael Nicholson should look forwards and target a “workaholic”.
Celtic should target Champions League-level manager
Plenty of managers have been linked with the vacancy in the past few days, including Kieran McKenna, Robbie Keane, Craig Bellamy and Kjetil Knutsen, but Nicky Hayen is surely the outstanding candidate on the radar so far.
As per the aforementioned Sky Sports report, Hayen is a figure that the Parkhead hierarchy are currently ‘tracking’, albeit with it yet to be seen if they will be able to prise him mid-season.
The 45-year-old has been a coach for over a decade, holding a variety of managerial and assistant roles, including briefly being the manager of Haverfordwest County in the Cymru Premier, winning six of 11 games in charge of the Bluebirds from Pembrokeshire.
He then took the job as Club Brugge’s youth team manager, before becoming their senior head coach on an interim basis when former Celtic boss Ronny Deila was sacked in March 2024.
Well, during his caretaker stint, he won nine of 14 matches, losing only once, leading the Blue-Blacks to the Conference League semi-finals and clinching the Jupiler Pro League title on the final day.
This earned him the job on a permanent basis, and his record at Jan Breydelstadion is very impressive.
Hayen at Club Brugge
Stats
Hayen at Brugge
Matches
93
Wins
57
Draws
19
Defeats
17
Goals scored
183
Goals conceded
100
League points
132
League points per game
2.13
2024/25 league finish
2nd
UCL matches
15
UCL wins
6
UCL best finish
Round of 16
All stats via Transfermarkt
As the table notes, since winning the Belgian league title during his interim spell, he has continued to rack up domestic victories, beating Anderlecht 2-1 in May’s Coupe de Belgique Final in Brussels, albeit they were pipped to the league title by Royale Union Saint-Gilloise on the final day.
Meantime, in the Champions League, thanks to wins over Sturm Graz, Aston Villa and Sporting, as well as a hotly-contested 1-1 draw at Parkhead, Club Brugge reached the knockout stages last season, springing a major surprise by dumping out Atalanta, before eventually falling at Villa Park in the round of 16.
All of this has earned Hayen high praise, with Rob Edwards, chairman of Haverfordwest, labelling him a “workaholic”, adding that he favours a possession-based style, delighted that his club is associated with ‘undoubtedly one of the hottest properties in the world of football’.
Meantime, Will Unwin of the Guardian documents how Hayen does ‘not change his philosophy’, wanting to ‘keep the ball and pass through opponents’, with Jack Chippendale of Total Football Analysis praising his tactical masterclass in Bergamo last year.
To start this Champions League campaign, Club Brugge claimed a result Celtic supporters would have enjoyed, demolishing Rangers 9-1 on aggregate in the play-off round, before commencing the league phase with a 4-1 annihilation of Monaco.
This European pedigree will certainly catch the eye of the decision makers at Celtic Park, considering the Hoops’ lack of continental victories over the last two decades and more.
Of course, getting Hayen out of Brugge certainly will not be easy, especially mid-season, but this would surely be a slam-dunk appointment, with the 45 year old very much on the up, while the same surely cannot be said of Postecoglou, despite how popular he will forever be.
Rodgers upgrade: Celtic have "kamikaze" title-winning manager on the radar
Celtic have a manager on their radar who could come in as a big upgrade on Brendan Rodgers.
Wednesday night saw Arsenal pick up their second win in as many Champions League games this season.
Was it the perfect performance? No, probably not, but Mikel Arteta made a slew of changes to the lineup, and on another night, they could have scored a handful more goals.
Moreover, several starters really shone, including David Raya, Martin Zubimendi, and, even though he didn’t score, Viktor Gyokeres looked lively.
However, when it comes to the man of the match, it’s hard to look past Martin Odegaard, who, unlike one of his teammates, has undoubtedly played himself into the lineup for West Ham United.
Arsenal's best player vs Olympiacos
It would be fair to say that, following his ankle injury, last season was one to forget for Odegaard.
The Arsenal captain looked a shell of his former self for the best part of a year, so much so that plenty of fans and pundits alike began to doubt his quality and ability to get back to his best.
Now, it’s certainly still early doors in that respect, but the Norwegian looked great in his cameo against Newcastle United on Sunday, and then took things up another level against Olympiacos on Wednesday.
According to content creator Connor Humm, the Gunners’ number eight showed a version of himself that “has been absent too long” and was “sensational.”
It would be hard to disagree, as for much of the first half and moments of the second, he seemed to be constantly playing perfect balls through the Greek side’s defence and got his rewards with an assist for Bukayo Saka’s strike.
The Drammen-born star was so effective that the Standard’s Simon Collings gave him a 9/10 match rating at full-time, writing that he ‘looked so sharp and played some majestic through-balls’.
Such high praise is more than justified by his statistics, as in his 95 minutes of action, the 26-year-old amassed a combined expected goal and assists figure of 1.65, took 86 touches, played four key passes, was accurate in seven of ten long balls, took one shot on target, completed 100% of his dribbles and made one clearance.
Minutes
95′
Expected Goals
0.72
Expected Assists
0.93
Assists
1
Key Passes
4
Touches
86
Long Balls (Accurate)
10 (7)
Shots on Target
1
Dribbles (Successful)
1 (1)
Clearances
1
Tackles
1
In short, it was the kind of performance that has to see him keep his place for the weekend, which is the opposite for another starter.
Arsenal's worst player vs Olympiacos
While most of the team played well, some starters, such as Ben White and Gabriel Martinelli, were not particularly impressive, despite the latter’s goal.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
However, it would be hard to deny that the most disappointing display in red and white on Wednesday night came from Leandro Trossard.
The Belgian international retained his place in the starting lineup from the Newcastle game, but unfortunately, he was even less effective than he had been in that match.
In fact, if there is one word to describe the 30-year-old’s display against the Greek outfit, it would be frustrating.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion star kept finding himself in promising positions, but time and time again, he’d waste the moment, either through a wayward shot or a poor pass.
Collings felt similarly about the winger, giving him a rather generous 6/10 match rating and writing that he ‘wasted’ his fair share of chances.
Unsurprisingly, his statistics tell a similar story: in 73 minutes of action, he amassed a combined expected goal and assists figure of 0.48 but failed to produce either, took 48 touches but completed just 17 passes, lost 50% of his duels, lost the ball 14 times, and was dribbled past twice.
Minutes
73′
Expected Goals
0.44
Goals
0
Expected Assists
0.04
Assists
0
Passes
17/25 (68%)
Touches
48
Long Balls (Accurate)
4 (2)
Shots on Target
1
Lost Possession
14
Duels (Won)
12 (6)
Dribbled Past
2
It was a performance that did little to dispel the idea that the 5 foot 8 ace is far better coming off the bench than starting games.
Therefore, while it might seem harsh, Arteta should look to drop Trossard for the upcoming game against West Ham.
Not Mosquera: Arsenal have signed a Gabriel & Saliba hybrid in £45m "beast"
The international star could be a game-changer for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta this season.
Chelsea are now looking to sign an “outstanding” experienced centre-back who’s won 11 trophies, having struggled defensively at times this season.
Blues fall to ninth after Sunderland setback
Enzo Maresca has been forced to contend with a number of injury problems already this season, with the manager particularly light on options in defence, given the absence of Levi Colwill and Benoit Badiashile, who are both set to be out for quite some time.
Colwill is a long-term absentee, having suffered an ACL injury in the summer, while Maresca has confirmed Badiashile won’t be back for another couple of months, saying: “Benoit will be out until December. He is injured again with a muscle problem. He was doing fantastic, showing how good he is, and we will wait for him.”
That said, the manager is still likely to be concerned by just how susceptible his team have been to conceding chances, with Nottingham Forest missing four big opportunities and hitting the woodwork last weekend.
The Blues got away with it against Forest, but Sunderland made them pay on Saturday, with the Black Cats emerging as 2-1 winners at Stamford Bridge, which means the hosts have fallen to ninth in the Premier League table.
As such, Maresca may need to bolster his backline if Chelsea are to transform into title contenders, and they are now looking to sign Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano, who is facing an uncertain future at the Allianz Arena.
That is according to a report from CF Bayern, which states the west Londoners want to sign Upamecano in 2026, at which point his contract with the German club will have expired, having been unable to agree a new deal.
Chelsea now join race to sign "hugely impressive" £70m Champions League forward
A new forward has emerged as a target for the Blues.
ByDominic Lund Oct 26, 2025
With the Blues potentially looking to offload ‘bomb squad’ member Axel Disasi, a new centre-back could be brought in to replace him, and the Bayern defender has been identified as a target, although there could be competition from Real Madrid.
"Outstanding" Upamecano could be exactly what Maresca needs
Jamie Carragher has made it clear just how much he disagrees with BlueCo’s recruitment policy of signing young players, saying: “Chelsea should be title contenders and considered Champions League challengers this season. Instead, their hierarchy seems content to be praised for being the smartest recruiters in the business – the world’s richest development club.”
In fairness, while Chelsea did win the Club World Cup in the summer, the model is yet to translate to success in the Premier League, and more experienced players are arguably needed if they are to become title contenders.
As such, the “outstanding” France international, as lauded by Joshua Kimmich, could be exactly what they need, given that he is experienced at the top level, winning 11 major trophies throughout his career, and the 27-year-old’s passing ability indicates he could be an ideal fit in a Maresca system.
Statistic
Average per 90 (past year)
Passes attempted
89.32 (99th percentile)
Pass completion %
93.4% (96th percentile)
Progressive passes
6.39 (95th percentile)
The £168k-a-week star’s potential availability on a free transfer is an added bonus for Chelsea, who clearly need greater strength in depth at the back, given that 19-year-old Josh Acheampong has emerged as a regular starter.
Manchester United are keen to compete on all fronts and could now look to add an experienced full-back to their ranks who could push Patrick Dorgu for his starting spot.
Manchester United look to balance youth and experience
The Red Devils are a club that has always taken pride in developing youngsters from their academy. Balancing the growth of young players with some experienced older heads to learn from will be their best chance of long-term success at Old Trafford.
With that in mind, Manchester United fans will be delighted to hear that Shea Lacey was called into England’s senior squad training before their clash against Wales, and England Under-20 coach Ben Futcher spoke to BBC Sport about the impact he feels the step up can have on his development.
He said: “We have looked after Shea and helped him get some minutes. He is a top talent, has reconnected with the group and I thought he performed really well. I am sure Manchester United have a good plan for him. Hopefully he can stay injury free and fulfil that potential.”
JJ Gabriel and Samuel Lusale are among other promising Manchester United academy gems hoping to one day make their senior breakthrough, and it appears that they are willing to give youngsters a chance.
Patrick Dorgu comes into that conversation under different circumstances since his move from Lecce in January. Nevertheless, the 20-year-old has made seven appearances in all competitions this season, completing four full matches in the Premier League.
Despite his emergence as a positive source of energy on the left-hand side of Ruben Amorim’s backline, he won’t be expected to play every game this season, which could pave the way for a positional competitor to arrive at Old Trafford.
Ruben Amorim pushing to sign Federico Dimarco for Man Utd
According to Inter Live, Manchester United are pushing to sign Inter defender Federico Dimarco, who is into the final two years of his £142,500 per week contract at San Siro.
Amorim is considered the man behind the effort to recruit the Italy international, and their involvement in persuading him to move to England is reportedly complicating the Nerazzuri’s bid to have him extend his contract.
£18m per year Man Utd star who regretted Old Trafford transfer set to leave
Should the Red Devils try and keep him?
ByHenry Jackson Oct 13, 2025
Earning 33 caps for his country, Dimarco has registered 20 goals and 37 assists in 198 appearances for the Serie A giants, establishing himself as a key goal threat and presence on the left flank.
Two strikes and three assists in eight outings this campaign has elevated his stock once more, and he may well be the ideal candidate to offer competition to Dorgu after Luke Shaw’s move into a left-sided centre-back role.
Either way, this transfer saga may be one to keep an eye on as Manchester United probe the market for reinforcements to strengthen under Amorim.
Wolverhampton Wanderers are already pressing ahead in their efforts for the January transfer window and could now have an avenue to landing a key target, according to a report.
Wolves look for stability after rocky Premier League start
Undoubtedly, Wolves have work to do under Vitor Pereira if they want to avoid being dragged into a scrap this campaign after a poor run of early-season results.
Three straight Premier League losses against Manchester City, Bournemouth and Everton have left the Old Gold rooted to the bottom of the table, albeit executive chairman Jeff Shi is confident that stability will come in the form of results sooner rather than later.
“Wolves need stability now – we need a coach to stay here and help us for a long time. Every coach needs time and the jigsaw to be made. We should give the coach enough time and the players he needs to prepare for the season.
“I feel the more important thing to define this season is the squad and the coach, the chemistry and the unity. If you have that foundation, you will have a strong season. If you don’t, maybe you have a doubt. Before Vitor came the team chemistry had some problems. This year that issue is gone. We have a strong team spirit and a very committed team structure.”
Tolu Arokodare’s late arrival from Genk has offered a much-needed forward option to work with alongside the likes of Jorgen Strand Larsen. However, missing out on Josh Brownhill despite talks with the former Burnley midfielder was an unfortunate turn of events.
Late on, Wolves also failed with a £30 million bid to sign Middlesbrough star Hayden Hackney, but they may be about to complete a return swoop for another one of their targets during the summer window.
Wolves target Christos Mandas could be sold in January
According to Corriere dello Sport, Wolves target Christos Mandas is likely to be sold by Lazio in January after losing his spot as their number one goalkeeper to Ivan Provedel. During the window, the Old Gold submitted a bid worth over £17 millon for the Greece international, who kept six clean sheets in 20 appearances last term.
Wolves' most expensive signings of all time
Football FanCast takes a detailed look at Wolves’ 10 most expensive signings of all time.
By
Charlie Smith
Sep 5, 2025
Unhappy to become a deputy for the entirety of the campaign, Mandas is waiting for his chance, though may be forced into considering other options if Provedel remains in front of him for the foreseeable future.
Lazio are open to selling the 23-year-old for significant financial gain, opening up an opportunity for Wolves to pitch a vision of Premier League football to the Serie A star.
Maintaining a 74.3% save percentage in the Italian top-flight across 2024/25, it remains to be seen if Pereira can tempt the talented goalkeeper to the West Midlands once the January window opens.
Daniel Gidney believes ECB should incentivise India to allow their men’s players to feature in tournament
Matt Roller23-Apr-2025
Phil Salt walks out to open the batting for Manchester Originals•Nathan Stirk/ECB via Getty Images
Lancashire’s chief executive believes that the ECB should offer the BCCI a minority stake in the Hundred if it wants to attract Indian men’s players to the tournament. Active Indian men’s players are not granted No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to play leagues outside of the IPL, and Daniel Gidney believes that “aligning interests” is the only way to prompt a change of policy.Gidney travelled to India last week to meet with the RPSG Group, who are finalising a deal which will see them acquire a 70% stake in Manchester Originals and run the franchise as a joint-venture with Lancashire. The ECB’s extended deadline for incoming investors to sign participation agreements is the end of April, with documents in the final stages of legal drafting.Several Indian women have played in the Hundred, including Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur, but no men. Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, said that attracting Indian men’s players was “not priced into our plans” and that the BCCI’s stance is “very clear”, but Gidney believes an ownership interest in the Hundred could change their minds.”I think it’s possible,” Gidney told ESPNcricinfo. “If I was the ECB, I’d be talking about perhaps bringing the BCCI in as a minority ownership partner in the tournament as a whole. If you do that, then you are aligning interests. That is probably your best chance of getting [Indian men’s] players in the Hundred. It comes down to the will, and the individuals on both sides.”The BCCI have been really successful with protecting their brand and by making sure they don’t plan any T20 tournaments anywhere in the world… If I was the BCCI, then I would have to say I would need a significant incentive to relax the current policy because that has been extraordinarily successful and has grown the IPL into the massive commercial entity that it is.”Gidney believes that Lancashire – and, by extension, the Originals – are better placed than most teams to attract Indian players. “We’ve probably had more Indian overseas players than any other county,” he said. “When you have VVS Laxman at the NCA, who [Lancashire director of cricket] Mark Chilton captained, then you have strong relationships all the way through.”It’s all about relationships between stakeholders… If you build a relationship with the BCCI and understand the types of players that they see as potential future Test players, that’s a lot easier than putting in an NOC request saying ‘We’d like to see Virat Kohli or Rishabh Pant playing in the County Championship.'”More immediately, Gidney believes that English teams will play exhibition fixtures against IPL franchises. “That’s the first step,” he said. “Imagine having an LSG vs Delhi Capitals game here at Emirates Old Trafford – at the end of the season, say in September. That could be pretty mega, in terms of the Indian fans in the UK. It would make commercial sense for everybody.”The Originals have already used their link with the Super Giants to sign Noor Ahmad (as their top draft pick) and Heinrich Klaasen (as a direct signing) for the Hundred in 2025, with both players representing the RPSG Group in the SA20. Gidney predicts that IPL players representing the same franchise worldwide will become increasingly common.Related
Harry Brook to shelve franchise cricket as England captain
James Anderson undrafted for 2025 men's Hundred
Gould: Hundred IPL links won't affect Pakistan player involvement
Hundred sale process encounters delay over future TV rights
“When an overseas player gets bought at auction in the IPL, and that’s locked in for three years via retentions, then it just makes commercial sense for that player to then potentially play for Durban, for Manchester, and also potentially for Lancashire in the Blast … It’s a lot more efficient, and it could become a lot more straightforward.”Gidney attended LSG’s home game against Chennai Super Kings while in India, and believes that the ECB can learn from the IPL when it comes to event presentation. “At their opening home game, they had a concert. There’s far more you can do with pyrotechnics and lights shows, and the way they use flags and replica shirts is very different to UK cricket.”But having eight investor-owned teams will encourage innovation. The ECB have done a really good job of creating this acquisition product, but they’ve had to do things in a pretty vanilla way for eight teams. They currently have eight identical DJ booths, which are all quite big: it kills about 3000 seats in the stadium here. It could now take up about one-third of that.”Lancashire’s decision to retain a 30% stake in the Originals, rather than the 51% that several other host counties have kept, will enable them to pay down bank debt and invest in facilities but has prompted questions about their level of control over the franchise. Gidney insists that he has no concerns on that front.”Control means ten different things to ten different people,” he said. “We have a joint-venture operations agreements, so effectively, we are running the team on a 50-50 basis. And then in the shareholders’ agreements, as long as you have above 25% – which we do – you get minority protection, which means that we can have some general reserved matters.”We’ve done the JV ops agreement, we’ve got a very robust shareholders’ agreement, and we’ve got good reserved matters. But all of these things are for the bottom drawer, because if you need to pull that out, then you’ve got a problem. The key is being able to trust your partner that you are working together… Chemistry is really important, and we’ve got that with RPSG.”
It might sound a little hyperbolic, but it feels like West Ham United are currently in a crisis.
Graham Potter’s side have lost all three of their games so far, and while they’ve scored three goals, they’ve conceded a whopping 11.
It’s crystal clear that the East Londoners are in desperate need of quality reinforcements who can help make them a far tougher proposition to play against if they are to still be playing Premier League football next year.
WestHamUnited manager GrahamPotter and assistant manager Bruno Saltor
Fortunately, it appears that the club are incredibly close to bringing in someone who could be just what they need and the perfect teammate for the promising El Hadji Malick Diouf.
West Ham close in on the perfect teammate for Diouf
Arguably, the area of the team West Ham are most in need of reinforcing before the window closes next week is in the midfield.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
The middle of the park was already looking a little weak at the start of the summer, but with Edson Alvarez now in Turkey, Potter and Co are in serious need of fresh legs and quality.
Not only do the Hammers need someone who can help with the offensive side of things, but someone who can come straight into the side and make them a nightmare to play against.
Fortunately, it appears that the East Londoners are incredibly close to signing a player who would not only fit that description, but also be able to get more out of fellow summer signing Diouf.
At least that is according to a recent update from Sky Sports’ Lyall Thomas, who has revealed that West Ham are closing in on Soungoutou Magassa.
Furthermore, Thomas has confirmed that the young Frenchman will be flying into London on Wednesday to undergo a medical ahead of his £17.3m move from AS Monaco, a switch that Thomas suggests is set to be done in the “next 24-48 hours”.
Magassa might not be a household name, but he looks like just the sort of player West Ham need at the moment, and someone who could get even more out of Diouf.
Why Magassa would be a dream signing for Diouf
The first and most significant reason Magassa could help get even more out of Diouf is the same reason he’d be a brilliant teammate for the rest of the West Ham team: his defensive and athletic qualities.
For example, even though he can play in central midfield and at centre-back, he’s been at his best in recent seasons playing as a defensive midfielder, where he can utilise both to break up play and harry opposition attackers.
You can best see how elite he is at the defensive side of the game through his underlying numbers.
According to FBref, he ranks in the top 2% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues for tackles plus interceptions, tackles in the middle third, and dribblers challenged, as well as the top 6% for passes blocked and more, all per 90 minutes.
In other words, the 21-year-old could be trusted to do the bulk of the defensive work for the Irons, which in turn would allow Diouf more opportunities to maraud down the wing and supply the frontline with chance after chance from his brilliant crosses.
Paris St Germain's Ousmane Dembele in action with AS Monaco's SoungoutouMagassa
Yet, there is another way in which the Monaco ace would be able to help get more out of the Senegalese gem: his passing ability.
On top of being a defensive monster in the middle of the park, the “elegant” Frenchman, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, is also far more accomplished with the ball at his feet than you might imagine.
Dribblers Tackled
1.88
Top 1%
Ball Recoveries
7.59
Top 1%
Tackles (Mid 3rd)
1.81
Top 2%
Dribbles Challenged
3.62
Top 2%
Tkl+Int
5.22
Top 2%
Tackles
3.48
Top 3%
Interceptions
1.74
Top 4%
Passes Blocked
1.39
Top 6%
Switches
0.77
Top 7%
Through Balls
0.42
Top 10%
Blocks
1.74
Top 10%
Successful Take-Ons
1.11
Top 12%
Tackles (Def 3rd)
1.25
Top 14%
Touches (Mid 3rd)
42.70
Top 14%
Passes into Final Third
5.78
Top 18%
Tackles Won
1.60
Top 18%
In fact, respected analyst Ben Mattinson has praised him for his “forward-thinking mindset” and his impressive ability to “spray passes wide out to the wings,” which suggests he would be able to find the former Slavia Prague ace with ease.
Once again, we can see skills in 6 foot 2 titan’s underlying numbers, as FBref ranks him in the top 7% for switches and the top 10% for through balls per 90.
Ultimately, West Ham appear to be making an excellent signing in Magassa, as not only will he add some defensive steel to the midfield, but he will also allow Diouf to flourish out wide.
After Magassa: West Ham keen on signing their best CM since Rice for £9m
As West Ham United search for midfield reinforcements, could an £9m star who “moves like a god” become the Hammers’ best since Declan Rice?