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Wolves midfielder Bruno Jordao is expected to seal a loan move to Grasshopper Club Zurich on deadline day, according to a new report.

The Lowdown: Jordao struggling at Wolves

The 23-year-old joined Wanderers from Braga B back in 2019 but he is yet to make any kind of impression at the club.

Jordao has only made five appearances for Wolves to date, having been loaned out to Famalicao in 2020/21, and he played his first Wanderers game of this season in the FA Cup third round clash with Sheffield United earlier this month.

It now looks as though another loan move is on the cards for Jordao, with the deadline day clock ticking down.

The Latest: Loan move expected

According to The Daily Mail, the 5 foot 11 midfielder will join Grasshoppers on a temporary basis prior to the deadline on Monday.

Jordao’s current Wolves deal expires in the summer of 2024, but with each passing month, the more you wonder if he will see out his time at the club.

The Verdict: Possible summer exit?

The signing of Jordao has unquestionably been a failure, with the Portuguese ace never managing to settle and being badly hampered by injury problems, in fairness.

At 23, he can no longer be seen as a young prospect though and he needs to be playing regular football at a key point in his career, making his Grasshoppers move feel logical.

It could be that Lage has seen enough regarding Jordao, potentially selling him for good in the summer transfer window and hoping this temporary stint will do enough to put him in the shop window.

In other news, another late Wolves transfer claim has emerged. Read more here.

West Ham United return to Premier League action this weekend as they look to build on their fine form.

Indeed, David Moyes has steered his side to third in the table after just 11 matches, and now they head to the Midlands to face Wolverhampton Wanderers following the international break.

Last time out, the Irons defeated Liverpool 3-2, but that came at a price after Angelo Ogbonna was ruled out for the season with a devastating ACL injury.

That means the 58-year-old has plenty to ponder about team selection heading into kick-off, so what sort of XI could we see at Molineux today? Here’s what we are predicting…

There could be just the one change to the side which beat Jurgen Klopp’s Reds nearly two weeks ago.

With the Italian colossus on the treatment table for the foreseeable future, Moyes has to decide whether it’ll be Craig Dawson or Issa Diop taking Ogbonna’s place.

The latter could well get the nod, partnering fellow countryman Kurt Zouma in the heart of defence. They are joined by Aaron Cresswell on the left and Ben Johnson on the right as the Scotsman continues to make a big call on the academy gem, leaving Vladimir Coufal on the bench as he misses out again.

They will sit in front of Lukasz Fabianski.

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Further afield, Declan Rice and Thomas Soucel should marshal the midfield. The England international had to withdraw from Gareth Southgate’s recent squad through illness, even if he played against Liverpool with the same issue, but he is expected to be fit and available here today.

Pablo Fornals completes the central area, with Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen on either flank.

Up top, Michail Antonio will continue to lead the line after his goalscoring exploits for Jamaica. He made it back in time courtesy of a private jet from West Ham owner David Sullivan.

Moyes will be relieved to have the £12.5m-rated talisman, recently dubbed a “complete monster” and “absolute revelation” by journalist Paul Brown to GIVEMESPORT, available this afternoon.

AND in other news, Daniel Kretinsky key to West Ham landing key January transfer target…

Manchester United’s winless run in the Premier League extended to three games after they fell to a hugely disappointing 4-2 defeat against Leicester City this afternoon.

The Foxes scored two late goals to snatch a deserved victory against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s charges, with strikes from Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka securing all three points.

In truth, no United player can be proud of their showing at the King Power Stadium, but some members of the back four were particularly disappointing.

Right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka was poor in possession, completing just 50% of his dribbles and failing to pick out a teammate with any of his three attempted crosses, but it was Harry Maguire who really had an afternoon to forget.

The Red Devils captain was returning the starting line-up after being sidelined with a calf injury, and the 28-year-old looked extremely rusty against his former club.

Leicester forward Kelechi Iheanacho dispossessed the centre-back on the edge of his own box after he misjudged the weight of a David de Gea pass, setting up Youri Tielemans for the Foxes’ equaliser after Mason Greenwood had opened the scoring.

However, things went from bad to worse for the England defender. He needlessly put the ball out for a Leicester corner under no pressure in the 78th minute and was unable to clear his lines after the ball had been swung into United’s box leading to Caglar Soyuncu smashing the ball home from close range.

His desperately poor display saw SofaScore award Maguire a match rating of just 6.1 out of 10, the lowest received by any player on the pitch. During the 90 minutes, he won just 56% of his duels, made one error leading directly to a goal and was dribbled past on one occasion, highlighting his underwhelming performance at the King Power Stadium.

Questions will be asked over whether Maguire should have been starting so soon after coming back from an injury, but the 6 foot 3 gem let Solskjaer down against Leicester, piling further pressure on the Norwegian.

In other news… MUFC could secure their next Pogba in “devastating” £74k-p/w gem, Ole would love him 

Antonio Conte could be on the verge of making one of his first mistakes at Tottenham Hotspur after a recent claim emerged about central defender Joe Rodon.

What’s the word?

The 24-year-old Wales international has barely featured under the Italian since his arrival last month, featuring for only 54 minutes against NS Mura in the Europa Conference League, in what was just his fourth start of the season overall.

He was signed from Swansea City a year ago for around £11m and could now look to force an exit this January, in a bid to earn some more minutes on the pitch.

According to Football Insider, the 6 foot 4 colossus is “100 per cent” keen to secure an exit next month. Meanwhile, Spurs are seemingly on the lookout for defensive reinforcements, having been linked to the likes of Inter Milan’s Stefan de Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni, as well as AC Milan’s Alessio Romagnoli.

Now, Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge, who is generally clued up on things behind the scenes at Hotspur Way, has delivered his verdict to GIVEMESPORT. He said:

“As it stands right now, I just get this feeling that Antonio Conte doesn’t think he’s at the level Tottenham need.”

Bad call?

This is a worrying claim as it almost certainly highlights the fact that the 52-year-old isn’t a fan of the Jose Mourinho addition, not at least because of his one start under him and that lasted less than an hour.

It is interesting that Conte will not turn to him despite their mini injury crisis that has seen star centre-back Cristian Romero ruled out for a couple of months heading into the start of 2022.

Rodon features regularly for his country and excelled at Euro 2020 alongside fellow Lilywhites defender Ben Davies, who the Italian has deployed in his back three regularly.

Indeed, the Welshman has played nearly as many times for Rob Page’s Dragons (12) as he has Spurs (16) in 2021.

But it’s a little perplexing as he clearly has a lot to offer and is a more natural centre-back than his compatriot and perhaps an even more reliable option than someone like Davinson Sanchez, who has been regularly lambasted as a “liability” during his time in N17.

Valued at £18m by CIES Football Observatory, Rodon has delivered fine performances for Wales, leading to praise such as “flawless” and him being a “special player” by journalist Ian Mitchelmore.

Meanwhile, in the past, he has been likened to two Premier League greats by Sky Sports’ Andy Hinchcliffe. “You look at Rio Ferdinand and John Terry and there are elements of both in Rodon’s game,” he claimed.

He’s also a player that the Lilywhites faithful have also been very keen to see and some feel that he should be in the starting XI more often, especially with Romero out injured – as seen in reactions relayed by This is Futbol earlier this month, once after the aforementioned Football Insider report and again after he was snubbed from a matchday squad.

They will not be thrilled by this latest update, so with the writing seemingly on the wall for Rodon, Conte could well be about to drop his biggest blunder yet in north London.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Conte: Spurs could form frightening duo with “fearless” £18m-rated beast…

According to a recent report, Tottenham Hotspur will have first refusal for the signing of Gareth Bale this summer due to Daniel Levy’s negotiations.

The report by Eurosport claims that the Tottenham chairman inserted the first refusal clause when negotiating the season-long loan deal of the forward with Real Madrid in last summer’s transfer window.

As a result, should Jose Mourinho wish to do so, Spurs are all but guaranteed to sign the Wales international in the summer market, providing they can reach an agreement with Real Madrid regarding the 31-year-old’s price, with it being reported the La Liga side will ask for between €20m (£17m) and €30m (£26m) to part with the winger.

Transfer Tavern Take

Aside from an abject performance against Arsenal last weekend, in recent fixtures Bale has started to show signs that he can replicate his form of old, bagging four goals and two assists over his last five Premier League fixtures, as well as three goals and one assist over his last five Europa League appearances.

However, with Spurs reported to be paying £240,000 of Bale’s £600,000 weekly wage at Real Madrid, any move permanent move to Tottenham would likely require the 31-year-old to take a rather substantial pay cut.

Despite his aforementioned upturn in form, with Mourinho singling out Bale for his lack of intensity in the North London derby defeat, it could be argued that the Welshman still has a little way to go in convincing the 58-year-old he is worth keeping at the club.

In other news: Tottenham have been sent a warning over Harry Kane – find out more here!

Leeds are heading for a major transfer blunder amid an update on their pursuit of Torino’s Nicolas Nkoulou.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that Marcelo Bielsa’s side are keen on luring the Cameroon international to Elland Road in the summer once his contract with Torino comes to an end.

Now, Italian publication CalcioMercato have delivered a major update on the situation, revealing that contacts between Leeds and the centre-back have become “increasingly intense”.

The report adds that Nkoulou is now “further and further away” from renewing his deal with Torino, and that his exit seems certain this summer.

Radrizzani won’t be happy

If there’s one area of the pitch where Leeds appear to be well-stocked, then centre-back would surely be one of them. When fully fit, the Whites can call upon the likes of Liam Cooper, Robin Koch, Diego Llorente and Pascal Struijk, while Luke Ayling can also fill in there from full-back whenever needed too.

And with academy starlet Charlie Cresswell shining for the U23s and waiting for his chance to impress in the first-team, Leeds would surely be better off turning their attentions elsewhere or promoting the youngster instead of signing Nkoulou.

Not only that, but with Nkoulou set to turn 31 later this month, the defender is hardly someone entering the peak years of his career, and there would be a real question about whether he’d only be coming to the Premier League for one last pay-cheque.

A new centre-back should be the least of Victor Orta’s priorities, and spending big wages on signing an ageing Nkoulou surely won’t have Andrea Radrizzani happy as he looks to run a tight ship financially. It would be an unforgivable mistake from the Leeds hierarchy to be focused on making a move for the 6 foot Cameroon ace this summer.

Meanwhile, Leeds must block a move for this “extraordinary” star…

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville lavished praise on West Ham United centre-back Craig Dawson during the 1-0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. 

The lowdown: Last man standing

With central defensive options Issa Diop, Kurt Zouma and long-term absentee Angelo Ogbonna all sidelined, Dawson was the only recognised choice in David Moyes’ much-changed side to face their London rivals.

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Making up a new-look back three alongside Aaron Cresswell and Ben Johnson, following a drab first half without action in what has previously been a pulsating London derby, the second 45 kicked into gear early on and the Hammers were called into defensive action.

However, the 31-year-old had proved to be more than a match for the attack on more than one occasion prior to being dismissed for hauling down Romelu Lukaku inside the area with just minutes remaining on the clock.

The Evening Standard rated his performance as ‘superb’ being undermined by the red card, with big name Sky pundit Neville joining in on the praise during West Ham’s encounter.

The latest: Neville impressed

Speaking as a co-commentator during Sky Sports’ live coverage, Neville was left in awe of the experienced Englishman’s actions at the 50-minute mark.

“Brilliant from Dawson. All the talk before the game was about Dawson being the only centre-back. He’s the only one they needed in the last minute or two. Two really good blocks.”

Ultimately it wasn’t Dawson’s error that cost the visitors a valuable point as Jorginho missed the resulting spot-kick before moments later Christian Pulisic netted beyond Lukasz Fabianski with West Ham without a recognised centre-back.

Overall the ex-Watford man completed seven clearances, seven blocked shots and won 1/1 (100%) of his aerial duels in a 7.30 rated display despite the red card (Sofascore).

The verdict: Outstanding before dismissal

Dawson has been nothing short of a revelation since arriving at the London Stadium and this was another flawless display from the experienced former England Under 21 international before being given his marching orders late on.

So far this season the Rochdale-born ace has made 44 appearances for Moyes’ side, scoring four times for the Irons as he proves to be equally adept in either penalty area and will be a huge miss whilst suspended.

Albeit the Hammers would’ve welcomed back any of Diop, Zouma and Ogbonna with open arms prior to this clash, Dawson has once again proven that he can be relied upon to marshall a backline successfully – even taking into account the dismissal.

In other news: Agreement reached: ExWHUemployee also has some promising player news for West Ham supporters! Find out more here.

Heung-min Son is “really close” to signing a new long-term contract at Tottenham Hotspur, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.

The Italian appeared on the latest episode of the ‘Last Word on Spurs’ podcast on Thursday evening and claimed that negotiations were going “so well.”

It comes ten days after the Telegraph’s Matt Law revealed that Spurs were confident that the South Korean sensation would sign a new deal despite negotiations rumbling on.

Romano believes that the delay has been down to the current lockdown guidelines in the UK, echoing those thoughts of Law.

Son’s current £140k-per-week contract doesn’t expire until 2024, but it’s thought that this extension would see him scoop a massive pay rise for his fine form over the past year or so.

The £81m-rated winger is set to pocket in the region of £200k-per-week, which puts him in a similar bracket to Harry Kane and Tanguy Ndombele, as per Spotrac.

But you can forget about Kane for now as Son has emerged as the greater threat in recent months – that’s not to undersell the England captain in any form as his new role has completely unshackled his prolific teammate.

Indeed, the duo have formed a lethal partnership in attack, combining for a goal a record-tying 13 times in the Premier League but with Kane often dropping deeper into the hole, it has allowed Son to act as an inside-forward.

The South Korean has currently scored one more goal than Kane in the top-flight this campaign, whilst he also ranks first in the Spurs squad for key passes (1.8) per game, meaning he’s their most creative influence too.

Former Spurs star Raphael van der Vaart also believes Son is of more importance than Kane, he told The Athletic:

“He is the main player for Tottenham. Yes, there’s Kane but I think he’s maybe more important. With his pace he’s such a threat, he creates for himself and his team-mates and can score. When he’s not playing, I believe that is a bigger miss than when Kane’s not there.”

That is exactly why he deserves every bit of that new contract and this news will surely leave manager Jose Mourinho just as happy as the Hotspur faithful.

The ‘Special One’ has lauded Son countless times since taking the helm in November 2019 – after thrashing Southampton 5-2, Mourinho claimed the attacker was “on fire,” whilst he labelled the duo “animals” after a north London derby victory.

Although the most glowing endorsement was in him lauding Son a “world-class” player.

The “untouchable” monster is set to be a Spurs player for the foreseeable future and in Mourinho’s quest to bring silverware to N17, that could prove to be a game-changer.

AND in other news, Levy can repeat his Reguilon masterstroke with another shrewd raid…

Former Premier League manager Lawrie Sanchez has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that he believes Steve Bruce will stay on at Newcastle next season.

Bruce recently told talkSPORT that he never came close to leaving but has faced several problems on and off the pitch during a challenging campaign at St James’ Park.

Not to mention the failed takeover bid, the Magpies have suffered some major injuries to key players, whilst the head coach was involved in a training ground bust-up with experienced midfielder Matt Ritchie.

Despite those setbacks, Bruce masterminded Newcastle to Premier League safety once again, and even picked up the April Premier League Manager of the Month award for his efforts following impressive results against Tottenham, West Ham and Liverpool before their recent victory at Leicester all but secured their topflight status.

Newcastle continued their improvements against Manchester City on Friday, although this time it didn’t show in the points column, but a strong end to the campaign could still result in a higher bottom-half finish.

And Lawrie told The Transfer Tavern that the 60-year-old will still be there next term:

“I don’t think he will call it a day. He’s near 1000 games. He’s done a cracking job at keeping them up there.

“He will always get a job because he will always get you promoted or keeps you up – that’s his forte.

“Being a Newcastle boy, he would like to be given a chance with a bit of money to spend, but as we all know, we saw it with West Ham, they get rid of the English manager and bring in a foreigner to spend it and then have to go back to the English manager to sort out the problem afterwards. I would imagine that’s what will happen with Newcastle.”

Aston Villa must go back in for Norwich City star Emi Buendia this summer amid a major transfer update from Sky Sports.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent weeks and months have suggested that the Argentine is a target for Dean Smith’s side, with Buendia helping to fire the Canaries back into the Premier League for next season.

Sky Sports have now claimed that both Villa and top-flight rivals Arsenal are ready to renew their interest in the diminutive playmaker, with both clubs making enquiries about potentially signing him this summer.

The report added that Smith “has a long-standing interest in Buendia since first switching to Villa from Brentford”.

Imagine him and Grealish

The £20,000-a-week earner has enjoyed a tremendous season for the Canaries, scoring 15 goals and providing an incredible 17 assists in the Championship alone.

His teammate Max Aarons has raved about Buendia’s abilities, saying: “He’s not really a player who will get on the ball and take you on as a full-back. His game is more about getting into pockets, playing neat passes and creating things.

“When you’ve got someone, who wants to run at you, then it’s easier to lock them down whereas someone like him is quite intricate so it’s hard to get near him. He’s tenacious and very strong. He’s got a lot of attributes.”

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Dubbed as a “very special talent” by Norwich’s Ben Gibson, Buendia would bring the kind of creativity and goal threat from midfield which Villa probably thought they were getting from Ross Barkley when they signed him on loan from Chelsea last year.

Partnering him alongside Jack Grealish would give Villa a legitimate twin threat which could provide constant ammunition for Ollie Watkins to convert into goals. The club captain has 12 assists to his name this season, while the ex-Brentford striker has 16 goals, illustrating how fruitful they can be in tandem with one another.

Adding Buendia’s creativity into the mix is truly a mouth-watering prospect.

Meanwhile, Villa are eyeing a summer move for this Scottish star…