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Recently appointed Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper has revealed that he wants to play attacking football at the City Ground.

What’s been said?

In an open letter to Nottingham Forest fans shared on the club website, Cooper revealed that one of his first goals is to get Forest playing creative and attacking football, as well as suggesting that his ultimate ambition is to reinstate the Reds as a Premier League side.

The 41-year-old went on to state that he plans to work closely with the club’s academy setup, as he believes it is important to keep a regular flow of young players pushing for a first-team place at the City Ground.

Music to the ears of fans

Considering the general trend of Nottingham Forest in recent years, with Chris Hughton often coming under fire for his defensively minded style of play, as well as the club signing large quantities of older players on relatively big contracts in the past few seasons, in addition to results on the pitch being nowhere near good enough, the fact that Cooper appears to be a manager who is very much the opposite of Hughton in many regards is sure to delight fans of the club.

Indeed, with Cooper achieving back to back top six Championship finishes with a Swansea City side that boasted a number of impressive young players, should the 41-year-old be able to repeat this feat with Forest, he will certainly go a long way to winning the club’s fanbase over.

And, while getting a team who are only off the bottom of the Championship table as a result of Derby County’s 12 point deduction playing creative and attacking football is easier said than done, the fact that Cooper has stated his desire to do so will undoubtedly come as music to the ears of the Garibaldi fans, who have suffered for far too long in the second tier of English football.

In other news: Journalist reveals NFFC talks for “outstanding” £1.8m-rated ace, he’d be a major coup

Aston Villa fans will no doubt be heading into work today with a massive spring in their step following their superb 1-0 triumph over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

Dean Smith’s side clinched a deserved three points when Kortney Hause rose highest from a late corner to thump a header past David de Gea at the near post.

And, writing in his post-match player ratings for The Birmingham Mail, Ashley Preece gave him a nine, saying: “Strong and powerful as he won key battles up against Ronaldo. Hause played centrally with Konsa and Mings either side of him. Hause was excellent and his bullet header won it. He loved it out there.”

Haue’s performance proved exactly why Villa struck absolute gold when they signed him from Wolves back in the summer of 2019 after an initial season-long loan spell at Villa Park.

The centre-back has since found game-time far more difficult to come by following the subsequent signings of both Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa, but the fact Smith has him as a potential rotation option, or now as someone who he can trust as the centre-most piece of a back-three, speaks volumes of his quality.

The 26-year-old has proven over the years that he is generally a reliable performer, with the pace and strength to mix it with some of the more athletic and quick strikers in the league.

As per Whoscored, he has an impressive average of only being dribbled past 0.3 times per game, which is actually the same as Mings, and only slightly worse than Konsa (0.2 times per match).

Writing on Twitter before the game against United, The Telegraph’s Matt Law lauded: “Just one of a number of players to have improved immeasurably under Dean Smith. Not enough gets spoken about how Smith improves players, or the fact Hause only cost #avfc £3m – a ridiculous bargain even for a defender who has often been a squad player. Hope he stars tomorrow.”

Even Law however could surely not have imagined just how much Hause would “star” at Old Trafford.

The now £4.5m-rated ace has etched himself into folklore with his winner at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, Gregg Evans has dropped a transfer update on Aston Villa…

Some Liverpool supporters have been showing their love for Joel Matip once again after another funny video of him emerged in training.

The Reds are preparing to face Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, with Anfield hosting arguably the biggest Premier League game of the season so far.

A win for Liverpool would take them four points clear of their rivals in the table, which could end up being significant come the end of the season.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375258″]

One player who is expected to start on Sunday is Matip, with the centre-back enjoying an excellent start to the season at the heart of the Reds’ defence.

The 30-year-old is a cult hero at Anfield and footage of him in training on Friday [via the club’s official Twitter account] has shown him lose his chewing gun during a rondo exercise, in what was a typical moment involving him.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-5/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Liverpool fans love latest Matip video

These Liverpool fans took to Twitter to laugh at the latest piece of Matip brilliance.

“Even with the video being about VVD, Matip is still killing me lmao”

Credit: @Lallanatelli

“Joel is too funny “

Credit: @aeleo92

“Big Joel is something else isn’t he”

Credit: @robmclean1986

“Matip is a joke”

Credit: @ntokozo_nje

“‘I lost my chewing gum man’ why is Matip so funny”

Credit: @AiddyLFC

“When I say the light of my life”

Credit: @capttvandijk

In other news, some Liverpool fans are desperate for the Reds to sign one player. Find out who it is here.

Former Everton star Michael Ball has drooled over midfielder Abdoualye Doucoure, insisting that he has “everything”.

The French star has enjoyed a fine start to the campaign under the management of Rafael Benitez.

Doucoure has played in every Premier League game this term and has scored twice, while registering a total of four assists.

The former Watford star was also key for the Toffees last season, making 29 appearances in the top-flight.

Ball believes that he has developed into the club’s most important player and has pointed to the fact that they struggled to win games when he was not in the team last season.

Indeed, between March and May, Doucoure missed eight games through injury and Everton only won two of them; prior to that, they had won three in a row, including a 2-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield.

Ball said: “He was our key player last year. If Doucoure was missing, we struggled. He’s got everything you want from a midfielder. He’s got energy, he likes closing down, he likes cutting up the play.”

Doucoure has been with Everton since 2020 having been brought in by director of football Marcel Brands, and is valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt; his contract expires in 2023.

Liverpool currently have their fair share of midfield options in their senior squad with the likes of Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Naby Keita, Thiago Alcantara, Curtis Jones, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fabinho.

One man who is currently spending time away from the club is 21-year-old attacking midfielder Ben Woodburn, who this season is on loan with Scottish club Hearts.

As a product of Liverpool’s youth academy, he has been on previous loan spells with clubs such as Sheffield United, Oxford United and Blackpool. However, nearly five years since his Anfield debut, he has made just 11 senior appearances for Liverpool, scoring one history-making goal.

Unfortunately, Woodburn’s current loan spell with Hearts has not got off to the greatest of starts, with the midfielder failing to score a goal or provide an assist for the club in five league appearances, each of those coming as a starter.

Furthermore, he has only managed to win 39% of the duels in which he has been involved so far this season, which isn’t a great return for a midfielder, especially given the experience he has playing elsewhere.

Even though it’s still early in the season and Woodburn has at least been getting a decent amount of game-time under his belt, his lack of goals and assists will surely be rather disappointing to Reds manager Jurgen Klopp, especially if he had any thoughts of including the 21-year-old in his Liverpool squad at any point in the future.

In our view, if Woodburn can continue playing regularly for Hearts, he has enough time to grab a few goals or assists before his latest loan spell comes to an end.

However, if he fails to end his spell on a high, then he could potentially see his time as a Liverpool player coming to an end if they don’t think he has what it takes in terms of quality on the pitch to become a regular first team player for the Reds. That would have echoes of Harry Wilson, who had been on a number of loan spells away from Anfield before they sold him to Championship side Fulham during the summer transfer window after just two competitive Reds appearances by the age of 24.

In other news: Klopp could seal Wijnaldum replacement at LFC with “sublime” £49.5m-rated ace

Despite currently being in 15th place in the Premier League table with just seven points from their opening eight league games of the season, Southampton have a fairly respectable defensive record in comparison to the clubs around them in the bottom half of the table with just ten goals conceded, fewer than the likes of Arsenal, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

One player that has been a fairly regular figure for Southampton in that respect is defender Jan Bednarek, who has played 90 minutes in each of the club’s four previous Premier League games.

Southampton signed Bednarek back in the 2017 summer transfer window from Polish club Lech Poznan for a reported fee of £5m.

Since then, the 25-year-old, who has been described as an “important” player for Southampton by Ralph Hasenhuttl, has gone on to make a total of 123 appearances for the Saints across all competitions in which he has managed to chip in with three goals and four assists in the process.

This season in the Premier League has seen Bednarek rack up an average of 1.6 interceptions per game, two tackles per game, 3.6 clearances per game and win 62% of all duels he’s been involved in, showing how much of a defensive unit he has been for the club in recent weeks.

In terms of his market value, in August 2017 shortly after he joined the club, Transfermarkt had it listed as £4.5m, that was despite signing for £5m. However, now it stands at £22.5m, highlighting a significant rise since making his move to Southampton, which proves just how much he has developed and progressed with the Saints.

This also shows just how much of a good bargain buy the defender has been for the club and why their recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for getting him to the club at such a low price, in our view.

Moving forward, with fellow Saints defender Jack Stephens out injured for the next few weeks after picking up a serious knee injury during the club’s 0-0 draw against Manchester City earlier in the season, we can see Hasenhuttl sticking with Bednarek in his side for the time being while Stephens recovers, and perhaps even beyond that.

Looking even further down the line, given how Bednarek is still only 25 and has another few years left on his current contract at St. Mary’s that isn’t set to expire until 2025, we feel that Bednarek’s market value could increase even further if he stays at the club and plays regularly for the foreseeable future.

In other news: “Athletic” Saints prodigy is smashing it on loan, he could cause Ralph a big headache – opinion

Tottenham Hotspur are the latest club to be linked to Florian Wirtz ahead of the January transfer window…

What’s the word?

According to Sport Bild, Spurs have entered the race to sign the 18-year-old Bayer Leverkusen sensation, who has also been intensely scouted by Premier League rivals Newcastle United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool.

It’s thought that the 5 foot 9 attacking midfielder would command a fee in excess of €100m (£90m) as he’s under contract at the BayArena until 2026.

Transfermarkt currently value the four-cap German international at £58.5m, whilst some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, are also keen.

No.10 solution

Wirtz has emerged as a real star of the future over in Germany and he has certainly helped fill the void left behind at Leverkusen by Kai Havertz, who left for Chelsea over a year ago.

Whilst Bayer head coach Gerardo Seoane has found a solution from within, Nuno Santo is still looking for a man to step up and take aboard the creative burden of his inconsistent Spurs side.

Indeed, the north Londoners have not sufficiently replaced Christian Eriksen, who left the club in January 2020. Neither Tanguy Ndombele (18 goal contributions in 83 games) nor Giovani Lo Celso (13 contributions in 76 games) have regularly stepped up to the plate since their arrivals in summer 2019.

Similarly, Dele Alli’s fall from grace makes it hard to imagine that he is the man either, especially as the Lilywhites’ hierarchy now seem open to selling him in January, per The Athletic.

Spurs rank amongst the lowest in the Premier League for average number of shots per game (10.4, second-worst) and expected goals (9.48, third-worst), so that only goes to show how much they have struggled in the final third. Harry Kane is bereft of proper service – if the Danish playmaker were here, he’d be looking a whole lot better, that’s for sure.

Eriksen delivered a goal or assist every 151.6 minutes during his time in N17.

Wirtz could hold the keys to this problem.

The teenage wonderkid has already provided six goals and six assists in only 11 appearances across the Bundesliga and Europa League this term, which means that he’s well on course to usurp last season’s already impressive exploits of eight goals and eight assists, as per Transfermarkt.

His end product isn’t the only key attribute – for example, in just 30 minutes for Germany against Armenia, he created four key chances, whilst ESPN have noted that his passing is near-perfect in every match.

“Florian is one of the most impressive talents in Germany,” said Stefan Kuntz, the Germany U21 coach who handed Wirtz his debut.

Also dubbed a “special player” by teammate Julian Baumgartlinger and an “elite talent” by scout Jacek Kulig, Wirtz could be exactly what Spurs need to resolve their problems in attack, so Fabio Paratici and co must look to complete a move for him at all costs.

He’s a player who, on the above evidence, would really excite the Lilywhites faithful.

AND in other news, Spurs could seal huge Winks upgrade in “dangerous” 27-cap gem, won’t cost ENIC a penny…

Willy Boly is back in training ahead of Wolves’ Premier League clash with Everton on Monday but Fernando Marcal remains unavailable.

The Lowdown: Wolves prepare to host Everton

Bruno Lage’s side are back in Premier League action on Monday evening, as they look to continue their impressive recent form.

Wolves have accumulated ten points from their last four games, and had it not been for Rodrigo’s stoppage-time penalty for Leeds last weekend, that would have been a quartet of wins in a row.

Everton are their next opponents, in what promises to be an intriguing encounter at Molineux, with the Toffees sitting ninth in the table and one point ahead of Lage’s men.

The Latest: Spiers provides injury latest

Ahead of the game, Spiers took to Twitter on Friday to provide an update from Lage’s press conference, confirming in nine words that Boly could be in contention but Marcal is still out:

“Willy Boly’s back in training. Fernando Marcal still out.”

The Verdict: Big Boly boost

Boly has been an influential player for Wolves for some time now, making 137 appearances since arriving from Porto back in 2018.

His return should only increase competition at the back, although given his team’s recent form, he won’t be guaranteed to replace the likes of Max Kilman, Conor Coady and Romain Saiss – that trio have played a huge part in racking up the points in the last few weeks.

Meanwhile, Marcal has still only made 21 appearances for Wolves and Lage needs him fit, especially with Jonny still sidelined.

In other news, some Wolves fans love recent comments from one player. Find out who it is here.

The Athletic’s Phil Hay has delivered his verdict on how important Luke Ayling’s return could be to Leeds United.

What’s the story?

Marcelo Bielsa’s side have been without Ayling for the past five games in the Premier League, and the latest update from the Leeds boss indicated that there is no current time-line on his potential return.

Now, in response to a question from a fan about just how much the Whites have missed the 30-year-old, Hay admitted that him coming back could provide a much-needed potential boost to the side.

He said: “I agree with this. He’s a key figure in the dressing room and him returning fresh after injury might be a big shot in the arm.”

Fans will be buzzing

In the past, Hay has emphasised how important Ayling is to this team, declaring: “The more you look at him and analyse him, the more you realise he’s integral to everything Leeds do.”

And, speaking just last year, former Scotland manager Alex McLeish raved about the consistency with which Leeds’ Mr Reliable plays with.

He said: “We talk about Luke nearly every week, we always give him a mention. He’s such an enthusiast for the game. It’s a guy who clearly loves his football and his roles within Leeds United, not only as a full-back, he’s got the centre-back skills as well – he’s got versatility.

“He’s a really, really good example to any young player coming up because he’s been through the ranks. You see where he started and now he’s playing in the Premier League.”

As Hay says, having Ayling back in the near future could well be the “big shot in the arm” Leeds need amid a difficult start to the Premier League campaign.

They have started the season with just two wins in ten so the likes of Ayling, Raphinha and Patrick Bamford returning will be huge for the Whites, thus leaving the club’s supporters overjoyed.

Meanwhile, Phil Hay has shared a behind-the-scenes update from Leeds…

Tottenham Hotspur have entered talks to sign Dejan Kulusevksi…

What’s the word?

That’s according to Calciomercato journalist Daniele Longo, who delivered a recent update on Spurs’ interest in the Juventus outcast. In response to their previous interest back in October, the Italian tweeted that there is now “contact in progress.”

The north Londoners were linked to the Sweden international once again last week, though it seems as if things have now advanced somewhat.

However, it does remain to be seen just how far along these negotiations are and how much the 21-year-old would command, having cost the Serie A giants an initial €35m (£30m) nearly two years ago.

Transfermarkt currently value him at £31.5m.

Bergwijn upgrade

Described as an “explosive” and “direct” player by former Sweden and Aston Villa ace Marcus Allback, Kulusevski would be an intriguing target for Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici, the latter actually signed him during his time in Turin, so that could bolster such claims.

Last term, the young 6 foot 1 dynamo provided 14 direct goal contributions across 47 matches in all competitions but he has found game time hard to come by since the reappointment of Massimiliano Allegri at the Allianz Stadium, starting only two of his 15 appearances this campaign.

The Stockholm-born sensation is capable of playing a multitude of positions in attack. He played seven different roles for the Italian outfit in those 47 games.

Cristiano Ronaldo even believes he’s a “great talent”, whilst Italian coach Pierpaolo Bisoli has previously likened him to Liverpool superstar Mo Salah, who is arguably the best player in the world right now.

Throughout his short career to date, Kulusevski has proven to be a nuisance in attack, having averaged 2.1 key passes created, 1.8 shots and 1.5 dribbles per 90 minutes, via WhoScored.

Meanwhile, an average of one direct goal contribution every 197.5 minutes is better than a lot of Spurs attacking options, including Steven Bergwijn, who has struggled to make much of an impact in N17.

The Dutchman has played one minute fewer than Kulusevski at their respective clubs but has contributed to three fewer goals, meaning he averages a goal or assist every 243 minutes, as per Transfermarkt.

In his maiden season in England, Bergwijn only averaged 1.6 dribbles, 1.1 shots and one key pass per 90, and those numbers have barely increased since.

That’s not to mention his torrid injury record since arriving from PSV Eindhoven for £25m in January 2020 either.

Spurs sporting director Paratici appears to be working proactive heading into the winter transfer window and in Kulusevski, he could hand Conte a multidimensional threat in attack.

Whatever the price, he would be a solid signing to kickstart 2022.

AND in other news, Watch out Skipp: Conte wants to sign £22.5m-rated “rock”, he could be Spurs’ next Dembele…