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Journalist Ryan Taylor of The Daily Express says a West Ham United bid is ‘also in’ for Spezia starlet and Poland international Jakub Kiwior.

The Lowdown: Hammers making moves…

The east Londoners are reportedly busy behind-the-scenes as manager David Moyes seeks to bolster his reinforcements ahead of what will be a busy 2022/2023 Premier League campaign.

West Ham have already sealed the signings of Nayef Aguerd, Flynn Downes, Alphonse Areola, Gianluca Scamacca, Maxwel Cornet and most recently Thilo Kehrer from Paris-Saint Germain.

Players remain of interest to the Irons board, like Blackburn Rovers star Ben Brereton Diaz, and so are up-and-coming youngsters.

The Latest: Kiwior bid ‘also in’…

Journalist Taylor, sharing some West Ham transfer news, have made a claim involving Kiwior.

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He states, writing for The Daily Express, that bids for both the 22-year-old and Chelsea defender Emerson Palmieri are ‘also in’ as Moyes and head of recruitment Rob Newman scour the market.

With just two weeks of the window remaining, it is added that West Ham want to make a few more signings before September 1, and this contradicts claims that their move for Kiwior is planned for 2023.

The Verdict: Make the move?

Kiwior, having already been capped by Poland, comes as an exciting young defender with real potential for his age.

As per WhoScored, the starlet averaged more tackles per 90 than any Spezia player in Serie A over the 2021/2022 season and even finished the league campaign as their fourth-best performing player by average match rating, impressive feats for a young talent in such a gruelling league.

It’s clear why Kiwior has grabbed the attention of West Ham chiefs after a solid season in Italy and it will be interesting to see whether the east Londoners push hard for a move or indeed wait until next summer as some have suggested.

West Bromwich Albion are reportedly looking to secure a transfer for former Nottingham Forest striker Lewis Grabban.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Football League World, the Baggies are in talks to sign the player as a free agent following his exit from Forest at the end of last season.

With 546 club appearances and 168 goals under his belt, the 34-year-old certainly has the experience to be a useful asset for the Hawthorns outfit.

During his four-year stint at Forest, the veteran found the net 56 times in 149 appearances across all competitions.

Bruce needs him

With Daryl Dike out for a significant period of time with an injury, it’s evident why Steve Bruce needs to add a new centre-forward to his squad before the summer transfer window closes, even though he did recently see his side put five goals past Hull City.

Despite that, only seven clubs in the second division have a lower rate of goals per shot than West Brom (0.08), so having a player like the 34-year-old Grabban in the squad could help the Baggies find the net on a regular basis.

With that in mind, securing a deal for the former Forest star is a must for the Baggies, not just from a financial point of view but also from a short-term footballing perspective too.

To highlight his attacking prowess, in 32 league appearances last season, the Englishman ended the campaign with 12 goals, leaving only Brennan Johnson (16) with more, while he also had the third-highest number of shots on target (22) at Forest.

Described by Jamie O’Hara as a player that “knows what it takes to get goals”, Grabban has also been hailed as being “a great presence on the pitch” by Steve Cooper which is certainly something that Albion could do with in the absence of Dike.

Thus, if the Midlands club feel that Grabban could do a job for them while injuries ravage their forward line, sealing his signature as soon as possible could put to bed any worries there may be as they aim to strengthen the squad ahead of transfer deadline day.

Scottish champions Celtic are currently riding high following their brutal 9-0 thrashing of Dundee United away at Tannadice, with the Old Firm outfit continuing their remarkable 37-game unbeaten run in the league which stretches back to September 2021.

With five wins from five in the new season, it all appears to be running smoothly for manager Ange Postecoglou of late, with the Parkhead giants looking well placed to retain their league title.

That jubilant mood could well be somewhat dampened, however, amid reports that promising midfielder Matt O’Riley is attracting interest from clubs across Europe, with ESPN suggesting that Premier League duo Newcastle United and Leicester City are the most likely clubs to make an offer in the coming days.

While the report suggests that the Glasgow side are in no rush to sell the 21-year-old, it is believed that an offer of around £15m-£20m could well sway their thinking, as they face the prospect of losing a player who only joined on a £1.5m deal back in January.

Despite the obvious benefit of a major financial profit on the former MK Dons playmaker, any departure in the coming days could well be a sizeable blow to Postecoglou and co, particularly having already seen fellow midfielder Tom Rogic depart the club at the end of last season.

The Denmark U21 international has been tipped to be the successor to the Australian genius at Celtic Park, although supporters will no doubt be concerned by the player’s recent admission that there is a “lot of interest” in his services.

Having only arrived in Scotland during the winter window, the former Fulham youth product went on to make an instant impression in his new surroundings, scoring four goals and providing three assists in just 16 league games in the second half of last season.

The “intelligent” gem – as lauded by former boss Russell Martin – has carried that rich vein of form into the new season having laid on three assists in the opening five league games, two of which came in that thumping victory over the Tangerines on Sunday.

Not only would it be of huge concern to lose the London-born ace ahead of the start of the club’s Champions League voyage, seeing the midfielder depart so late in the day would also be of huge frustration, as it would leave little time to acquire a replacement.

Celtic have previously felt the consequences of losing a key player towards the latter stages of the window, with academy graduate Kieran Tierney having joined Arsenal back in August 2019.

While the Scottish Premiership side were able to acquire a £25m fee for the marauding left-back, the relatively late nature of the move left then-boss, Neil Lennon, with little time to respond, with the club eventually scrambling to secure the signing of Greg Taylor a few weeks later on deadline day.

Although the addition of the Scotland international has eventually paid off, it was far from ideal having to act in the market so late on, while business completed towards the climax of a window can often lead to inflated prices and wage demands.

Equally, after a rocky first few seasons where he became the target of boo-boys, it is perhaps not until now that Taylor has truly begun to earn to impress following a strong start to the new season – having been praised by teammate Jota – with the Tierney-sized void proving difficult to replace in the seasons following his exit.

That could well be the case with O’Riley, with the Hoops unlikely to have foreseen the £2.07m-rated ace attracting such vast interest so soon into his stint at the club, with that fact potentially ensuring that suitable alternatives or replacements have not yet been lined up.

It would no doubt be a source of frustration if another exciting talent is to be poached from Parkhead by a Premier League club, with Celtic simply needing to hold firm to hold off any interest.

Derby County interim boss Liam Rosenior has some ‘great’ player news as he shares an update on defender James Chester’s recovery from injury.

The Lowdown: Chester ruled out…

The former Stoke City defender, having signed for the Rams in July on a free transfer, put pen to paper on a two-year deal with the League One club but is yet to make a competitive appearance.

Chester comes with a plethora of top flight and international experience which could prove invaluable for Derby as they aim to fight their way back to England’s second tier.

The 33-year-old has been unavailable for selection since succumbing to injury in pre-season, having suffered from tendinopathy in one of his Achilles tendons.

The Latest: Rosenior shares positive news…

Speaking to the press (via Derbyshire Live), Rosenior has now provided a positive update as Chester returns to the grass and resumes full training.

While the defender will still take a few weeks to be fully fit to play again, the Derby boss described the 33-year-old’s training return as ‘great’ news.

Rosenior explained: “James is back training fully in the last few days, but because he got injured in pre-season, it’s going to take him a few weeks to get up to real speed.

“It’s great to have him in the group. I’m looking at my tactics board with the names on and it’s getting harder and harder to pick a team. That’s what I’ve wanted, it’s the first time in years that I’ve got this problem, if you want to call it that, where I’ve got players who expect to play or be on the bench, whereas before there wasn’t that competition.

“That’s really healthy for us a group because it means players know that if they don’t perform, they’ve got someone ready to come in and take their shirt off them.”

The Verdict: Positive…

Chester’s comeback to full training is one major step on his road to recovery, and Derby supporters could be happy that his full debut could be mere weeks away.

The defender could be real asset for Rosenior, especially going by his consistency.

Chester averaged a solid 6.95/10 match rating per 90 throughout his career at both international and club level, with the ex-Aston Villa defender coming as just the experienced centre-back figurehead who is needed amid months of uncertainty at Pride Park.

Marcelo Bielsa ended Leeds United’s 16-year wait for a return to the Premier League when he led the Whites to promotion in the 2019/20 campaign.

The Argentine head coach needed two seasons in charge to successfully end their run of almost two decades in the Championship or League One and they have remained in the top-flight ever since, with Jesse Marsch now at the helm.

They were in the third tier of English football for three seasons between 2007 and 2010 and Simon Grayson was the man who managed to bring them back up to the second division.

He led them to a second-placed finish in the 2009/10 campaign and then finished seventh in their first season back in the Championship in 2010/11.

Grayson enjoyed a successful spell at Elland Road during this period but was let down by former owner Ken Bates in the summer of 2011 when it came to dealing with Bradley Johnson’s situation.

The central midfielder was a huge part of the team in the two aforementioned seasons. He played 36 times in the League One promotion and chipped in with seven goals and three assists from the middle of the park, before managing five goals and four assists in 45 outings in the second tier.

However, he was out of contract at the end of 2010/11 and Bates refused to play ball with the midfielder over an extension, with Johnson explaining: 

“It was time to negotiate a new contract and I said ‘I want to earn what this guy’s earning or the same as what this kid’s earning’. Ken Bates was just like ‘nope, this is what we’re offering’, so I didn’t sign it. It got ugly towards the end with the chairman, but the fans understood.”

He ended up departing that summer and he eventually left on a free transfer, joining then-manager Paul Lambert’s Norwich Cith. This turned out to be a huge blunder by the club as Johnson went on to be a big player for the Canaries for a number of years and made them a hefty profit when he left East Anglia.

Johnson, who Paul Clement once dubbed “invaluable”. played 97 Premier League matches in his first three years at Norwich and produced six goals and nine assists from central midfield.

He then enjoyed a phenomenal campaign in the Championship in 2014/15 as the machine found the back of the net 15 times in 41 games as he helped his side to win promotion back to the top-flight, winning the club’s Player of the Year award.

Norwich then opted to cash in on the Englishman by selling him to Derby County in the summer of 2015. They raked in £6m from the Rams for his signature, which was a sizeable payday for the Canaries given that he arrived at Carrow Road on a free transfer from Leeds four years prior to that.

Therefore, Bates committed a blunder with Johnson as Leeds missed out on enjoying his superb talent on the pitch in those years, along with a multi-million compensation for his services further down the line.

West Ham United defender Nayef Aguerd could make an early return from injury after undergoing surgery on his ankle during pre-season, according to club insiders The West Ham Way.

The Lowdown: Aguerd’s injury

In June, it was announced the Hammers had completed the £30m signing of the Morocco international from French outfit Rennes. However, during his second appearance in an Irons shirt, the centre-back was forced off with injury in a pre-season match against Rangers after just 23 minutes of play.

West Ham subsequently announced that the 26-year-old had undergone successful surgery on his ankle, with the player sidelined for the beginning of the Premier League campaign.

The Latest: Aguerd injury update

The West Ham Way has now shared a fresh update on Aguerd’s injury, revealing a positive turn of events regarding his return date.

According to the club insiders’ report, the Hammers initially believed that the Moroccan would make his return after the World Cup this winter. However, in a major twist, there is now confidence that he could be back in action a lot sooner.

They reported that, whilst a specific return date is yet to be set by the club, there is a growing belief that Aguerd could feature for West Ham before the World Cup kicks off in November.

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The Verdict: Huge boost

When looking at Aguerd’s underlying statistics, it is clear to see that his return to fitness will come as a massive boost for West Ham.

As per FBRef, compared with positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year, the 26-year-old ranks in the 96th percentile for assists, the 92nd percentile for shots total and the 86th percentile for passes attempted.

As a result, the Irons defender has earned stylistic comparisons to the likes of Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt, illustrating why he has been hailed as an ‘excellent’ defender by analyst Dan Woffenden.

Therefore, his return will most certainly be welcomed by David Moyes, especially after the team’s dreadful start to the season and their hectic autumn schedule.

Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to continue their strong start to the League One season when they face Port Vale away from home on Saturday afternoon.

Darren Moore’s side currently sit fourth in the third tier after losing just two of their opening 10 fixtures, and could potentially go top with a win in Stoke-on-Trent this weekend.

The Owls will travel in a confident mood after dispatching fellow promotion hopefuls Wycombe Wanderers 3-1 in their most recent fixture, whilst Port Vale suffered a 3-0 defeat against Peterborough, so could be vulnerable against Moore’s side.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects the Owls to line up at Vale Park.

After an impressive five clean sheets in his opening 10 league appearances for Sheffield Wednesday, summer signing David Stockdale keeps his place in between the sticks.

Moore looks to be settled on his current back three, with fellow summer additions Ben Heneghan, Reece James and Michael Ikhiekwe all starting in defence after another strong display in the win over Wycombe, with Mark McGuiness unlikely to be risked as he edges closer to full fitness.

Marvin Johnson and Liam Palmer have both started nine of Wednesday’s 10 league fixtures this season so look unlikely to be dropped from their wing-back roles on Saturday.

There is one change in midfield, as the “very creative” Tom Dele-Bashiru starts ahead of Josh Windass, as the Owls could need the Nigerian’s creativity as they look to unlock a Port Vale defence that will likely drop deep against superior opposition.

He is partnered with midfield mainstays Barry Bannan and Will Vaulks, with Moore confirming that George Byers wouldn’t be risked.

Finally, after just one goal in nine appearances this season, the “energetic” Lee Gregory drops to the bench, with Malik Wilks replacing him and partnering Michael Smith in the attack.

Liverpool parted ways with the recruitment genius behind Jurgen Klopp’s talented squad at Anfield as Michael Edwards left the club this summer after masterminding years of both incoming and outgoing transfers behind the scenes.

In the last six years, the Reds have celebrated some of their biggest successes at the hands of meticulous attention to detail and smart recruitment choices made by the former sporting director including the first Premier League title back in 2020.

There have been many players that have come and gone on the red side of Merseyside but rarely do players have a better career when they make the move away from Liverpool.

Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Luis Suarez and Suso are a handful of the players who went on to succeed beyond their days wearing the famous red shirt.

In most cases, Edwards sanctioned moves away for various players for a very good reason and one player he certainly had a masterclass with was Jordon Ibe.

Ibe was sold to Bournemouth for a club record transfer fee of £15m back in 2016 after making 58 appearances, scoring just four goals and delivering seven assists over his time in the Liverpool team.

The quick-footed winger was tipped for big things when he first joined the club, being dubbed “the next Raheem Sterling” in some circles, while some even suggested he could usurp the current England international.

One such claim was courtesy of Jamie Redknapp, who speaking in July 2016 said:

“I think he has more natural ability than Raheem Sterling. Anything Raheem Sterling struggles with, Jordon Ibe can do. I would hate to play against him with his pace and power.”

Unfortunately, the attacker never lived up to that potential, enduring a rather sorry time with Bournemouth.

After four years, 92 appearances, a stint in rehab and just five goals scored for the Cherries, the winger was then moved on to Derby County on a free transfer in 2020, putting his nightmare tenure on the south coast behind him.

Sadly, Ibe was unable to make his presence known at the Rams either, making just 25 appearances and within one year was released from his contract by mutual consent following a struggle with depression.

In January 2022, the 26-year-old forward made his return to football following a legal dispute with Bournemouth over image rights payments, joining Turkish second division Adanaspor where he penned a three-and-a-half-year deal. Aptly, he is yet to make an appearance.

It’s safe to say that Ibe has had a rough ride since he left Merseyside six years ago with the player frequently speaking out about suffering from mental health issues over his career so far, but he may now have the chance to brighten his future in football whilst over in Turkey.

With that being said, selling the player for £15m was a great piece of business from Edwards when you consider how his career has regressed on the pitch after leaving Liverpool.

West Ham United have been dealt a big injury blow ahead of their Europa Conference League meeting with RSC Anderlecht on Thursday evening.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to ExWHUemployee, who revealed on a recent episode of The West Ham Way podcast that, after being withdrawn in the 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday due to a calf strain, Maxwel Cornet was sent for scans earlier this week to determine how severe the winger’s injury is.

The West Ham insider went on to state that, as a result of his setback, he does not expect the 26-year-old to feature in David Moyes’ squad to face Anderlecht on Thursday, before suggesting that the forward could even remain sidelined for the Hammers’ Premier League meeting with Fulham on Sunday afternoon.

Regarding the condition of the Ivory Coast international, Ex said: “Obviously he went off during the game on Saturday with a calf injury. Now, the club are doing scans on that calf injury today [Monday]. He did return to the bench quite quickly after he went off, so it didn’t appear to be too serious.

“But he’s just being checked out by the medical team with scans [on Monday] to ascertain the extent of that injury. I mean, I’d probably suggest he won’t play on Thursday, but it’ll be interesting to see whether it goes beyond the Fulham game, but we shall see what the scan says.”

Big blow for Moyes

Considering just how impressive Cornet has been for West Ham in Europe so far this season, Ex’s claim that the winger looks unlikely to feature against Anderlecht on Thursday is undoubtedly bad news for Moyes and his side.

Indeed, the £17.5m-rated attacker played a key role in the Irons’ qualification for the Conference League, registering two assists in the club’s 6-1 aggregate victory over Viborg FF in the play-off round prior to the start of the tournament proper.

This is form the 26-year-old has continued over his two outings in the group stage of the competition, registering one further assist, in addition to making an average of 3.0 key passes – the joint seventh-most in the tournament – taking 0.5 shots and completing 0.5 dribbles per game.

The 29-cap international has also contributed for the Hammers in a defensive capacity, making an average of 2.0 tackles, gaining possession of the ball 1.5 times and winning 4.5 duels per fixture, in addition to completing an average of one cross and finding his man with 1.5 long balls per game.

These metrics have seen the player who Moyes claimed has “shown he can get a goal” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.10, currently ranking him as West Ham’s sixth-best performer in the competition.

As such, it is clear to see that the loss of Cornet’s creativity will come as a big blow to the Irons ahead of the Anderlecht fixture, especially considering the fact that a win against the Belgian side would put Moyes’ men in pole position to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.

Everton’s recent defeat to Manchester United saw academy starlet Anthony Gordon return to the starting XI, with the highly-rated forward having dropped to the bench for the win over Southampton a week earlier due to illness.

The 21-year-old had proven the difference when the two sides had met back in April, after netting a deflected strike past David De Gea to help the Toffees’ fight for survival, although was unable to make a similar impact this time around, having “struggled” against Erik ten Hag’s side, in the words of The Athletic’s Greg O’Keefe.

The £36m-rated man was restricted to just 22 touches before being withdrawn just after the hour-mark, with that substitution having taken place just moments after the Englishman had been shown a yellow card for lunging in on Red Devils’ skipper, Bruno Fernandes.

That reckless challenge had seemingly epitomised the youngster’s performance as he struggled to impact proceedings, with Liverpool Echo’s Chris Beesley awarding him just a 5/10 match rating after what was a ‘frustrating night’ for the explosive forward.

That frustration will have only been heightened with the £10k-per-week gem now suspended for Saturday’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur due to what was his fifth booking in just nine Premier League games thus far this term, ruling him out of facing a side who had been linked with his signature over the summer.

The England U21 international had been hot property in the recent window with fellow top-flight side Chelsea reportedly eyeing a £60m approach, although on the evidence of Sunday’s display the Liverpool-born starlet has not yet lived up to that valuation.

While the “fearless” ace – as lauded by pundit Alan Shearer – has netted twice in the league already this season, his absence against the Saints had showcased that Frank Lampard’s side can win without him, with his replacement Dwight McNeil having scored in that 2-1, comeback victory.

The aforementioned O’Keefe had suggested that the latter man was “hard done by” to have been replaced by Gordon for the recent clash with United, with the former Preston North End loanee unable to warrant his inclusion ahead of the £20m new addition.

This upcoming suspension for the Toffees academy graduate will again allow McNeil the chance to shine in his place against Spurs, with a positive display from the former Burnley winger potentially set to have Lampard questioning what his best forward line truly is.

On recent evidence, when Gordon does again become available for the midweek trip to face Newcastle United, it would be no real surprise if he is to be ditched from the Merseysiders’ starting lineup.