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Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Leeds United midfielder Carlton Palmer believes Marcelo Bielsa is waiting for assurances over transfers before signing a new deal at Elland Road.

Bielsa has transformed Leeds since arriving at the club back in 2018, taking the Whites back to the Premier League after a 16-year absence. And, under the 65-year-old, they look set to retain their status in English football’s top flight.

The Yorkshire outfit are not in any real sort of relegation danger, making this another successful campaign with Bielsa at the helm. One concern, however, will be the Argentinian’s expiring contract.

Bielsa’s current deal is up in the summer, and Palmer is convinced the ex-Lille and Marseille boss is holding off signing an extension until he finds out the club’s transfer plans. The retired England international told FFC in an exclusive interview:

“They’ll certainly bring players in if Bielsa stays. I think that’s why Bielsa hasn’t signed a new contract yet. I think he wants to get to the end of the season and sit down with the owners and see what money is available for him.

“I think Bielsa’s the type of manager, from what I’ve seen from him in the past, if he can’t see progression, he doesn’t see the point of staying — and that’s why he’s ended up moving so often.”

Last summer, Leeds were very active in the transfer window as Bielsa looked to strengthen his squad ahead of their Premier League campaign.

The likes of Raphinha, Diego Llorente and Robin Koch were all brought in, while Rodrigo was signed for big money, joining from Valencia for a club record £26m fee.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Mourinho confirmed: “Serge is ready. He trained today without any limitation, so, if not Sunday, Thursday, but I believe he’s ready to play.”

The Ivorian’s performances this season have earned some rave reviews. with former Spurs striker Darren Bent saying after his display against Manchester United: “We know that he’s got all the attributes. I thought against United he was very good, he defended well, got forward and got a good goal.

“Mourinho for whatever reason is getting the right tune out of some of these players that maybe we thought weren’t good enough. So you’ve got to take your hat off to Mourinho, Serge Aurier has been doing very, very well and was superb against United.”

While the £18m-rated ace may still have his moments of indiscipline and rashness, they have become far fewer when he first arrived on the scene in north London, and his attacking qualities bring a lot to the table for Spurs.

In fact, as per Whoscored, his average match rating this season of 6.99 ranks him third in the entire Spurs squad, only behind the double act of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.

The full-back is eighth for shots per game, fourth in key passes and second for crosses, while he also ranks top of the table for Spurs with tackles per game.

Aurier’s influence at both ends of the pitch is there for all to see, and with Matt Doherty hardly proving himself in his first season at Spurs – so much so that there are even suggestions he could be allowed to leave in the summer – the Ivorian’s return ahead of the game against Burnley will surely have Mourinho buzzing.

Leeds United have been without Adam Forshaw for a very lengthy period and Phil Hay has provided an injury update on the player.

The latest on Forshaw

The journalist for The Athletic was listening to Marcelo Bielsa’s pre-West Ham press conference and said: “A bit on Forshaw too, who Bielsa says is in a positive place but isn’t ready to follow Berardi into the U23s yet. Bielsa not sure when he will be.”

Forshaw is coming to the end of his Leeds career

The midfielder has played only once for the Elland Road side since August 2019 due to a mixture of injuries and him not being favoured by Bielsa.

When he was playing for the club, he received huge praised from former Leeds man Noel Whelan, who said: “Forshaw, I think, was excellent again. He gets on the ball, he shows class.”

But the 29-year-old only made seven league appearances in the 2019/20 season for the Whites, racking up a rating of 6.76 (Whoscored). The midfield position is very strong at the club currently, and one can’t see Forshaw replacing any of the starting eleven any time soon. This combined with the fact that he is still struggling to return from his latest injury suggests that the £2.88m-rated ace will struggle to get back into the Leeds side.

With his contract expiring in the summer of 2022, we might not see him feature in a Leeds shirt again if the club feel like they need to make some money on him in the upcoming transfer window.

In other news, the club have been linked to this Championship player!

Sam Allardyce faces an uphill task to keep West Brom in the Premier League this season.

And one of their biggest problems seems to be at the back as they have leaked a whopping 39 goals in 17 matches, six more than any other top-flight team this campaign.

It surely makes defensive reinforcements an absolute priority during the January transfer window and whilst the Baggies have been linked to the likes of James Tomkins and Mamadou Sakho, it’s another mooted target they should be plumping for.

Last month, the Daily Star reporter that Albion were keen to take Manchester United outcast, Phil Jones, on loan for the remainder of the season with the Red Devils expected to pay the bulk of his £120k-per-week wages.

That would suit West Brom immensely as Big Sam is working on a very restricted financial budget – according to the Telegraph’s John Percy, ‘moves for players who will cost in excess of £2 million are rated as seriously doubtful.’

The Baggies only have one domestic loan space left, so using it on a vastly-experienced defender like Jones could make the world of sense.

Similarly, Albion have struck gold with United before when taking on Jonny Evans, who was also struggling for game time at the Premier League giants.

For £6m, the Midlands outfit got every penny back with three consistent seasons where he played at least 28 matches each campaign before they were relegated to the Championship.

Jones would certainly be shades of that very move and he’s a player that Allardyce knows very well too, which is merely another reason to why a stint at the Hawthorns is beneficial.

The 66-year-old unearthed the Englishman at Blackburn Rovers prior to his £16.5m switch to Old Trafford, even tipping him for international stardom in an interview with the Telegraph in 2011, he said:

“He is already growing into what I consider to be a leader. When he gets more experience he will be able to control his team-mates and eventually he will wear the armband for England. It’s a lot to ask of such a young man but he has the all-round outstanding ability to be a very top player.”

Now valued at just £5.4m by Transfermarkt, Jones needs to find another club as he’s only started 17 matches since the beginning of the 2018/19 season.

Despite only being 28, he has proven to be a reliable influence over 200 appearances in the big time, he’s averaged a whopping 5.3 clearances and 1.9 tackles per game during the past decade, via WhoScored, which ranks him above all of Semi Ajayi, Dara O’Shea and Branislav Ivanovic in this current Baggies squad.

Luke Dowling simply has to sanction a swoop for what could be West Brom’s next Evans.

AND in other news, Baggies’ “total nightmare” in GRAVE DANGER of becoming another Nacer Chadli…

John Stones bagged a brace to help inflict Crystal Palace’s first Premier League defeat of 2021 as Manchester City ran riot over Roy Hodgson’s side 4-0 at the Etihad on Sunday night.

After a promising start to the season for Palace, their early form has quickly deserted them. The Eagles have now lost two out of their past three games across all competitions as they find themselves 13th in the table, level on points with Leeds United, although the newly-promoted side still have a game in-hand over Hodgson’s side.

With Wilfried Zaha injured, Hodgson’s problems were compounded even further after City capitalised on a dreadful defensive performance from the visitors to smash home four goals and ensure Pep Guardiola’s side went second in the Premier League.

A trip to the Etihad was never going to be the easiest of tasks, but after suffering yet another embarrassing defeat following the 7-0 loss to Liverpool, questions surely have to be asked of both Hodgson’s tactics and the recruitment strategy of Steve Parish.

The Palace boss cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines as his side were outclassed from start to finish on Sunday. There’s no shame in losing to City, but the manner of the defeat will have only increased the pressure on Hodgson and his men, with Andros Townsend particularly looking out of sorts.

Townsend struggled to have any real impact on the pitch and it was hardly surprising he was pulled off shortly before the 80th minute. However, Joel Ward arguably produced one of his worst performances in a Palace shirt this season on the right-hand side of the defence last night and he was lucky that Townsend took some of the post-game criticism.

Ward has done a decent job at right-back in recent weeks, being part of the side that kept a clean sheet against Sheffield United, whilst picking up his first assist of the season against West Ham. Unfortunately for Hodgson, the veteran defender endured a horror show against Guardiola’s side.

90min reporter Jude Summerfield delivered a brutal verdict after the game, noting it was a ‘tough outing for Ward, who was often chasing shadows. Two corners he conceded resulted in City goals. Hardly his fault of course, but worth mentioning.’

Similarly, football.london were equally scathing in their assessment, adding he ‘looked a little uneasy heading behind for a corner as City looked for a diagonal in behind him.’

Ward completed 24 out of 31 passes (77%) – fewer than James McArthur, who was their only real bright spark – and only made a solitary tackle as he was overrun by Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling on the right wing. Both players got themselves on the scoresheet as City enjoyed the majority of their success on the left-hand side of their attack.

The 31-year-old won just 40% of his duels overall, was dribbled past once, and committed three fouls – which was the highest amount committed by any Palace player on the pitch – to perhaps best sum up his frustrations as his performance was far below his usual standards.

He also lost control of the ball on 13 occasions, two times more than McArthur himself, which shows that he was rather wasteful in possession as well.

Ward has been a loyal servant for Palace since the start of this season but that doesn’t excuse his shocking display at the Etihad. With a clash against West Ham next on the horizon, Hodgson will be hoping Nathaniel Clyne will be fit to face the Hammers on Tuesday night.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace still want to sign Ismaila Sarr despite Watford demands…

Pretty much all of Tottenham Hotspur’s summer signings have already played their part this season, which only emphasises just how well Daniel Levy and co conducted their transfer business.

The north London outfit sit top of the Premier League standings after ten matches and look to be genuine contenders to rival the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool for the title.

And whilst that has largely been down to the goalscoring exploits of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son, the other areas of the pitch cannot be ignored. After all, they have also conceded the least amount of goals – just nine.

Supporters will be quick to throw the crown to £15m bargain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who has added a much-needed anchor-like presence in the heart of midfield. Something that Spurs have long lacked since the exit of Mousa Dembele.

The 25-year-old Dane has averaged a whopping 3.1 tackles, 1.8 clearances and 3.7 long balls per game, via WhoScored. By comparison, throughout the entirety of last season, the only midfielder to average anywhere near that was Giovani Lo Celso with 1.8 tackles per match.

However, the impressive form of fellow arrival Sergio Reguilon has gone under the radar somewhat, especially tactically.

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho likes balance in his full-backs, in the sense that one is more attacking than the other, and that’s exactly what Reguilon has done since joining from Real Madrid alongside Gareth Bale.

The majority of their attacks come from his side of the pitch (38%), which results in more shots coming from this side and through the middle too (88%), via WhoScored. This is because the Spaniard’s presence allows Son the freedom to cut inside and act as a second striker, hence his juicy returns thus far.

Reguilon is far more attack-minded than Ben Davies having averaged 1.3 key passes per game to the Welshman’s 0.3, as per WhoScored.

The €70m-rated (£63.5m) dynamo is even doing his fair share defensively, managing 1.7 tackles and 2.3 clearances per match.

It’s no wonder “everyone loves” him, according to Football.London’s Alasdair Gold.

Either way, he deserves far more credit – at least as much as Hojbjerg, if not more, as he is certainly proving to be one of Mourinho’s unsung heroes on that left flank.

Levy pulled a masterstroke with his addition.

AND in other news, 16 y/o teen sensation could become Spurs’ biggest talent since Harry Kane…

Leeds United have had a great start to their Premier League campaign. This has largely been down to the way Marcelo Bielsa has set them up and the team ethic that they have. Defender Luke Ayling is one of the Leeds players who has recently been praised for his performances.

Alex McLeish praises Luke Ayling

Speaking about the defender, Alex McLeish said: “We talk about Luke nearly every week, we always give him a mention. He’s such an enthusiast for the game. You see him as soon as a corner is over and it’s an opposition goal kick and he was up, it’s like ‘woah’ he’s the fastest guy back into the defence. He’s back into his position.

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.”

Ayling has shone for Leeds

In the past, Phil Hay has emphasised how important Ayling is as he tweeted: ‘The more you look at him and analyse him, the more you realise he’s integral to everything Leeds do.’

The stats from this season in the Premier League also emphasise Ayling’s importance to Leeds. Defensively, he has shone, managing 2.6 tackles and 2 clearances a game (WhoScored). He has been a threat at the other end of the pitch too, boasting 1.4 dribbles per game as Leeds have taken to the Premier League in a confident fashion.

Full-backs are key in the modern game because they can provide so much for sides at both ends of the pitch, and Ayling is flourishing as he is showing the division that he can perform very well in this role, making him on of the numerous right-backs who have played at a high level this season.

In other news, one Leeds player is desperate to prove himself to Bielsa. Have a read who it is here!

Liverpool are in desperate need of defensive reinforcements as they juggle the seemingly endless injury woes dealt to them this season. Whilst Virgil van Dijk may not play another game this term, Joel Matip and stand-in defender Fabinho are also out of action.

The Reds’ Champions League clash against Midtjylland saw teenager Rhys Williams step up to the plate. Whilst he did a solid job and was lauded by Trent Alexander-Arnold for his efforts, Jurgen Klopp can’t rely on him for the long-term.

The German would also be foolish to place all his trust in Fabinho, who is primarily a midfielder. After already suffering an injury, Klopp’s tensions will be high over a second occurrence. Signing a new centre-back in January is an absolute must for the Premier League champions, who could see their chances this season slip if they don’t take action.

Liverpool interested in Antonio Rudiger

Amid Chelsea’s lavish summer spending spree, Roman Abramovich stressed the importance of balancing the books by offloading some senior personnel. Antonio Rudiger was named amongst the players being lined up for the chop and Liverpool are reportedly monitoring the situation, according to Mundo Deportivo.

Despite falling down the pecking order, Frank Lampard opted to start the Germany international in Chelsea’s match against FC Krasnodar on Wednesday. The Blues breezed to a 4-0 win, with Rudiger registering the highest passing percentage out of anyone else on the pitch with 97% (via Sofascore).

He misplaced just three passes during the full 90 minutes and whilst his defensive contributions weren’t groundbreaking, he would suit playing alongside Joe Gomez. The England international does well to get stuck into the action by putting in interceptions, tackles and clearances each game. Rudiger’s calm passing and contribution to the attack would balance Gomez’s more defensive game well.

A replacement for Lovren

Despite Lampard’s disinterest in the defender, the 27-year-old has earned a lot of praise from others. Garth Crooks recently lauded Rudiger’s abilities, naming him in his BBC Sport Team of the Season for 2019/20.

“His performances have been outstanding during a difficult period for the Blues,” the ex-striker wrote. “Every time I watch this lad play I am bowled over by his enthusiasm and competitive nature. A man for a crisis.”

Liverpool are certainly in a crisis. They will need a tried-and-tested centre-back come January and Rudiger could be the answer as a quick fix until van Dijk returns from his lengthy injury. Even after the Dutchman recovers from his ACL damage, Rudiger will serve as a strong back-up, after the Reds failed to replace Dejan Lovren in the summer.

According to ESPN, the west Londoners would be looking to get £20million for the sale of the German, which is a friendly amount to fill a position desperately in need.

In other news, Champions League display doesn’t mean Liverpool can rely on Rhys Williams…

Former Premier League striker Marlon Harewood has suggested that RB Leipzig centre back Dayot Upamecano is the “sort of calibre” Liverpool need to pursue in January.

Upamecano to Anfield?

The 22-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Merseyside in recent months, which ramped up on the back of their devastating injury crisis they have been forced to overcome at the heart of their defence.

First-team starters Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez have been ruled out for the majority of the season due to serious knee injuries, leaving Joel Matip as the only experienced centre-back at Jurgen Klopp’s disposal.

Upamecano has been touted as the man who can step into Van Dijk’s shoes, having been described as a “formidable” defender by ex-Manchester United man Rio Ferdinand (cited by the Independent).

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, Harewood believes that the three-cap France International is the type of player Liverpool should go for, at the risk of upsetting a few players in the process.

He questioned: “Can you see that back four changing after, when Van Dijk is back? If he replaces him, then you’re going to be upsetting someone that’s doing well.

“It’s difficult one. I would say if Liverpool want to stay the best, be the best, they are the players that they have to get.”

Harewood continued: “That’s the calibre of centre half I think they’ll definitely be needing to get (Upamecano).”

Transfer Tavern Verdict

Liverpool really have to find a solution to their problems at the back and fast.

Valued at £54m by TransferMarkt, Liverpool would be expected to pay a huge fee for Leipzig’s crown jewel, with clubs undoubtedly taking financial advantage of their perilous and agonising predicament.

Time will tell what will happen and if Liverpool can get to the end of the Christmas with no further setbacks, but they could do a lot worse than splashing the cash on a rising star in Upamecano.

In other news, Liverpool suffer seismic blow as agent of ‘outstanding’ defender confirms plans of move to PL rivals.

Marcel Brands and Carlo Ancelotti will be regretting seeing Juventus snub their offer for Turkish talent Merih Demiral this summer, having identified the centre-back as a potential option to bolster the Everton backline.

What’s the word?

According to Tuttosport, Everton were one of many sides to have approached Juve this summer looking to complete a deal to lure Demiral away from the Allianz Stadium.

It is thought that as much as half the Premier League reached out to the Serie A behemoth in the hope that Demiral would be available for a transfer, having started just five top-flight fixtures last season under former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri.

Demiral spent much of the campaign on the bench but missed six months through a cruciate ligament rupture suffered shortly after the turn of the year, sustained during a 2-1 win over AS Roma in which the 22-year-old struck the opening goal for his first and only of the term.

Juventus are believed to have offered a firm “no, thank you” to any approach for Demiral this summer, including from the likes of AC Milan, Manchester United, Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Turin outfit were fixed in their stance that the £24.3m-rated talent would be one of just a handful of players who would not be leaving their clutches under any circumstances, as they consider Demiral to be a future pillar of their defence alongside Matthijs de Ligt.

Everton’s regret

There is no doubt that Brands and Ancelotti will be regretting seeing Juventus snub their offer for Demiral, as his arrival could have signalled Everton beginning to build their own European rivalling backline given how highly-rated the 22-year-old is in Turin.

Demiral is also said to be growing anxious on the bench at the Allianz Stadium and wishes to transform his position as a future gem into the now and be playing regularly, something that could have been on offer at Goodison Park.

Even before Demiral joined the Old Lady in the summer of 2019, he was earning vast praise for his efforts for Sassuolo, having been lauded by WhoScored via Turkish Football as the second-best performing Under 21 footballer in Europe’s top-five leagues behind only PSG wonderkid Kylian Mbappe.

Indeed, in that campaign he was averaging a whopping 5.6 clearances per game, as well as 1.7 tackles and 1.4 interceptions (WhoScored).

Minutes on the field for Juve have been hard to come by since Andrea Pirlo succeeded Sarri, with his sole outing to date lasting the final seven minutes in a 3-0 win over Sampdoria, but Demiral is already a regular for Turkey’s first-string and earned his 14th senior cap on Wednesday in a 3-3 draw with Germany.

AND in other news, Everton were shown what they missed this summer as a £10m former target thrived on the international stage.