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According to Chris Sutton via The Evening Times, Rangers have panicked on the last day of the transfer window in splashing the cash on Ryan Kent. An act that according to Sutton is “a final throw of the dice and an act of desperation from Rangers”.

Where do you even start with this? Almost as soon as last season ended in The Herald, Steven Gerrard made it clear that he wanted to sign Kent for at least another season with the Rangers manager believing that another loan deal was their best chance of getting him back up the M6.

Rangers first fixture of the season was on the 9th of July which meant transfer business had to be done early. With Kyle Lafferty, Eduardo Herrera, Eros Grezda and Daniel Candeias all deemed surplus to requirements by The Sun, re-enforcements had to be secured as soon as possible. Glenn Middleton was also allowed to leave which left Rangers short in attacking areas.

Sutton questioned the signings of Jake Hastie, now on loan at Rotherham United, Greg Stewart, Jordan Jones and Sheyi Ojo. He raised doubts over Kent being the one they always wanted, and if so, why bother with them?

Hastie showed great promise in the second half of last season, he’s far from the finished article but Rangers were able to pick him up for a meagre development fee after his Motherwell contract ended. If it doesn’t work out Rangers will still be able to sell him at a profit.  Jones was signed for free, as was Stewart and Ojo is on loan from Liverpool.

There is a recurring theme here. Four players signed for almost nothing. Three of them with proven league experience. Ojo and Jones have already contributed significantly in getting Rangers to the Europa League group stages. Stewart so far, has struggled to make an impact but he is clearly seen as third choice behind Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe. He has, however, managed a couple of assists in less than 200 minutes of competitive action.

The Kent “saga” has always been quite open and honest between the three parties – Kent, Rangers and Liverpool. Liverpool didn’t want to loan him out again. Rangers couldn’t afford to buy him at the initial £10m fee quoted and Kent wanted to sign for Rangers. There were a few key moments that would decide Kent’s destination. The most important, for Rangers, being that no clubs in England were successful in trying to sign him on a permanent deal. The second, is Rangers qualifying for the Europa League group stages.

Both of these factors meant the deal was always going to go down to the last week and days of the transfer window. Gerrard said as much. And it did. Coincidentally, the last day of the Scottish transfer window was the day after Rangers were defeated in the Old Firm derby at Ibrox.  Michael Stewart went down the “where are they getting the money from” route, whilst Sutton got his fishing rod out.

Rangers signing a young, promising, long-term target for almost half the original quoted price and as the previous season’s Young Player of the Year is the very definition of a sound transfer policy. Not quite risk free, but not far off it. The Guardian even rated it as one of the ten best value for money deals in Europe this summer.

Sutton should look closer to home if he wants the textbook panic signing. His old club Celtic payed £3m for a left-back on deadline day after they had already signed a left-back for £3m earlier in the window.  Has his old friend Neil Lennon decided Boli Bolingoli might not be up to the job after just a few games? Sutton tried his best, bless him, but the biggest catch was Rangers clinching the deal of a player that tore Sutton’s beloved Celtic apart on more than one occasion last season. Kent will be a key player for Rangers if they want to dislodge Celtic from the top of Scottish football, only time will tell if it is £7m well spent.

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Georginio Wijnaldum is impressing in his appearances for the Netherlands and Liverpool fans are pleased with what they have seen from him during the latest international break.

The 28-year-old seems to have been given greater freedom by national team manager Ronald Koeman than what he usually enjoys at Anfield, and that has resulted in two goals in matches against Germany and Estonia.

He appears to be enjoying his time away with the national team, too, and will arrive in Merseyside bang in form ahead of the Reds’ clash against his former side Newcastle at the weekend.

Some Liverpool fans wish he’d display a similar kind of goalscoring form at club level, whilst one fan has compared him to previous Netherlands great Clarence Seedorf.

Wijnaldum has scored 12 goals in 56 games for his country, helping them to the UEFA Nations League final in June alongside his club teammate Virgil van Dijk.

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By comparison, he has scored just one more goal for the Reds in 145 games, which explains why fans are so impressed by his recent displays, as evidenced by the reactions below.

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Wolves’ run of poor form in the Premier League continued at the hands of Chelsea with the visitors coming out on top with a 5-2 victory at Molineux.

Frank Lampard’s side picked up just their second win of the season, a back-to-back away one at that too as the Wanderers continue to struggle in the league.

The scenes pre-game were undoubtedly a mirror image of what was to come – the Wolves faithful at that point were unknowing about how the game would eventually pan out, but they were hopeful especially with Chelsea facing a critical absence in defence with Emerson Palmieri’s injury – he was averaging the highest rating of any other Blues player before the match at 7.57.

Nuno Santo made four changes to the side that lost to Everton before the international break – one of which was forced due to the red card Willy Boly picked up at Goodison Park, so in came Jesus Vallejo while Romain Saiss also dropped into defence.

The man of the moment, Tammy Abraham, netted three goals as well as an own goal as he tore apart Wolves’ rotated backline.

All three of his Chelsea goals came within 21 minutes of each other, beginning in the 34th minute to make it seven for the season – tied with Sergio Aguero for most goals scored this campaign.

Saiss certainly felt the strain of coming up against the 21-year-old, who has been in red hot form in the last three matches.

His dejected look was merely one that the whole squad would have been feeling as the hunt for a first Premier League victory this season rumbles on.

The game featured a number of young stars, in part thanks to Chelsea’s transfer ban, but Morgan Gibbs-White did have a moment for his former Young Lions midfield partner Mason Mount.

Mount earned his first England cap last week after being called up to Gareth Southgate’s squad for qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo while Gibbs-White played in the Under-21’s Euro qualifiers.

Lampard came away as the happier of the two managers – all of Chelsea’s goals this season have come from academy graduates.

That’s Abraham, Mount and Fikayo Tomori, the latter two he managed at Derby County last season.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

During pre-season, one of Leeds’ main concerns was with their defence.

Pontus Jansson had walked out of the door for Brentford while they shipped four goals against Manchester United in Australia too.

It wasn’t the ideal start to life without the Swedish central defender but the impressive Ben White has come in and looked a class above in the Championship, winning the PFA Fans’ Player of the Month award for August.

Marcelo Bielsa has disclosed his ability to play in a holding role in midfield but despite his displays so far, there is still one area where he’s failed to fully help the Whites.

On the chalkboard

Last term Bielsa said that defending set-pieces was an issue so losing the aerial threat of Jansson was unlikely to help. That has indeed been the case this term too as the Argentine admitted: “We speculate, but it’s true set-pieces are difficult for us.”

The former Leeds centre-back won a colossal 4.9 aerial duels last term which would have played some hand in helping to get rid of the danger in those sorts of situations.

However, when it’s come to defending in 2019/20, there are still plenty off issues in this regard.

Leeds have only conceded three goals but two of them have come from set-pieces. If it wasn’t for Kiko Casilla that would have gone up to three or potentially even higher at the weekend.

The presence of Aapo Halme and Mads Andersen caused Bielsa’s men plenty of difficulties last Sunday as the pair had four efforts between them from dead balls into the area.

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With White in defence, they conceded a sloppy goal against Nottingham Forest from a corner while they failed to clear a set-piece sufficiently versus Swansea which led to Wayne Routledge’s late strike.

The Brighton loanee has won 2.1 tackles and made 3.9 interceptions per game according to WhoScored but when it comes to battles in the box, he and the rest of the defence have looked up against it on a regular basis.

Had it not been for corners, Leeds would have only conceded once this season so there is clearly an issue there. It’s not a case of White’s aerial presence either because he’s won 3.3 duels in those scenarios each outing.

It’s difficult to slate the 21-year-old’s performance but there is still a naivety to Leeds’ defence that can be exploited from dead balls. They must be wary of this as the season plays out.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Harvey Elliott had a debut to remember against MK Dons and he has received plaudits from Jurgen Klopp for his performance.

He is still only 16 years of age but played with the composure and intelligence of a player ten years his senior, and the ease at which he slotted into the first-team could mean he has earned a place in the matchday squad on a more regular basis.

Liverpool brought him to the club over the summer for a compensation fee which could reportedly cost up to £7m, and given his display it is already looking like a bargain signing.

Although he should be proud with how he played, Elliott will likely be kicking himself for failing to open the scoring for his side, striking the bar from a matter of yards out with the goalkeeper not in a position to make a save.

Opening his account against the League One side would have made him the club’s youngest ever goalscorer, eclipsing Ben Woodburn who found the target when he was 17 years and 45 days old.

Nevertheless, there were many positive aspects of his performance, and the early signs suggest he could have a successful career with the Reds.

He was involved in play throughout and operated in a similar style to Mo Salah, often cutting inside in order to use his stronger left-foot whilst beating players in the process.

Elliott was able to use his pace and close control to great advantage, though his crossing let him down on occasion. However, of the one cross which did find a man – James Milner – the ball should’ve hit the back of the net, so he can consider himself unlucky not to have had an assist.

The former Fulham man used the ball effectively in a variety of ways, as shown through his stats on WhoScored, with four successful dribbles proving he is a tricky player who opponents find difficult to manage, and he has an eye for a pass too.

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That will be important in persuading Jurgen Klopp to give him a chance, as he will need to link up with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino in the same fashion Mo Salah does, as the Egyptian’s goal against Newcastle epitomised.

The youngster proved he was capable of doing that on Wednesday, finishing the match with a pass success accuracy of 87%, with three key passes also showing that he can create chances for his teammates.

Young players are often raw and can let themselves down with their decision-making, but Elliott was calm throughout whilst not being afraid to express his talent.

Such temperament will be key to earning Klopp’s trust and if he can make improvements to his game over the coming months, particularly in regard to his crossing and shooting, then he could soon become a first-team player.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

Not many predicted Real Madrid drawing 2-2 with Club Brugge at the Santiago Bernabeu.

And not to mention that this happened in the coveted Champions League, the competition very much ruled by Los Blancos and Zinedine Zidane.

But this season we never know what kind of Real Madrid will walk out of that dressing room and onto the pitch. Will it be the one that is finally finding their groove in Spain, topping La Liga? Or is it going to be the one fluffing their lines in the Champions League, tallying just a point in their first two games?

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Of course, despite their heroic comeback that secured a draw, we got the latter version when Brugge visited the Spanish capital.

And one player, in particular, had an excellent game, as he took full advantage of the disoriented players in white.

The 21-year-old Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis has so far been blowing hot and cold back in Jupiler League in Belgium. In the six games he has played, he has managed to score twice, and not many actually expected him to explode at the Santiago Bernabeu.

But he very much did, scoring twice against Real and doing so in a total of just three shots on the night. He also registered three successful dribbles and 57.1% passing accuracy. His passing was not really great but seeing how Real Madrid had 74% possession themselves, he wasn’t really given a chance to express himself on the ball, making his goals all the more impressive.

Dennis also tallied two long balls and even had one tackle to his name throughout the 70 minutes he spent on the pitch.

Whenever he got a chance, he took it and made Real suffer.

And yes, the Galacticos came back in the second half, but that still doesn’t take anything away from this gigantic performance in the heart of Madrid.

Not to mention that he celebrated both goals with Cristiano Ronaldo’s signature move, probably adding some insult to injury for the Galacticos.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

The Athletic’s Phil Hay has expressed his concerns with Leeds and their inability to find a solution to break down Charlton at the weekend – issuing his thoughts on Twitter.

What’s he said?

Typical Leeds. That’s how Saturday afternoon at The Valley felt.

Marcelo Bielsa men dominated possession, perhaps by their most dominating number yet this season at 71.6%.

They also had 19 shots but they failed to score as they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat. The Whites got themselves in multiple positions but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Eddie Nketiah and Adam Forshaw went close but they were ultimately left to settle for their first dropped points away from home this season.

It was a game that caused concern, understandably so given they dropped to fourth, but Hay gave his assessment the day after. He said:

Where will the answers come from?

Despite the fact Leeds couldn’t find the back of the net, their lack of ability in finding an answer to Charlton’s resistance was alarming.

It was rather ironic that what fans had demanded didn’t come off either.

Helder Costa has been the topic of debate in recent weeks, as has Nketiah but neither of them were able to cough up the goods.

The former was particularly disappointing in losing possession of the ball 17 times while the Arsenal loanee also missed a wonderful chance at the near post.

Bielsa has teased playing him and Patrick Bamford as a pairing for some time now but they met by a stubborn Addicks defence who were intent on not conceding.

They played well together against Brentford as the former Boro man created the space for Nketiah inside the area but this time there was no such fortune, perhaps because of how little they’ve played alongside each other.

The change to a 3-5-2 system had worked against Stoke last month when they won 3-0 but this was another solution that failed to work.

Perhaps starting Nketiah on his own could work or bringing Tyler Roberts back into the starting XI can provide a fix.

Only time will tell.

Everton fans have seemingly had enough of Marco Silva and have already taken to Twitter to debate who they want to see in charge at Goodison Park next.

In recent times, the club have been linked with the likes of Laurent Blanc and Erik ten Hag, whilst Eddie Howe’s name has also been thrown into the equation by some supporters.

There seems little doubt that the pressure is on Silva, as the club are now in the drop zone on just seven points from eight games. Goalscoring has been the Toffees’ main concern, netting just six times so far – only Newcastle United and Watford have less.

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Ten Hag was thrust into the limelight last season when his Ajax side won the league and cup double and narrowly missed out on a Champions League final. As for Blanc, he has been out of managerial role since 2016 when he left Paris Saint-Germain after three successful years in the French capital where he won the league title in each attempt.

Of course, Howe continues to impress Premier League fans, with his Bournemouth side cementing themselves as not just English top flight regulars, but contenders for the top half also.

However, here’s what the fans have had to say…

Loads of Tottenham Hotspur fans on Twitter have called for their club to sign Aston Villa centre-back Tyrone Mings after he made his England debut against Bulgaria on Monday night.

What should have been a memorable occasion for the 26-year-old certainly was, but not for the right reasons as the game in Sofia was overshadowed by racism from certain sections of the home support.

Nevertheless, the defender impressed alongside Harry Maguire at the heart of the Three Lions’ backline, and according to SofaScore he won four of the six duels he faced throughout the encounter, as well as making one clearance, one interception and one tackle in the Bulgarian capital.

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Meanwhile, Spurs may well be searching for a new centre-back either in January or next summer, with the contracts of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen both expiring then, and with no developments on them potentially extending their stay in north London.

Tottenham supporters were quick to praise Mings, who only joined Villa for in a £26.5m deal during the summer, for his display on Monday, with many urging their club to bring him in.

While one said “sign him in Jan, please Levy”, another said they’d “happily take Mings as a replacement for Toby Alderweireld”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

And now it’s official and confirmed by both sides involved – El Clasico won’t be played next weekend, but instead we will get the clash of the titans closer to Christmas.

Real Madrid and Barcelona would both like it to be on 18 December, says their statement, but even though we know for sure the clash is being moved, the date is yet to be confirmed by the league.

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However, many Real Madrid fans are fuming about the potential new date because it makes Los Blancos’ schedule that much worse.

If El Clasico was to be played a week before Christmas day, that would mean the Galacticos would have it sandwiched between Valencia and Athletic Club, two really tricky opponents.

For that reason, some of the fans seem to believe Real Madrid shot their own foot with this deal that they appear to have negotiated with the Blaugrana.

Many were fuming at the upper hierarchy for agreeing on such a thing, and even stated the club is run by clowns.

You can see some of their reactions and comments down in the tweets below.

Check them out…