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Journalist Pete O’Rourke says that reported January transfer target Mykhaylo Mudryk would be a ‘real exciting signing’ for Everton.

The Lowdown: Scouts sent

It was reported in September that scouts from Goodison Park were in attendance to watch Mudryk play for Ukraine in their 3-0 loss away to Scotland in the UEFA Nations League.

However, other Premier League scouts were also in attendance, including from Brentford, Brighton and Hove Albion, Leeds United, Newcastle United, West Ham United, Wolves, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Thus, the Shakhtar Donetsk winger is expected to be a player in high demand come the January transfer window.

The Latest: Exciting signing

Speaking to The Transfer Tavern, O’Rourke has claimed that Mudryk would be a ‘real exciting signing’ for the Merseyside club, and also a ‘great addition’ to the Premier League in general:

“I think it’d be a real exciting signing not just for Everton but for the Premier League.

“I think he’d be a great addition to the league, to see how he’d cope with playing in the Premier League as well, but for Everton he would definitely be a great addition to the side. 

“What he could add to their side going forward – pace, trickery, goals and assists, any manager would want that in their team.

“And I’m sure Frank Lampard would love that as well.”

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The Verdict: Difficult

Given Mudryk’s meteoric rise this season, with four goal contributions in the UEFA Champions League already and four other assists in Ukraine’s Primera Liga (Transfermarkt), it will be very difficult for Frank Lampard’s side to attract Mudryk to the club in January.

Top clubs around Europe, including those who can offer him Champions League football, are likely to be higher up in the pecking order than the Toffees, and so they may have to move on to other targets.

Nonetheless, the top flight is still an attractive proposition, and with the right offer, perhaps Mudryk could be persuaded to join the Blues.

Aston Villa would need to make a ‘huge offer’ to tempt Mauricio Pochettino to Villa Park but are still backing Steven Gerrard, according to reporter Sean Walsh.

The Lowdown: Pochettino rumours

Villa fell to a 2-0 home defeat on Sunday against Chelsea to pile the pressure on Gerrard’s future in the Midlands.

Reports from The Telegraph on Monday revealed that Villa will make an ‘ambitious attempt to convince Pochettino to step back into management’, with Gerrard facing a pivotal week in charge.

They added that a positive result against Fulham or Brentford may not be enough for Gerrard, with rumours late on Monday even claiming he’s been sacked.

The Latest: Walsh’s update

Walsh, who writes for 90min, took to Twitter on Monday evening to share what he knows on Villa’s managerial situation.

He understands that ‘it would have to take a huge offer from Villa’ for Pochettino to consider a move to the Midlands, with the ‘club saying they’re behind Gerrard anyway’.

The Verdict: Moving at pace

Gerrard’s future appears to be hanging by the balance and it looks as if the walls may be closing in on his time as Villa manager after just 11 months, where he has overseen 39 games in charge.

The club have over 48 hours until their trip to Fulham, so NSWE may well look at making a switch before that game. There are plenty of different reports emerging from Villa Park, though, so the coming 24 hours could prove pivotal in regards to Gerrard possibly receiving a final lifeline as Villa boss.

Finance expert Daniel Plumley has been reacting to off-field news that will impact Leeds United during the World Cup.

The Lowdown: £189m

The World Cup is fast approaching, with Leeds having just five Premier League fixtures left to fulfil before the break in domestic action.

Jesse Marsch may be without a number of first-team players during the break, but it turns out Leeds and other clubs will receive £9,000-per-day for each player from their squad remaining in the World Cup. FIFA have put aside £189m to help clubs during the tournament in Qatar, and Plumley has given his thoughts to the news.

The Latest: Plumley’s comments

Plumley, who contributes for Sky Sports, was talking to MOT Leeds News regarding the World Cup payments. He labelled it as ‘a bonus for Leeds’ and news that will be welcomed by Whites chiefs.

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“Every little helps. It’s absolutely a bonus for Leeds in this regard. It’s just a nice little windfall to get and in this example as well, they have the benefit of getting that money from those players who have since moved on and also, they’re not worried about them injured and not being available to play when they get back as they’re at someone else’s club.

“When you look at those numbers, it’s a welcome boost to the coffers and every little bit of revenue you can get is a bonus in the Premier League.”

The Verdict: How many?

Leeds may have a number of representatives at the World Cup, with Rasmus Kristensen, Diego Llorente, Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson almost certain to be on the plane to Qatar with their respective countries. Robin Koch, Pascal Struijk and Mateusz Klich may also get the nod for their nations, which could result in a nice windfall for Leeds.

You’d expect that Leeds would be happy if players return from the major tournament early, and although squad members making it into the latter stages of the competition will result in a financial benefit for the club, Marsch will simply be hoping none of them come back injured.

Arsenal slumped to just their second defeat of the campaign against PSV Eindhoven in Thursday evening’s Europa League clash.

The 2-0 loss means that Mikel Arteta’s side now have to defeat Zurich next week to guarantee their spot in the last 16 as Group A winners.

PSV were utterly dominant throughout the match, securing the win with two second-half goals from Joey Veerman and Luuk de Jong, while also having a further three goals ruled out for offside.

There were far too many passengers in an Arsenal shirt. Eddie Nketiah made just 12 passes during the match and Granit Xhaka lost possession 13 times, but perhaps their most underwhelming performance came from Brazilian winger Gabriel Martinelli.

The 21-year-old has been excellent in the Premier League this season, scoring four goals and registering two assists, but he found it tough to create any sort of meaningful chance against the Eredivisie outfit.

Usually so efficient on the wing with his dribble attempts (58% success rate in the league) he only tried two dribbles last night and failed with both.

Martinelli had two shots during the match, with one going off target and the other blocked, also missing a big chance. His crossing was uncharacteristically poor, delivering just one into the opposition box from four attempts.

Defensively, the winger wasn’t much better. He lost possession a staggering 18 times, the highest number in the Arsenal starting XI and he won just 25% of his duels against PSV.

It was a wasteful performance from the Brazilian. These are games which require a solid end product and it just wasn’t good enough from him against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men.

The Europa League hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Martinelli this season, averaging a SofaScore rating of just 6.82 while contributing zero goals or assists in five matches.

Arsenal face Nottingham Forest on Sunday, giving them an excellent chance to bounce back with a victory. Arteta will be looking for a much-improved performance from the 21-year-old against the side  who are bottom of the Premier League.

Leeds United head into Saturday night’s Premier League meeting against Liverpool in a disastrous run of form, with Jesse Marsch’s side last picking up three points in the division back in August, having since lost six of their eight top-flight fixtures.

However, with the 48-year-old revealing in his pre-match press conference that he has a number of injury concerns ahead of the trip to Anfield. Joe Gelhardt, Rodrigo, Luis Sinisterra, Leo Fuhr Hjelde, Tyler Adams and Liam Cooper are all doubts, while Adam Forshaw and Stuart Dallas remain sidelined, so getting a result against the Reds would not appear overly likely.

However, considering the Whites’ poor results in recent months, coupled with an away day against last season’s Champions League runners-up being something of a free hit, perhaps these fitness concerns could afford Marsch the opportunity to hand some valuable first-team minutes to a number of his more exciting youth prospects at Thorp Arch.

One such talent who is yet to make a senior appearance for Leeds – despite the club shelling out £5m in order to bring him to Elland Road this summer – is 18-year-old forward Wilfried Gnonto.

Initially, it had appeared that the Italy international had quickly jumped ahead of Gelhardt in Marsch’s attacking pecking order, with the teenager being named on the bench in the 0-0 draw with Aston Villa at the start of October – a game in which the former Wigan Athletic starlet was left out of the American’s squad altogether.

However, despite making a further wonderkid” – in the words of Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig – regularly catching the eye in Michael Skubala’s under-21 side, the 48-year-old is yet to afford the youngster his first senior minutes for the Whites.

With both Rodrigo and Gelhardt now unlikely to be fit to feature against the Reds tonight, though, Italy’s youngest-ever goalscorer – who Roberto Mancini claimed is “like few others” – could finally be handed his chance to shine in the first-team at Anfield.

Considering the hype surrounding the six-cap international’s ability, coupled with his impressive showings for the under-21s, it would indeed appear wise for Marsch to let the £9m-rated talent loose against Liverpool.

Indeed, Gnonto’s “lively” presence in the Whites’ attack could well cause a Reds defence which has already shipped 13 league goals all manner of problems tonight.

Wolves striker Raul Jimenez will return to England this week to continue his recovery from a groin injury, reliable journalist Liam Keen has confirmed.

The Lowdown: Jimenez recovering from injury

The 31-year-old has been missing for Wanderers since getting injured earlier in the season, with his most recent appearance coming against Bournemouth on August 31st.

Jimenez has been back in his homeland of Mexico recovering in recent times, with his absence a lengthy one that hasn’t helped Wolves’ current plight at all.

Now, it looks as though the Mexican is slowly edging towards his return, following a new update.

The Latest: Strike set to fly back

Taking to Twitter, The Express & Star‘s Keen confirmed that Jimenez would be returning to England on Friday:

“Raul Jimenez is flying back into England on Friday after 3 weeks in Mexico to continue his rehab from a groin injury at Compton.”

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The Verdict: Small step at a time

While this isn’t necessarily too major an update, in terms of Jimenez suddenly being fit again, returning to Wolves could be a sign that he is done with one stage of his recovery.

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It certainly feels unlikely that the striker, who has been hailed as ‘special’ by Nuno Espirito Santo, will be fit before the World Cup, however, with anything else a bonus.

The hope is that Jimenez will be able to feature in the tournament, though, in what is surely likely to be his swansong for Mexico, having scored 29 goals in 96 caps.

Wolves reporter for The Athletic Steve Madeley has ripped into Nelson Semedo after his red card at home to Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League.

The Lowdown: Semedo off

Semedo was sent off in the first half after bundling over Kaoru Mitoma when he could have eventually got a shot away.

The referee gave him a straight red card, and after a check by VAR, the decision stood, leaving the Molineux outfit to play the second half with ten men.

The Latest: Madeley rips into Semedo

Taking to Twitter, Madeley claimed that Semedo’s defending was ‘dreadful’ to put himself in the position to foul Mitoma:

“VAR checks but the red card stands. Foul on Mitoma. I think that’s harsh, but it was dreadful defending from Semedo to put himself in that position.”

Madeley did question whether Mitoma had a clear goalscoring opportunity after Semedo’s mistake, but admitted that the right-back was ‘really poor’ in his challenge:

“Semedo completely ‘done’ by Mitoma and then bundles his over. Was it a ‘clear goalscoring opportunity’? Hmm. But Semedo really poor.”

The Verdict: Let his team down

Semedo certainly let his team down by going in so clumsily on Mitoma, and the £77,000-per-week man was always susceptible to getting sent off in that kind of area of the football pitch.

The home side had worked hard to get themselves in front through a Ruben Neves penalty, after Goncalo Guedes had equalised following Adam Lallana’s opener.

But Mitoma got the visitors level, and Semedo clearly did not fancy himself up against the Japan international upon making his run, and in the end cost his side as Pascal Gross scored a late winner.

With Diego Costa getting himself sent off last weekend, new manager Julen Lopetegui must not like what he is seeing from the Wanderers in terms of their discipline.

Leeds United are reportedly leading the race to sign Birmingham City starlet, George Hall, with the teenager seemingly in line for an exit from St Andrew’s in the near future.

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, the Premier League outfit are in ‘pole position’ to sign the 18-year-old in January, with the suggestion being that an exit from the Blues is now “inevitable” for the highly-rated youngster.

The report claims that the England U19 international is somewhat disappointed at his lack of game time with his current side, with only five of his 16 Championship appearances this season having come from the off.

As the piece also outlines, the Redditch-born starlet was reportedly the subject of a £3m offer by the Yorkshire side back in the summer, with Elland Road transfer chief Victor Orta seemingly now eyeing an improved bid in the New Year.

Leeds’ own Bellingham

Despite making just 18 appearances for Birmingham at senior level thus far, it is no doubt impressive that Hall has managed to rack up that tally at such a young age, having notably signed his first professional contract with the Midlands side just under a year ago.

The exciting prospect – who has one goal and one assist to his name in the second tier this season – is no doubt highly thought of by those at his current side, with U18 coach Martyn Olorenshaw saying at the time of the player’s new deal:

“He is an attacking midfielder with an ability to create and score goals. He is explosive, dynamic and has the prowess to influence games. He is a really exciting player that has the ceiling to achieve whatever he wants to achieve.

“He has received international recognition recently which is a huge achievement, a testament to all his hard work and a reflection of his character.”

That assessment will likely have piqued the interest of Orta and co, with the hope now that the Whites can poach what is yet another promising talent to have emerged from the Birmingham youth set-up, with Hall’s current teammate Jobe Bellingham also making his mark under John Eustace at the age of just 17.

It is the latter man’s older brother whom Hall will likely be looking to emulate, however, with Jesse Marsch’s side no doubt hoping to have their own version of midfield star Jude Bellingham on their hands if a deal can be struck.

The Borussia Dortmund colossus is himself still only at the early stages of his career at the tender age of 19, although has blossomed since leaving St Andrew’s two years ago in order to make the move to Germany on a £25m deal, with 40 goal involvements in just 119 games for the Bundesliga giants thus far.

Now a regular England international, the 17-cap superstar – who was named in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for the upcoming World Cup earlier this week – has emerged as the “hottest youngster in world football” at present, in the words of Wayne Rooney, while also recently finishing second in the Golden Boy award rankings.

A player now seemingly on the radar of a host of Europe’s top clubs – including Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City – the £87m-rated sensation looks destined to only go from strength to strength in the years to come, having shown no ill-effect of leaving his former club so swiftly.

The hope will be that Hall – who like Bellingham also operates in central midfield – can follow a similar trajectory if he is to make the move to Elland Road, with Orta simply needing to get a deal over the line.

Wolverhampton Wanderers might need to delve into the transfer market when the January window opens due to their Premier League form this season leaving them rooted to the bottom of the top-flight table.

Julen Lopetegui will no doubt want to bring in a few new faces, and several links have already emerged, with one player the Spaniard knows extremely well from his spell at Real Madrid.

Nacho Fernandez has been linked with a move to Wolves and a reunion with the 56-year-old – who managed him for 11 matches during the early stages of 2018/2019 before being sacked by Real Madrid – has potential.

The defender has been stalling on a new contract at the Bernabeu having seen his game time limited this season, playing just 414 minutes.

Having let Conor Coady join Everton on a season-long loan deal in the summer, the Old Gold’s defence has conceded 24 league goals.

They have struggled to replace his leadership and defensive qualities, and it was a big mistake for Bruno Lage to let him go in the first place, but Fernandez can be a dream heir to the Englishman if he joined the club.

The £129k-per-week defender has won every major honour possible while at Real Madrid, including five Champions League titles while making 247 appearances for one of the most successful club sides in the world.

With Nathan Collins, Max Kilman, Toti and Yerson Mosquera the only senior centre-backs in the squad, Lopetegui will certainly need to add some depth in this position ahead of a crucial second half of the season, and Nacho would be an ideal signing.

Due to his contract situation, a reunion with Lopetegui could occur in January, with Real Madrid unlikely to expect a high transfer fee, they might be more than willing to sanction a deal.

Former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane dubbed the Spaniard “important” whenever he plays, and he has all the required attributes to shine in the Premier League and Lopetegui may well find that he can be the perfect Coady heir in the process.

Leeds United head into the break for the Qatar World Cup with something of a mixed bag of results behind them this season, with Jesse Marsch’s side currently sitting 15th in the Premier League table on 15 points – having won four, drawn three and lost seven of their 14 top-flight fixtures in the current campaign.

However, while these returns on paper do not appear all that impressive, it is undeniable that things have picked up for the Whites in recent weeks, with Marsch leading his side to a spectacular 2-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield, a 4-3 comeback victory over Bournemouth at Elland Road and a narrow but thrilling 4-3 loss to Tottenham Hotspur over their last three league outings.

Nevertheless, it is certain that the 48-year-old American will be using the World Cup break to plan for the upcoming transfer window and to work on Leeds’ tactical set-up in a bid to give his side the best possible chance of avoiding another fight for survival come the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

And, while Marsch works on things at Thorp Arch, why not tuck into a bit of extracurricular work of your own by taking the Football FanCast Leeds World Cup transfer quiz? We bet you can’t get 100%…