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In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, ex-Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has urged Bertrand Traore to step up, especially in the absence of Jack Grealish.

Following Villa’s recent 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, another former player of the Midlands club, Alan Hutton, criticised Dean Smith’s attack. Traore, Trezeguet, Anwar El Ghazi and Ross Barkley were all namechecked by the Scotsman for not doing enough, something that Hendrie agrees with.

Overall, Traore has arguably had a good season. Since joining from Lyon in the last summer transfer window, the 25-year-old has managed to score five goals and provide three assists in the Premier League.

He has scored one league goal less than Grealish, putting things into perspective, but the Burkina Faso international’s failure to provide much in his team-mate’s absence has become a concern for the likes of Hendrie and Hutton.

Reacting to what Hutton had to say, Hendrie told FFC:

“I think what Hutts is talking about is that with Jack not being in the frame, you need standout players, you need exciting players that are going to step up to the plate and fulfil Jack’s role, because otherwise you’re going to get branded as almost a one-man team.

“So, yes, I’m totally, totally with Hutts on that because when you’ve got someone of his [Traore] ability, that’s where he needs to come on and be that player.”

The ex-Villa player concluded by saying:

“Hutton is dead right. When he’s [Grealish] not in there, who’s going to be that man? Who’s going to be that focal point that’s going to be the next best thing? Traore should be, he should be.”

Traore will have the chance to add to his goal tally when Villa take on Fulham at home in the Premier League after the international break.

Lee Johnson has breathed fresh life into this Sunderland team and they are now currently sitting comfortably in the playoff places.

Though, if there was one negative to take from his reign at the Stadium of Light, it would be constant injury problems.

On the chalkboard

Johnson’s tenure has been plagued with fitness and injury concerns. At the moment, he has three centre-backs missing in Bailey Wright, Jordan Willis and Tom Flanagan. He is also missing his full-backs in Conor McLaughlin and Denver Hume.

You can also add new signing Ross Stewart to that list and midfield stalwart Grant Leadbitter too.

The 35-year-old limped off the field of play during Sunderland’s draw with Crewe after just a matter of minutes. Leadbitter had been introduced as a substitute but went down holding his shoulder and he looked to be in some pain.

A stretcher was brought onto the field but fortunately, he was able to walk from the field of play. That being said, he suffered a dislocation to his shoulder and will now face a period on the sidelines.

The good news is that it won’t require surgery. However, if Leadbitter was to suffer the same injury again, he would have to go under the knife.

Time to unleash Neil

With Luke O’Nien currently playing at centre-back and Max Power playing at right-back, it leaves Johnson’s side quite stretched in the middle of the park.

Elliot Embleton was loaned out in the January transfer window too so the manager could have to pick from the club’s academy crop to fill the void.

Carl Winchester has now started successive games but if they’re looking for alternative options, they simply have to unleash Daniel Neil.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-sunderland-news-and-gossip” title=” Latest Sunderland news and gossip!”]

The 19-year-old made a late cameo in the dying embers during Sunderland’s 2-0 win over Rochdale, an appearance that marked just his second in League One. He is rarely seen in the first-team but as Johnson’s selection of Oliver Younger told us last weekend, there is a space for young talent if they work hard.

Neil certainly has those qualities and could add a sense of freshness to the Sunderland midfield if chosen. Possessing the ability to play as a number 10 or slightly further back, there are plenty of roles to suit his qualities and attributes.

Those already with the Mackems obviously rate him highly too. Speaking about the teenager just before the season kicked off, O’Nien commented: “Dan has been exceptional right throughout pre-season.”

The midfielder continued: “Every day in training, he’s like a dancer with those magic feet. He’s creating and scoring goals in training all the time.”

Johnson has favoured two more defensive-minded players in his midfield since taking charge but he evidently loves attacking players. You only need to look at the way Aiden McGeady and Charlie Wyke have contributed this term. Between them, they have been involved in 35 league goals.

Add a more offensive player in the style of Neil to the equation and you could see the Black Cats scoring even more.

It’s a frightening prospect but Neil could certainly get more game time now. Leadbitter’s injury has opened up a vacant spot that Sunderland’s youngsters could benefit from.

AND in other news, Imagine him & McGeady: SAFC must land 29-goal ace who Moyes once dubbed “priceless”…

Tottenham Hotspur are eyeing a move for Sander Berge, according to French outlet Jeunesfooteux, and this should come as a major warning to emerging youth sensation Oliver Skipp.

The 20-year-old has been thriving in a loan spell at Championship table-toppers Norwich City, where he has started every single match for Daniel Farke’s side this season.

His form and continual eye-catching displays have led to calls from the Spurs faithful to see him unleashed among Jose Mourinho’s first-team set-up next season.

And according to the ever-reliable Alasdair Gold at football.london, the Portuguese boss has been very impressed with him, so much so that there were discussions over bringing him back during the January transfer window.

He goes onto claim that Skipp will be a “huge player” for Spurs for years to come.

This merely echoes previous sentiments that the young midfield gem, also dubbed “phenomenal” by Mourinho, is a “future captain” in N17.

Skipp ranks seventh in this Canaries outfit for average WhoScored rating for the campaign (6.88) but you’d imagine that if he was more of a ‘flashy’ type of player that this would be far closer to Emi Buendia (7.73) at the top of the charts.

Simply put, the young Spurs dynamo does the simple and dirty work, but he does it so effectively. As per WhoScored, he has averaged two tackles (second-highest in squad) and one interception per game, as well as managing a passing accuracy of 87.2%.

As you can see by that alone, Skipp has a very good skill set in being able to read the game perfectly and that’ll please Mourinho. However, any move for Berge would put his hopes of making the starting XI next season in jeopardy.

The £34m-rated Norweigan is a pretty impressive box-to-box midfielder and perhaps has been one of Sheffield United’s only bright sparks this season. As we outlined in this article earlier this week, he could be the perfect partner to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Berge’s 1.2 tackles and 1.,5 dribbles per Premier League outing this season, via WhoScored, only show his influence at either end of the pitch, and this is something lacking the more defensively-minded Skipp, having only averaged 0.6 dribbles per game.

The U23 star would have a hard time breaking into the team should another option join the club this summer, especially one that offers something vastly different.

In reality, Skipp could be the long-term heir to Hojbjerg, rather than playing alongside him given their similarities.

Chris Wilder waxed lyrical about Berge’s ability to VG earlier this season, where he described him as a “unique” and “complete” midfielder who is capable of playing both no.6 and no.8 – emphasising that box-to-box stature.

The 6 foot 5 beast would surely be a big blow towards Skipp’s progression into the first-team set-up whichever way you look at it – whether that’s a good thing for the future of Spurs or not, remains to be seen.

If there’s any truth to Daniel Levy bringing the Blades star to the club, then the young Spurs prospect may want to consider another stint away from north London.

AND in other news, Get rid: Daniel Levy must now cash in on forgotten £9m-rated man…

Eberechi Eze’s wonderful solo goal against Wolves helped Crystal Palace to a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Roy Hodgson has had to endure harsh criticism from a section of Palace fans this season whilst his side had only won one of their past nine Premier League fixtures prior to the clash with Wolves.

But after switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation Hodgson’s side held on to secure all three points, with Eze’s sensational strike helping to beat a toothless Wolves.

Wilfried Zaha, who went close either side of the break, came close to adding a second in the second half, only to see his effort slam against the crossbar.

Eze, on the other hand, looked a real handful, losing his marker in Leander Dendoncker, before curling the ball into the back of the net, which led Sky Sports’ Paul Merson to exclaim:

“What a big goal this is. He hit it as hard as he could, it wasn’t far from the goalkeeper, but it was a great strike. Eze is a class player.”

A moment of individual brilliance from the 22-year-old helped Palace put their poor form behind them with a 1-0 victory over Wolves.

As per SofaScore, the attacking midfielder – who earns around £30,000-per-week at Selhurst Park – earned a high 7.1 match rating for his performance, bettered only by the likes of Patrick van Aanholt, Luka Milivojevic and Vicente Guaita.

He took two shots in total, including one shot on target, which is far better than his seasonal average of 0.9 per 90 minutes, and shows that he was performing at a higher level than previously expected.

Despite taking 55 touches, Eze lost possession of the ball just eight times in the entire game, this being fewer than any attacking player on the pitch besides Andros Townsend, and also significantly less than the 11.8 he has averaged per game in the Premier League this season thus far.

The victory has moved Hodgson’s men back into 13th place in the Premier League with Wolves a place below them in 14th.

If Palace are to stay above the relegation battle this season, on this evidence alone, we suspect Eze will be central to their hopes of Premier League survival. There’s no doubting the fact that Steve Parish will be delighted with his performance, having spent £19.5m to prise him away from Queens Park Rangers in the summer.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace can sign perfect Vicente Guaita replacement in Manchester United’s Sergio Romero…

Liverpool’s hopes of signing Dayot Upamecano from RB Leipzig in the summer look to have suffered a huge blow, after it was reported that Bayern Munich have agreed a deal for the French international.

The centre-back has established himself as one of the hottest young properties in Europe during his time with Die Roten Bullen and always looked likely to depart at the end of this season, due to a release clause in his contract with Julian Nagelsmann’s side.

Liverpool were one of several Premier League sides to be linked with a move for the 22-year-old but it now seems as if he will be staying in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich after sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic confirmed the signing earlier this week.

Since joining Leipzig in January 2017 from RB Salzburg, Upamecano has gone on to make 139 appearances for the German side, contributing four goals and three assists.

He was a big part of Leipzig reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League last season and produced some memorable displays in that competition, which earned him the praise of Rio Ferdinand after he was superb in the 2-1 win against Atletico Madrid.

The former Manchester United man said:

“Upamecano was the best player tonight he was formidable on the pitch.”

He also suggested that the French defender “manhandled” Diego Costa, which is certainly no easy task.

So far this season, the young centre-back has been superb for Leipzig, averaging a solid 6.94 rating across 19 Bundesliga appearances, helping Nagelsmann’s side to 10 clean sheets in the top-flight games he has featured in – only six other players have earned a higher average match rating than Upamecano among his teammates.

Therefore, with Liverpool’s lack of depth in defence clear to see this season, the 22-year-old would surely have proved to be an excellent addition to Klopp’s side in the summer, and missing out on him will likely be a cause of frustration for the German manager.

Especially when you consider the Reds had to scramble around on deadline day for a couple of new centre-back additions.

And, in other news… LFC beast was extremely wasteful vs Leicester; he lost possession 45 times

If Leeds spend any money this January it will be a big surprise. The summer transfer window saw them splurge close to £100m and as a result, there probably isn’t a great deal left to spend.

On the chalkboard

If there is any area for Leeds to improve in January it’ll be in defence. They currently have Diego Llorente, Robin Koch and Liam Cooper all out injured so further depth is required.

It’s strange, therefore, to see that Leeds are so strongly considering signing a new winger.

Jack Harrison has seven goal involvements this term and the effervescent Raphinha is improving all the time after his summer switch.

The Brazilian has been a tricky live wire with two goals and two assists so signing someone else surely isn’t needed.

Lucas Vazquez has been someone discussed by the Leeds recruitment team but so has £10.8m-rated Demarai Gray – a player linked with Elland Road in the summer months.

Yet, this surely wouldn’t be a good signing.

Orta disaster

If Orta thinks he can get away with signing someone like Gray then Leeds chief Andrea Radrizzani will surely be fuming.

You only need to look at the Leicester attacker’s statistics from the last few years. To put it bluntly, he isn’t a goal scorer and he also struggles to create opportunities for his teammates.

He has failed to score in senior football this term and only found the net on three occasions last season. Of course, he is still only 24 so has plenty of potential left in the tank to extract but he is anything but “wonderful” – something Brendan Rodgers said about Gray previously.

Going forward, he lacks plenty of end product and for a team that already houses Helder Costa, Orta cannot afford to make this sort of investment.

The last thing he needs is another Jimmy Kebe. The winger joined the club on loan from Crystal Palace in 2014 after scoring just five Premier League goals – a tally Gray has only bettered by a handful.

The issue with Kebe was that he lacked any desirable end product. He scored just once in nine appearances for the Whites and Gray would likely provide similar numbers.

Just because he’ll leave Leicester behind, it doesn’t mean he’ll start producing more in the final third. Gray has set his stool out as an inconsistent forward who lacks goal threat.

Leeds would get things completely wrong if they pursued the Foxes player this month.

AND in other news, Orta can discover huge Dallas upgrade if Leeds swoop for “fearless” £148k-p/w gem…

West Bromwich Albion fans have been reacting to the news that their club are set to receive a fine for their agreement with West Ham in regards to Robert Snodgrass.

Snodgrass made the move to the Baggies from the Hammers earlier this month (wba.co.uk). However, to get the deal over the line, manager Sam Allardyce revealed that the Midlands outfit had agreed not to play the 33-year-old against the Irons on Tuesday night (via The Times), a game The Hammers won 2-1.

Such an agreement is actually against the rules, and there has since been an investigation into the deal by the Premier League. It seems that the Baggies are set to be hit by a fine as a result.

The news was shared on Twitter by Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett, and these West Brom fans replied in their droves as they gave their opinions.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Snodgrass agreement below

“Let’s hope you’re right.”

Credit: @hoare_neil

“And breathe…”

Credit: @RobPaddock16

“Thank god for that”

Credit: @leo_woodfield

“Thank the lord”

Credit: @StevoSmith0

“There’s our transfer budget gone then”

Credit: @jackggriffiths

“Dodged a bullet but again woefully poor from the recruitment department to put us in the situation in the 1st place”

Credit: @CarlAlexander74

In other news, West Brom enter talks for this 26-year-old international.

Ross Wilson must stay firm with Glasgow Rangers goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin after former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips claimed that he may look to leave next month in a bid to secure a place in the Scotland squad for Euro 2020.

What’s the word?

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Phillips has reacted to McLaughlin’s comments about his lack of game time at Ibrox.

Rangers signed the former Hearts goalkeeper from Sunderland on a two-year deal in the summer. After being left on the bench for the game against Aberdeen at the start of the season, he started the next seven games in the Scottish Premiership but has found himself playing second-fiddle to Allan McGregor in recent weeks.

He returned to the starting line-up for the 4-0 win away at Falkirk in the Scottish Cup and pleaded with Gerrard after the game to give him more playing time to improve his chances for being selected in Steve Clarke’s squad for next summer.

However, despite his pleas, the veteran stopper has still found his chances hard to come by, as he has yet to feature for the first team since the 4-0 victory over Falkirk in the Betfred Cup.

Phillips said: “When a huge club like Rangers come calling it is very hard to turn them down but any player in his situation will know that he needs to be playing football.

“The Euros are fast approaching and he will think he has got an opportunity of getting into that squad. But he needs to play football to cement his place in Steve Clarke’s plans.

“I think he will have a slight regret because if he was at Sunderland he would, of course, be playing week in, week out.

“Come January he might try and get a loan move somewhere because he will want to play regular football to keep his place in that Scotland squad.”

Wilson must be firm

Whilst McLaughlin may be angling for a loan move in January, Wilson must be firm with him if he can to try and convince him to stay at the club for the foreseeable future.

Former Celtic and St Mirren striker Frank McAvennie recently criticised his decision to join the club in the first place, saying: “McLaughlin picked the wrong team to go to, he shouldn’t have joined Rangers when there is a number one like McGregor. He is not going to get much game time.”

McGregor’s return from injury in September has coincided with Rangers’ remarkable run of form, which has seen McLaughlin fall by the wayside in recent weeks.

But the 33-year-old has been a dependable asset for Gerrard’s side, having kept eight clean sheets and only conceded two goals in the Premiership so far this season, via Transfermarkt.

His former Black Cats boss Jack Ross once described him as the best keeper in League One, as he said: “I’m obviously biased and there might be other managers that say it, but I believe I have the best goalkeeper in the league.

“He was outstanding for me last season, he is such a low-maintenance player in terms of how he goes about his business and he is unflappable.”

Wilson would struggle to find a backup option who is capable of offering even half of what McLaughlin brings to the table, as his experience at the top levels of the game sets him apart from the rest of his closest rivals, like academy keeper Brian Kinnear.

The Scotland international, who has also played for Bradford City and Burton Albion, spent a year with Hearts before moving to Sunderland, where he made 90 appearances, keeping 27 clean sheets and conceding just 87 goals in all competitions, via Transfermarkt.

Should McGregor succumb to injury, Gerrard would have the perfect replacement waiting in the wings.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must keep James Tavernier at all costs after Walter Smith comments…

Curtis Jones produced another superb display for Liverpool in their 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night and with the 19-year-old having now established himself as a regular in Jurgen Klopp’s side, you wonder whether the German manager could lose patience with fellow midfielder Naby Keita.

The Guinean has endured his fair share of injury problems since joining the Merseyside club from RB Leipzig in 2018, which have meant that he has never really been able to enjoy a run of games in the first-team.

The midfielder has made just 70 appearances in two and a half years with the club, in which he has contributed seven goals and four assists.

Jones meanwhile, who only made his first-team debut in September 2019, has now played 28 times for the first-team, with six goals and two assists to his name and Klopp is clearly a huge fan, having labelled the youngster an “exceptional talent” earlier this season.

The fact that the academy graduate is just one goal off equalling Keita’s goal record with the club in significantly fewer games suggests that, on current form, he should be starting ahead of the 25-year-old.

In six Premier League appearances so far this season, Keita has averaged a disappointing 6.37 rating, whilst Jones has earned a 6.70 average rating for his performances in the top-flight.

Therefore, Klopp should consider axing Keita in the near future, as unfortunately, he has never really been able to find his feet at the Merseyside club, and once the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago return from injury, you worry that he will slip even further down the pecking order.

Virgil van Dijk was full of praise for the midfielder earlier in the year, saying:

“Naby is a fantastic guy, he works so hard and he is an outstanding football player. We see it week in and week out. He has unfortunately been unlucky with some injuries, but hopefully, he can stay fully fit for the next season.

“I think he is world-class if I’m absolutely honest. I see all the moments when he has the ball, the smart moves, the smart intelligence. It’s just incredible to see and I’m very happy for him.”

Unfortunately, Keita has not been able to showcase that ability on a consistent enough basis during his time with Liverpool and the superb performances of Jones in recent weeks could perhaps be the final nail in the coffin for the Guinean international.

And, in other news…  Liverpool must consider transfer U-turn with teenage “sensation” who can replace Jota

If you had told Newcastle fans before the start of the new Premier League season, that after five games, they would be sitting above Manchester United, and only behind Manchester City on goal difference, then they surely would have taken that.

And whilst the table seems to have a couple of things going in the Magpies’ favour, the damaging 4-1 defeat to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side on Saturday seems to have just exposed some painful truths for Steve Bruce.

Despite a relatively successful summer transfer window that saw the likes of Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Jamal Lewis arrive at St James’ Park, both the performances and results from Newcastle have left a lot to be desired.

They were very fortunate to pick up a point against Tottenham after a late VAR call, whilst they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by ten-man Brighton as well. But even with some good wins against the likes of West Ham and Burnley, there’s a very worrying trend about the way Bruce is getting his team to play.

As per the Premier League’s official stats, the Tyneside club have played the most amount of long balls this season with a total of 335. Had Joelinton or Andy Carroll been starting up front, that tactic may have been somewhat understandable, but Bruce has opted to field Wilson in the number nine role, whilst he has the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin and Ryan Fraser as pacy, wide options.

Trying to go route one with those types of players and expecting them to win headers or get to the loose ball just seems like a complete waste of their talents, and Bruce still hasn’t worked out a way of making the most out of Saint-Maximin other than just ‘give him the ball and see what he does’.

It was no surprise that in the game against United on Saturday, they managed just 36% of the possession, and only had seven shots to the visitors’ 28.

The Magpies’ summer signings and attacking options surely warrant a change in playing style, and none of this long ball approach. Instead, Bruce continues to make an unforgivable mistake with the way he sets his team out.