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Reports by Gol Digital earlier this week claimed that Sevilla are holding out for Joan Jordan’s full release clause, but David Moyes should urge West Ham United to break the bank to sign a second Tomas Soucek-type this summer.

Jordan is one of the key pillars of Julen Lopetegui’s side in La Liga, with his ability to connect the midfield and offence unparalleled at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

But his efforts have sparked European-wide interest ahead of the summer transfer window, with the Irons one of five clubs understood to be presenting serious curiosity.

Serie A title-hopefuls AC Milan are said to be Jordan’s best option should he leave Andalusia at the end of the season, as the Rossoneri are likely to remain keen despite seeing a €30m (£25.5m) approach snubbed as they strive to build a squad ready for the Champions League.

Sevilla would be expected to reject a similar approach in the future, with the side who were eliminated from the Champions League in the Round of 16 earlier this month now intent on demanding that Jordan’s full €60m (£51.5m) release clause is triggered.

A sum in that region is expected to force only the top clubs to show a formal interest in the next transfer window, yet Inter Milan, AS Roma and the Irons are all listed as potential destinations for the 26-year-old.

Jordan has been a mainstay of Lopetegui’s plans so far this season, starting 20 of his 25 La Liga outings and featuring in a total 40 games across all competitions.

The RCD Espanyol product has offered Sevilla two goals and seven assists over his appearances to date, to register his highest single-season return of goals created in his career and help to take his goal contribution for the club to 14 in the past two seasons combined.

West Ham triggering Jordan’s release clause would see the midfielder become the London Stadium natives’ new record signing, eclipsing the £45m paid to Eintracht Frankfurt for Sebastien Haller in 2019.

But Moyes should urge David Sullivan, Karren Brady and David Gold to fund a lavish outlay to bring Jordan to West Ham, as the Sevilla star would offer him a second Soucek-type after the Czech Republic international’s successful adaptation to the Premier League.

Jordan is recognised for his ability to make late and dangerous runs in the opponent’s box to offer a forward threat, much more akin to the traditional English style of a box-to-box option that the tiki-taka template that has flourished in Spain, after growing up watching and learning from the way Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard operated.

“I remember watching quite a lot of Lampard when I was growing up, he was a top, top, top player,” Jordan told The Athletic in December. “What really sticks is how the way he arrived late into the box, that was spectacular. It is something very difficult, that he made look easy.

“I remember Steven Gerrard, too, talking about the Premier League. He and Lampard were standout players, especially when they got forward, arriving from the second line. I always looked at all the little details I could, from many different players, to become a more complete player myself.”

“I like to have plenty of space and freedom, to help in attack but I always like to defend and help my teammates,” he added. “Football is evolving, and everyone has to run, everyone has to sacrifice themselves and adapt to different functions that a coach asks for.”

Making those intelligent runs into the area and offering a box-to-box presence is just what Moyes gets from Soucek, who is West Ham’s top-scorer in the Premier League this season with eight goals.

The 26-year-old is also lauded by Jamie Carragher for being the best at what he does, as “there’s nobody better in the Premier League right now than Soucek”, but he could face competition for that honour with Jordan also in the squad.

AND in other news, West Ham in four-way Premier League battle for 13-goal striker who is “annoying to the defender”…

The January transfer window proved to be a busy one for Glasgow Rangers as no fewer than three players signed with the Ibrox club.

Most of those arrived towards the end of the window, with Scott Wright, Jack Simpson and Nnamdi Ofoborh all arriving via Bosman moves.

While the first two have already teamed up with Steven Gerrard’s squad, Ofoborh has headed straight back out on loan with Wycombe Wanderers.

The 21-year-old midfielder, who has signed a four-year deal with the 54-time Scottish champions, will spend the rest of the season at the Adams Park Stadium with Gareth Ainsworth’s side.

Whilst there is plenty of information about Wright and Simpson, with the former having previously played for Premiership rivals Aberdeen, admittedly very little is known about Ofoborh, who spent the majority of last season on loan with the Chairboys.

The former Nigeria U20 international was highly regarded at the Vitality Stadium, with Bournemouth Echo sports reporter Tom Crocker revealing former boss Eddie Howe held him in high esteem. He said: “Nnamdi certainly seems to be a lively character, who is always smiling. Eddie Howe always praised how hard-working he was, explaining how he’s always last off the training pitch every day and how popular he was with the first team group.”

Gerrard has previously placed a great emphasis on the importance of working hard on the training pitch, suggesting that Ofoborh should feel right at home at Ibrox.

In terms of his playing style, there are obvious comparisons that can be drawn with the ever-reliable Steven Davis. Despite the difference in age, both play in similar positions, with Ofoborh currently averaging one tackle, one dribble and two interceptions per 90 in the Championship.

For context, that’s more interceptions than Davis himself has managed on average per game in the Scottish Premiership this season (1.3), which implies that he could be his heir-in-waiting.

His versatility will also be a big bonus for the Ibrox boss after impressing in a more defensive role in the centre of the defence. He’s capable of playing that role in a back four and has shown that he is willing to put in a defensive shift to frustrate opponents, as evidenced by his 1.1 tackles per game during the 2019/20 season.

With Rangers facing a potential shortage of defensive options in the near future, there’s no doubting the fact that this could make a massive difference next season.

AND in other news, Glen Kamara has become virtually undroppable for Glasgow Rangers…

Leeds United look to be scouting for future talent and this has seen them linked with a move for a Championship starlet in Osaze Urhoghide.

The latest transfer rumours

According to Football League World, a host of clubs in England are keeping tabs on his situation.

The young defender is expected to be a free-agent in the summer (Transfermarkt), with Leeds United, Crystal Palace and Watford among those monitoring the 20-year-old.

This could be a good signing for Leeds

The 20-year-old defender started to emerge from the Sheffield Wednesday academy at the end of last season and has featured 12 times for the club since making his first-team debut in January 2020 (Transfermarkt). Ten of these appearances have been in the Championship.

With various sides interested in the player, he clearly has some potential and Leeds would do well to pip the other interested parties to his signature. They already have quite a strong starting eleven, proven by the fact that they are eleventh in the top flight, so a player like Urhoghide who likely wouldn’t break into the first XI immediately is a risk worth taking, as there is no immediate need for mass changes in the first team.

In other news, Leeds received a welcome transfer boost!

According to Football Insider, Glasgow Rangers are interested in signing Preston North End defender Ben Davies.

What’s the word?

Not that they’d like to admit it, but despite keeping a clean sheet against 10-men arch-rivals Celtic in the Old Firm on Saturday, Rangers have looked a bit suspect at the back in recent weeks – especially in the 3-2 cup defeat to St Mirren.

Steven Gerrard’s side have marginally improved but there is still room for improvement at the back as Filip Helander was caught napping several times by St. Mirren, before being dropped against Neil Lennon’s men this weekend.

It seems the Ibrox boss has his heart set on signing a new centre-back and has turned his attention to beating Scottish Premiership rivals Celtic in the race to sign Davies in January, who’s current deal at Deepdale will run out at the end of this season.

Imagine Davies and Connor Goldson

The report claims Celtic have been closely monitoring the contract rebel’s situation but it appears Rangers chief Ross Wilson has other ideas as he plans to lure the 25-year-old to the Govan-based Glaswegian giants.

Rangers have set themselves up rather nicely to regain the Premiership title for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign, as they currently sit at the top of the table, but Gerrard is still keen to strengthen his squad before the end of the season.

It’s believed Preston are willing to listen to offers of around £5m for Davies, who is a by-product of the club’s famed academy.

However, they may be forced to accept a cut-price deal, rather than lose him for free in the summer.

Preston boss Alex Neil has made no attempts to disguise his admiration for Davies, calling him an “excellent” colossus after he made a successful recovery from injury towards the end of last year.

Neil said: “I thought the two Bens were excellent.

“They make a difference to us as everybody is aware, and I thought you could see that today, they were key in us retaining the ball and building in the first half.

“As the game wears on, Pearo’s not done a lot at all, and he’s playing in a position where he’s covering a lot of ground, so we need to protect him. Ben Davies as well, I didn’t feel there was any need for that last ten minutes to take any risks with him.”

Davies has played 14 games in the Championship this season, while he is averaging 1.1 tackles, 1.4 interceptions and a staggering 4.4 clearances per game, via WhoScored. In stark contrast, Helander has only managed just 0.8 interceptions and 2.2 clearances on average per game in the Premiership this season, as per WhoScored.

Both comfortable at the back and confident on the ball, his ability to retain possession could prove most useful for Gerrard if Wilson can fend off competition for his services. Get it done, Gers, before it’s too late.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers should reward Kai Kennedy with a new contract…

To say Celtic are in a spot of bother would be putting things lightly.

The Hoops are 21 points behind rivals Rangers and are seemingly sinking without a trace in the SPFL. Thus, change is surely needed.

On the chalkboard

One of the few bright sparks this season, though, has been Kristoffer Ajer. The Norwegian defender has been a lynchpin at the heart of the defence but unfortunately, his future could be in doubt.

His contract expires in the summer of 2022 and if Celtic can’t sort out a new deal, he will need to leave in the summer if the Hoops want to secure a fee for his services.

Both AC Milan and Nice have reportedly shown interest in the defender’s services so it wouldn’t be a great surprise if he did indeed depart from Glasgow.

Considering Ajer has missed just two league outings this term – both through self-isolation – it would be a bitter pill to swallow if he exits.

The solution

Celtic have already missed out on two of their defensive targets this month. Mark McKenzie joined Genk and Filip Benkovic went and signed on loan for OH Leuven in Belgium.

Though, one player on their radar is 6 foot 6 centre-back Declan Gallagher. The Motherwell defender is an imperious battler and if they can land the centre-half in January, it could well give Neil Lennon the excuse he needs to cash in on Ajer.

Gallagher, who has been capped seven times by Scotland, is 29 and would bring invaluable experience to a Celtic defence that has made some schoolboy errors this term.

You only need to look at Shane Duffy – someone who completed just 37% of his passes in the first half against Livingston and had a massive breakdown in communication with his defensive partner in the Scottish Cup final.

But why could Gallagher’s arrival allow the Bhoys to sell Ajer? Well, he’s better in the air than the Celtic defender and in terms of their tackling percentages, they’re incredibly alike.

The Motherwell skipped has won a mammoth 4.3 aerial duels per game in the SPFL this term. That’s compared to the 3.3 won by Ajer. The Norway international, meanwhile, wins 1.5 tackles per match – a tally that’s just 0.1 above Gallagher.

In terms of those statistics, the Scot certainly wouldn’t be a bad signing or replacement for Ajer.

A source previously told the Daily Record: “He is desperate to play for Celtic and in the current climate, he would be a brilliant signing.”

Considering the club’s plight, something like that cannot be ignored, especially with fears over Ajer’s future lingering. Gallagher would be a supreme addition to Celtic’s struggling backline.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Lennon: Desmond can revive Celtic by hiring “meticulous” 43 y/o manager…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former England midfielder Carlton Palmer has backed Harry Kane to keep on scoring despite the doubts over his deeper role under Jose Mourinho.

Spurs find themselves top of the Premier League standings going into this weekend’s north London derby and that is in large part due to the exploits of the English no.9.

After ten matches in the top-flight, Kane has so far bagged himself seven goals while also providing nine assists, mostly to attacking partner, Heung-min Son as the duo have formed a formidable and prolific partnership.

Indeed, the 27-year-old talisman has added a new dimension to his game by dropping deeper into midfield, which allows the South Korean sensation to cut inside and wreak havoc, feeding off Kane’s impressive passing ability.

He is currently averaging 2.1 key passes per game, which is more than any other Spurs player, including attacking midfielders Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele, via WhoScored.

Kane has already surpassed last season’s numbers, where he managed just the two assists all campaign, despite this, Palmer has made a big claim about the England captain’s ability.

He told FFC correspondent Tom Ward:

“I’m not surprised because he’s always had a few assists. I think just the way the make-up of the team is at the moment, it’s allowed him the freedom to drop off into the middle of the park or in areas to find space.

“He’s a clever footballer. He’s done that and he can pick a pass. The balance of the side allows him to do that, and it also allows him to get in the box.

“It causes a major, major problem for teams, because how do you mark Harry Kane unless you man-mark him?

“It’s not surprised me, he’s a clever footballer and everybody worries about the fact that he drops off and he won’t get his tallies of goals, yes he will.”

Palmer, who played for West Brom and Leeds United in his playing days, believes that supporters shouldn’t be worried about him covering so much ground as he’s still going to bag goals upfront as their only striker.

Kane is well on track to break further records this campaign having already beaten his previous best of seven assists from the 2016/17 season.

As Palmer says, the 6 foot 2 marksman is a “major, major problem” for teams this season and that’s mainly down the way Mourinho has gotten Spurs playing.

AND in other news, Levy can land Mourinho his next John Terry with swoop for £50m “special player”…

Alex Iwobi is fast becoming Carlo Ancelotti’s key man at Everton through the Nigerian forward’s consistency in a variety of roles.

The ex-Arsenal attacker featured in his fourth set position of the season so far as the Toffees beat Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday, with Ancelotti calling on Iwobi to start at right-wing in the absence of James Rodriguez.

Ancelotti confirmed ahead of the visit of Frank Lampard’s title-chasing Blues that Rodriguez would play no part, having failed to train at all in the week leading up to the game after developing an issue during the prior 1-1 draw at Burnley.

Iwobi had big shoes to fill in covering for Rodriguez, who ranks among the best players in the Premier League for key passes (26) and big chances created (7) so far this season, per SofaScore.

Yet the £34million Marco Silva signing met the challenge with relative ease, offering seven crosses and 46 touches against Chelsea, despite Everton enjoying just 28% of the ball.

Iwobi was not the best player of the pitch by any means, with Mason Holgate, Yerry Mina, Michael Keane and Ben Godfrey weathering a relentless storm to ensure Jordan Pickford retained his clean sheet.

Abdoulaye Doucoure battled through in the engine room to fluster Chelsea as often as he could, while Gylfi Sigurdsson repaid Ancelotti’s faith with a busy afternoon capitalised by keeping his cool to slot home the decisive penalty.

Iwobi, though, combined an aggressive effort with commitment going forward and tracking back, registering two interceptions, one clearance, eight ground duels, two aerial duels and five successful dribble attempts from five, per SofaScore.

Ancelotti will have been delighted to see Iwobi step in and thrive in a tough environment, but take greater satisfaction in seeing the Nigerian take to another role after an excellent showing at right-back against Burnley.

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Iwobi, who Silva lauded as being “hungry” to take the next step in his career with Everton, initially started at right-midfield at Turf Moor but was soon moved to an outright defensive position with Ancelotti forced to go four-at-the-back following Fabian Delph’s withdrawal through injury.

In the hour Iwobi played at right-back, he offered two dribbles, three tackles and an interception, per WhoScored, while playing 47 passes – only centre-back Mina (48) played more for the visiting side.

Iwobi will likely find that his place in the line-up is among the first to go should Rodriguez be passed fit to face Leicester City on Wednesday night or, failing that, Arsenal on Saturday. But the Nigerian is fast becoming Ancelotti’s key man, one the Italian is confident he can turn to in moments of need and not be massively let down by.

AND in other news, Marcel Brands has landed a huge break in his bid to final rid Everton of Steve Walsh’s £42m blunder.

Leeds United have had a great start to their first Premier League campaign in 16 years.

The Whites have lost just one of their first four games despite facing off against two of the best teams in the league in the shape of Manchester City and Liverpool.

Marcelo Bielsa will be hoping that he can keep the momentum rolling after the international break, and in order to do that he has to pick the right team against Wolves.

Wolves won’t be an easy team to overcome and their task has been made that much harder by an injury crisis at centre-back.

Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente have both picked up injuries on international duty, so Leeds will have to operate with a makeshift centre-back pairing for this one.

We’ve had a go at predicting how Leeds will line-up against Wolves.

The first place to look is centre-back after Cooper and Llorente’s injuries.

This is a position that Leeds have already been in this season with Cooper being unavailable on the opening day of the season and Llorente not having signed by that point, and on that occasion, Bielsa looked towards Pascal Struijk to fill the gap.

We expect the Argentine to do the same again here, but whether or not this proves to be a good idea remains to be seen as Leeds conceded four the last time Struijk and Robin Koch played together.

Away from that change, the defensive spots remain largely the same, Illan Meslier, Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas retain their spots in goal and at full-back.

The midfield has just one change as Jack Harrison comes back after being ineligible to face his parent club a fortnight ago, while there is no space for £17m man Raphinha as of yet due to Bielsa preferring to give his new signings a bedding-in period.

Up front, Patrick Bamford starts once again, with Rodrigo’s goal against Man City not enough to earn him a place back in the XI just yet.

Alan Hutton has tipped Southampton to be amongst the clubs interested in Tottenham’s Harry Winks during the January transfer window.

Winks on the move

The 24-year-old England international has played just four Premier League matches this term for Spurs, which could see him move on during the January window.

Former Rangers player Hutton certainly believes he should move on in a couple of months. Not only that, he has listed the Saints as a potential destination when talking to Football Insider. He said when asked whether he could make a move to Leeds:

“Of course, Leeds – even at the moment you look at the likes of Southampton or Leicester – teams that play football the way he would want to play football.

“When you talk about these sort of teams, there’s competition there already. So this is the thing, he’s gonna want to play minutes.

“If he goes down a notch to say a lower half team, is he going to show his potential as much as he would like if he’s doing a little bit more defending rather than maybe getting on the ball and all the pretty things that he likes to do? That’s why I say it’s a hard decision because it is.”

Interesting move

Winks may not be a guaranteed starter under Jose Mourinho, but he is still a player with plenty of quality. He has eight caps for England, for example, and former Tottenham academy coach Russell Small previously compared Winks to none other than former France World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane. Former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was also a fan, calling him “amazing”.

With the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu and Will Smallbone in central midfield, a new player in the middle of the park does not appear to be something Ralph Hasenhuttl desperately needs. Currently valued at £25.2m (Transfermarkt), it remains to be seen whether the south coast side do make a move for Winks.

In other news, Southampton fans laud this current Saints star.

Newcastle United come off the back of a 100% record so far in the 2020/21 season, first beating David Moyes’ West Ham United 2-0 away from home at London Stadium in the Premier League and then beating Championship club Blackburn Rovers 1-0 at St James’ Park in the Carabao Cup second round.

The visitors to the northeast this time are Graham Potter’s Brighton and Hove Albion, who themselves come off the back of a rather convincing 4-0 home win at the Amex Stadium against League One club Portsmouth.

Nonetheless, the Tynesiders will be looking to bag another three points and thus maintain their perfect start to the season so far. However, to do this they will have to play without Fabian Schar, Martin Dubravka, Matty Longstaff and Paul Dummett, who all remain on the sidelines through various injury woes (via BBC).

Steve Bruce went with a trusted 4-4-2 system against the Hammers and the Rovers but he may well switch to a 4-3-3 formation for the match against the Seagulls to accommodate a lot of new faces from the team that played Blackburn.

With nine changes in all, only Javier Manquillo and Ryan Fraser may keep their places from that side, with the rest making up the bulk of the team that started against West Ham:

Fraser may be rewarded with a start after his fine goal, but Miguel Almiron may count himself unlucky to miss out after providing the assist.

Andy Carroll would be the player to make way from the team that beat West Ham as Bruce may decide to pack the midfield given Brighton’s passing style of play.

One player who fans of the Magpies may be delighted to see on the teamsheet is Allan Saint-Maximin following the £25.2m-valued ace’s injury scare after the match against Blackburn.

If the Toon were to come out of the game with all three points, then Saint-Maximin could well have a major say in the outcome, having provided four goals and six assists during his first season at the club.

Geordies, what do you think the score will be? Comment below with your predictions!