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In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who scored 306 goals for Wolves during his career, believes Rayan Ait-Nouri is out of his depth in the Premier League and has bemoaned his lack of strength.

Ait-Nouri has made 13 Premier League appearances for Wolves this season, and managed to score his first senior goal of his career on his Premier League debut in a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace.

The 19-year old has started just eight league games this term though despite regular left-back Jonny being injured for a lot of this season, which has seen him average a 6.43 WhoScored rating as Wolves continue to think about signing him permanently.

Speaking on if the 19-year-old has been a good addition for Wolves and what he is lacking to succeed in the Premier League, Bull told FFC:

“In my eyes, he just looks a bit out of his depth.

“I’ve watched him a few times and he does get up and down the wing a bit, but he just looks a bit lightweight to me and I don’t think he’s getting a lot of chances so his confidence is low.

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“Whether they keep him or not beyond the end of the season I don’t know because he just looks young and a bit immature.

“In a team, you need someone who is a like-for-like replacement when somebody else drops out the side like and he just looks a bit lightweight to me.”

Ait-Nouri had only played 23 senior games of footballer before his loan to move to Wolves this season and they may think there are better options than the £36k-p/w full-back.

In total, the French defender has made 16 appearances this season but has failed to offer a consistent attacking threat as he’s returned to just one goal and assist.

According to recent reports, Tottenham Hotspur are interested in the possibility of making a move for Juventus forward, Paulo Dybala, this summer.

The report by France Football (via Sport Witness) claims that Juventus could look to offload the £237,000 per week Dybala in the summer transfer window and that both Tottenham and Chelsea are contenders for the signature of the 27-year-old, should he indeed leave Turin.

According to the report, Thomas Tuchel and Jose Mourinho would be willing to part with between €50 million (£43 million) and €55 million (£47 million) for the £63 million-rated Argentina international, who has struggled for game time at Juventus this season due to a number of injury problems.

Transfer Tavern Take

With Tottenham seemingly being linked with a move for Dybala in almost every transfer window over the past few seasons, the fact the story has popped up once again is hardly surprising. Mauricio Pochettino was reportedly (talkSPORT) very close to signing his compatriot, who he described as a ‘special’ and ‘wonderful’ talent who is one of the world’s best.

However, if it is indeed true that Juventus could be actively looking to offload the 27-year-old this summer, the path to the signing of the forward would appear rather more clear than on previous occasions.

And, with Chelsea now also reported to be keen on the signing of the 29 times capped Argentine, perhaps this will force Tottenham’s hand in a move to finally get a deal over the line for one of their long term targets.

In other news: Tottenham have been sent a warning over Harry Kane – find out more here!

Tottenham Hotspur take a break from league action as they look to continue their quest towards silverware under Jose Mourinho with an FA Cup fifth-round tie at Everton.

The north London outfit finally ended a run of three straight defeats by beating troubled West Brom 2-0 over the weekend, thanks to the returning Harry Kane and Heung-min Son reigniting their prolific partnership.

But Mourinho is left with plenty to ponder as games are coming thick and fast once more…

On the Chalkboard

One decision facing the Special One is in the attack.

Yes, we’re likely to see Kane and Son both start, but the other places are surely up for grabs.

Against the Baggies, Mourinho handed rare Premier League starts to both Lucas Moura, who played in the no.10 role, and Erik Lamela, who was deployed out on the right.

Earlier this week, we outlined why the Brazilian still has a big part to play at the club, but for the fellow South American, the same cannot be said as he underwhelmed – it was all energy with little product.

Indeed, the 28-year-old recorded the lowest SofaScore rating (6.7) of any of Spurs’ attacking players on the afternoon and that’s ultimately poor considering Albion had the worst defensive record in the top-flight by a considerable margin – their 54 goals conceded is 15 more than any other team.

Before Lamela was hooked in the 74th minute, he managed just one accurate cross from seven attempts (14%), which meant Kane had very little to feed off whilst the winger also failed to win the majority of his duels, losing five of 15 (33%), meaning the West Brom left-back had the better of him consistently.

He was even the second-most wasteful Spurs player on the pitch as he lost possession 17 times – once every four minutes.

If Spurs have serious ambitions of progressing tonight, then Mourinho ought to play Moura, Steven Bergwijn or Gareth Bale over Lamela.

As one of the final survivors from the Andre Villas-Boas era, it’s quite a surprise to see the former Roma star still standing in N17, especially as he’s among the high earners at the club on a reported £85k-per-week, which is more than Matt Doherty, Giovani Lo Celso and Bergwijn.

Teammate Eric Dier revealed earlier in this season that Lamela “is a nightmare” because “offensively he’s so good” and “when you have the ball, he kicks lumps out of you.”

But we’ve not seen that sort of claim come to fruition in a competitive encounter in a very long time.

A series of injuries and no goal in the Premier League since September 2019 tells the full story – he has missed more games (108) than goal contributions (81) since joining Spurs in 2013, and in failing to deliver against the weak and faltering West Brom, he should not be given another start this evening.

Ruthless it may be, but a wise decision.

AND in other news, Forget Vinicius: Spurs must get £36m-rated beast with an “instinct for goals”…

Aston Villa have been without talisman Jack Grealish for the last couple of games and Dean Smith has provided an injury update on the player.

The latest on Grealish

Smith was talking in the press conference previewing the game against Sheffield United on Wednesday evening and he revealed that they will be without Grealish again, saying: “He won’t be ready for the game and he’s not travelling with us. We’ll decide later in the week if we can get him on the training ground.”

This is a worrying update from the manager

In terms of creativity, Grealish is one of the best attacking midfielders in the division, his 10 assists in the Premier League just one fewer than the joint-leaders in this regard (WhoScored), and it is exciting for fans of England to watch him grow. Clearly England manager Gareth Southgate is impressed by the Villa skipper as he hailed his performance against Belgium in the autumn as ‘outstanding’.

The 25-year-old has averaged 2.1 shots, 3.4 key passes and 2.8 successful dribbles per game and turned these amazing attacking stats into end product, picking up six goals as well as his 10 top-flight assists (WhoScored).

Therefore, the six words from Smith that he “won’t be ready for the game” is of course going to be a big worry, and it seems like he could still be out for an unknown period, which is a blow for all associated with the club.

In other news, these Villa fans are loving this crazy statistic!

With Christmas on the horizon, Celtic got themselves a bit of early festive cheer as they eased past Ross County in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday night.

Neil Lennon’s side ran out comfortable 2-0 winners at home, and could have, and probably should have, won by a bigger margin had it not been for some wasteful finishing.

But whilst Leigh Griffiths may take plenty of the plaudits after scoring his 20th headed goal for the club – only Henrik Larsson has scored more – it was David Turnbull who no doubt stole the show.

The man who signed from Motherwell back in the summer transfer window was the heartbeat of everything good about Celtic on the night, buzzing about and looking to make things happen at every opportunity.

As per Sofascore, he lost possession 20 times over the course of the game – the most of any player on the pitch. But that number was only down to the fact Turnbull didn’t shy away from taking the riskier choice and trying to feed the likes of Odsonne Edouard and Griffiths up front.

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He provided a total of three key passes, sent in a whopping eight crosses, and boasted an impressive 84% pass accuracy. If Lennon wanted his summer signing to take the game by the scruff of the neck, then that’s exactly what he did.

His performance led to Scottish journalist and presenter Dominik Diamond to rave about him on Twitter, even tipping him to become a “future Celtic great”.

Trying not to get ahead of myself but I think we could be seeing the rise of a future Celtic great in David Turnbull. He just seems to have as good a game with his brain as he does his feet. Attitude seems good as well.

It may be early days in his Hoops career, but if Turnbull can get a consistent run of games under his belt, then he might prove to be one of the most inspired domestic signings in recent history.

Over the last month, nothing has really gone right for Nuno Santo and Wolves.

Since Raul Jimenez fractured his skull in a horrific clash of heads against Arsenal, the Molineux outfit have won just three of their last 12 outings.

Not only have they struggled to score goals but at the opposite end, they’ve been in diabolical shape. Nuno has shifted between a three-man and four-man backline but on a rare occasion in recent weeks, he got his system spot on during Wednesday night’s draw with Chelsea.

The Portuguese went back to basics as Wolves lined up with three centre-backs. The result was a first league clean sheet since October – a run of 13 matches. All three of the defenders were imperious as Willy Boly and Max Kilman lost just one of their duels between them.

It was a night of near perfection from Wolves’ defence and it was a timely return to form for club captain Conor Coady.

The £55,000-a-week Wolves skipper has struggled of late and looked in horrific form when the Old Gold lost the Black Country derby to West Brom. He conceded a penalty and was then hauled off for the very first time in his Molineux career by the manager.

It was a landmark moment for the defender, one that signalled he wasn’t untouchable in this Wolves team.

However, the England international bounced back on Wednesday evening and answered any critics with a superb performance at the heart of Nuno’s defence. As he traditionally does, Coady marshalled things well and in winning 100% of his duels, barely put a foot wrong.

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Express & Star’s Joe Edward’s typified his display with the following words at full-time: “Led by example. Typically vocal, always organising those around him and providing encouragement too. His own game was hugely improved from the previous few matches as well.”

That was all Nuno could ask for from Coady on Wednesday. He was superb and demonstrated all of the characteristics we’ve become accustomed to seeing from the bubbly 27-year-old.

In completing 86% of his passes – a team-high – he was safe and secure, while his radiant confidence meant he wasn’t dribbled past on a single occasion, nor did he commit a foul.

He and the rest of the defence stifled Olivier Giroud exceptionally well. That’s no mean feat given his physicality and for a man who usually dominates in the air, he won only three of the seven aerial battles he competed in.

That was a testament to not only Coady but the entire defence he was leading.

After his horror show against West Brom, he needed to prove himself and this was exactly the way to do it. Why did we ever doubt him?

AND in other news, 7 passes all night: Wolves gem who won just 25% of his duels endured a torrid evening…

This has been a season to forget for Sunderland so far.

Unfortunately, that’s a sentence that can be applied for the last five campaigns. They have been relegated twice and are now struggling to get out of League One for a third consecutive year.

However, with a colossal changing of the guard, perhaps things will improve? This week, Sunderland sacked Phil Parkinson and brought in Lee Johnson as his replacement.

A brand new sporting director in Kristjaan Speakman was also hired as the club look to make improvements in terms of their recruitment and academy.

However, as their performance against Wigan on Saturday afternoon demonstrated, there is plenty of work to be done.

Johnson was announced as the new manager on Saturday morning and just hours later he was in the dugout for the Mackems’ clash with the Latics. Unfortunately, he would have been left incredibly concerned with what he saw.

Sunderland’s run without a win in the league extended to five games and they failed to find the back of the net. That, of course, wasn’t helped by top scorer and creator Lynden Gooch and Charlie Wyke missing out through injury. Though, with Aiden McGeady returning, they did have added invention.

However, the man we want to focus on is a certain Will Grigg. Signed for £4m nearly two years ago by Stewart Donald, he has still only scored eight times for the Black Cats.

This term has been a disaster for the striker. He hasn’t found the net and on Saturday, it just about summed up his diabolical time at the Stadium of Light.

Now, Chris Maguire wasn’t fantastic – losing possession 19 times – but Grigg’s urgency was even worse. To put it bluntly, he was anonymous, being completely alienated by the lack of creativity in attack.

He made fewer passes than goalkeeper Lee Burge (13 successful from 19 attempted) and failed to have a single shot in the whole match.

Furthermore, Grigg also didn’t win a ground or aerial duel during his time on the pitch.

This was a woeful performance from the striker but hopefully once Johnson has installed his beliefs and philosophies he will thrive.

After all, the manager has previously reiterated the desire to play with more agile forwards in his teams.

Watch out, Wyke.

In other news, Speakman could INSTANTLY improve one big problem at Sunderland…

West Brom are still winless in the Premier League this season but a more pressing saga has developed off the pitch.

The Baggies’ hierarchy sanctioned the sale of Ahmed Hegazi to Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ittihad over the weekend, in the process saving on his mega £70k-per-week wages.

The Express & Star claim the deal is worth around £10m in total to Albion.

However, it’s a decision that has angered Slaven Bilic as he wanted the Egyptian international to stay at the Hawthorns, especially outside of the English transfer window.

He said: “It definitely wasn’t my decision. It wasn’t a football decision to be fair. I am very disappointed. We are a team that needs all our good players. He is the player that has know-how in the Premier League, that has vast experience, a national team player, a great professional and played last week against Burnley.”

Indeed, West Brom picked up their first clean sheet of the season versus the Clarets, where Branislav Ivanovic and Hegazi played together for the first time.

Yet just days later, he’s sold and the Baggies go onto draw 1-1 with Brighton.

Nothing can be done until January – if chairman Lai Guochuan is even prepared to back his manager. According to reports, the Chinese businessman has been unwilling to invest in the playing squad, even despite the desperation to get Grant through the door.

Eventually, he got his man, but you can’t help but feel the sale of Hegazi was some sort of financial consequence with Grant costing in excess of £15m.

It’s time for Dara O’Shea to step up to the plate and playing alongside Premier League-winning veteran Ivanovic could be perfect for the club and his own career.

Bilic is a huge fan of his, previously claiming he is “the future” at the Midlands club, so it’s time to hand him a regular starting berth going forward.

Whilst O’Shea’s former boss Matt Taylor at Exeter City, lauded him as an “exceptional” talent who’s got a “chance of making it all the way in the game.”

The 21-year-old has started four Premier League games, where he has averaged a whopping 3.5 clearances and 3.3 tackles each match, via WhoScored.

No other Baggies defender has managed more tackles per appearance than O’Shea, and after picking up his first senior cap for Ireland, he ought to be playing week-in, week-out.

AND in other news, £18m signing’s current West Brom form must be a major worry for Bilic…

Goodbye Mbwana Samatta, we barely knew you.

The first Tanzanian to ever play in the Premier League came and went before we had time to even gauge a proper opinion on him, and while Dean Smith won’t be too disappointed to see the striker leave on an initial loan that will become permanent for £5.5m next summer, it should be a bit of an eye-opener for the men in charge of transfers.

Samatta was signed in January to fill in up top after Wesley Moraes was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a serious injury, but he didn’t provide the firepower needed, struggling to bed into the squad, and netting just once in 14 league appearances.

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Of course, this could all have been avoided had the club signed an adequate backup in the summer who had time to gel with the squad and get to grips with how the manager wanted to play.

Top sides make sure to have two players able to play in every position so that they’re not overly-hampered by injury problems, but even though they spent over £100m last summer, Villa were caught short due to injuries.

Fortunately, it didn’t lead to their relegation, and the signing of Ollie Watkins has made sure that they have two attackers ready to fire this term, but going forward the club need to make sure that they don’t make the same mistake again.

Samatta won’t be remembered at Villa Park in years to come, but the people in charge of recruitment at the club must keep this saga in the back of their mind when they are plotting how to build the squad going forward, making sure that every role has a backup or rotation option able to step in if injury or suspension plagues the starting XI.

Villa shouldn’t beat themselves up over Samatta’s failings, but they need to learn their lesson from this one.

Vladimir Coufal shone on Saturday as West Ham United held Manchester City to a point, with David Moyes’ summer capture keeping England international Raheem Sterling silent.

The Irons finalised a deal to bring Coufal to the Premier League late in the summer transfer window, concluding Moyes’ search for a new right-back by striking a deal worth just £5.4million with Slavia Prague for a 10-time Czech Republic international.

Coufal was thrust into the Hammers starting line-up immediately upon his arrival with Moyes fielding the 28-year-old away to Leicester City, and has kept his trust in the Slezsky FC Opava product who started the 3-3 draw at Tottenham Hotspur and against Man City.

Moyes’ trust was repaid heavily on Saturday when Coufal’s pinpoint delivery found Michail Antonio in the box, before the English centre-forward spectacularly netted his third of the Premier League season to break the deadlock.

Coufal had already begun to earn his fair share of admirers before starring against Manchester City, with West Ham icon Trevor Sinclair waxing lyrical over the east London outfit’s summer capture ahead of this weekend’s clash.

“Playing three at the back – Coufal has come in and done a superb job – the balance looks superb,” Sinclair told talkSPORT (23/10, 09:20).

Moyes had similarly been impressed with what he’d seen from Coufal before the right-back had even kicked a ball in claret and blue, noting after his capture via quotes by The Guardian: “He is a player we have been tracking for some time now and all of our reports have been very impressive.

“He has a lot of attributes and qualities that we believe will enable him to adapt quickly to the demands of the Premier League. We are confident that he will make a positive impact and prove to be a great addition to the squad.”

Coufal proved to have taken well to the Premier League during his debut away to Leicester, and again stood out on Saturday as he kept Manchester City’s £115.2m-rated Sterling silent throughout the first-half.

The Czech Republic international struggled slightly more in the second period once ganged up on by Phil Foden and Joao Cancelo, but still came through the affair with flying colours as West Ham’s second-best performing outfield player, per SofaScore.

Data collected from the Citizens contest saw Coufal warrant a 7.1 out of 10 rating, only trailing Declan Rice (7.6) and Lukasz Fabianski (7.5) for the hosts. The right-back achieved his score thanks to an impressive display featuring seven successful duels and five tackles.

Coufal won six of his ten ground battles and his sole aerial contest, while adding one interception, three clearances and 55 touches to his record.

The Czech beast further attempted 30 passes but could only connect with West Ham players on 17 occasions, while misplacing five of seven long balls, two of his three crosses and losing possession 17 times.

Nonetheless, Coufal impressed against Manchester City, and warranted the high match rating given by SofaScore.

AND in other news, David Moyes must hit the reset button as £27.2m target puts West Ham’s interest in the past.