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Leeds United youngster Jack Jenkins has extended his stay with the Whites, signing a new deal that will keep him at Elland Road until 2024.

The Lowdown: Jenkins excites at Leeds

Kalvin Phillips may be Leeds’ undisputed main man in midfield for the first team, but Jenkins has similarly caught the eye for Under-23s.

The 19-year-old has made 24 appearances for the Whites’ youth team in total, including 22 in Premier League 2, registering five assists along the way.

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The Latest: Youngster rewarded with new deal

On Monday, Leeds’ official Twitter account confirmed that Jenkins had penned a new deal that will see him remain at the club until at least 2024.

The midfielder joins Whites duo Charlie Cresswell and Liam McCarron in agreeing new contracts.

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The Verdict: One for the future

It is important that Leeds build towards the future and Jenkins is someone who could become a key figure if his form at youth level translates to the senior game, highlighting the importance of tying him down.

Granted, he won’t necessarily be a first-team regular for a while – it may even be after Marcelo Bielsa eventually moves on – but long-term planning is essential.

Jenkins has one first-team appearance to his name, coming against Crawley Town in the FA Cup last season, and the hope is that it is the first of many.

In other news, Graham Smyth was disappointed with one Leeds player against West Ham. Find out who it is here.

Liverpool supporters face a nervous wait over midfielder Jordan Henderson’s future at Anfield, after a recent report from The Athletic’s James Pearce. 

Henderson has been with the Reds since 2011, and is contracted with Jurgen Klopp’s side until the summer of 2023. It remains to be seen as to whether he’ll commit his future to the club, but Liverpool are believed to have tabled a contract offer.

It is claimed that Henderson wants to remain an integral part of the Liverpool team moving forwards, which is understandable for a player who has captained the side for a number of seasons.

But James Pearce reports that Liverpool’s current contract offer to the former Sunderland midfielder suggests that he wouldn’t be that integral member of the team.

Henderson has made 392 appearances in total for Liverpool’s first-team, which includes 28 outings during the 2020/21 season, where the Reds finished third in the Premier League table after a an injury-hit campaign for Klopp’s men.

Henderson and his Liverpool team-mates are set to take on Norwich City in their opening match of the 2021/22 league campaign, in what could potentially be a tricky test against Daniel Farke’s side, who won promotion from the Championship last term.

Plenty of Liverpool supporters were quick to take to social media to react to this recent update on the club’s talks with Henderson over a new contract.

Take a look at the best of the reaction from the LFC Transfer Room Twitter page, who shared Pearce’s recent update on Henderson’s future.

Liverpool fans discuss Henderson

“I’m the biggest fan of Henderson on this bird app but there’s no way anyone would sanction this deal. There’s only one player in the history of football I’d do this for and it’d be for Messi.”

Credit: @RevivedDanny

“If a 33-year-old Jordan Henderson is ‘absolutely integral’ to a Liverpool team in 2023 and beyond, then something would have gone very, very wrong.”

Credit: @DMARTINEZ_85

“FSG Out.”

Credit: @Dj67776349

“Support the current regime in what they do based on business. But not seeing the impact of Hendo in two years actually has me worried they don’t know what they are doing.”

Credit: @CliveTRoberts

“We need to keep him. Captain and such an influence on the younger players.”

Credit: @jamiecharlesle7

“Being integral part is shown on the pitch, may be if he shows that beyond 2023 he will get a contract.”

Credit: @Sadio_Mane_10

“He should definitely stay this season to prove his point, I don’t think he’s leaving this summer.”

Credit: @passingmfer

“Will be hard to forgive the owners if they mess this one up after what happened with Gini.”

Credit: @MattHirsch08

With ten goals scored in their opening 11 Premier League games of the season, only Tottenham Hotspur (9) and Norwich City (5) have found the back of the net on fewer occasions than Southampton at this stage of the campaign, showing that Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have not been particularly potent in front of goal as some of the other teams around them in the table have been.

Taking this into account, it seems as though the club have their eyes on adding a new attacking talent to their squad to help give an extra boost to their attacking power.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Calciomercato, Southampton are interested in signing PSV Eindhoven winger Ritsu Doan.

Doan joined Eindhoven from fellow Dutch club FC Groningen back in the 2019 summer transfer window.

His first season at PSV saw the right-winger score two goals and provide one assist in 19 league games before then joining German club Arminia Bielefeld on a loan deal in September 2020.

Upon his arrival at Bielefeld, the club’s sporting director Samir Arabi described the Japanese international as an “important element” to their team, which ended up being an extremely accurate summary given how Doan managed to score five goals and provide three assists in 35 appearances.

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So far this season, Doan, who is currently valued at £5.85m according to Transfermarkt has chipped in with two goals in six league appearances with PSV, showing that he has what it takes to be a real attacking threat from the wing.

That’s precisely what Southampton could do with at the moment when considering their current wingers Theo Walcott, Nathan Tella and Nathan Redmond have been unable to score a goal in the Premier League this season.

Additionally, given Walcott’s advanced age compared to Southampton’s other wingers and the fact that he has been one of their lowest-rated players as a result of his performances in the Premier League this season according to WhoScored, the Japanese forward could be the club’s dream heir for the Englishman if he ends up leaving St. Mary’s when his current contract expires in the summer of 2023.

If the Saints were able to strike a deal with PSV for the 23-year-old, this would be a superb move for the club to secure such a young attacking talent that has the ability to offer Hasenhuttl’s side with goals from the wing.

In other news: Big relief: Saints handed reassuring injury boost that will surely leave fans buzzing – opinion

Everton’s season is in need of an injection of positivity following a poor run of results, and the emergence of a homegrown talent could be the ideal solution.

The Toffees have picked up just one point from a possible 12 in recent weeks as Rafa Benitez’s charges have struggled to cope with a lengthy list of absentees, increasing the pressure on the Spaniard.

A lack of goals following Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s enforced absence has been a constant source of frustration, but the solution could already be within the club.

Rhys Hughes has caught the eye over the last couple of campaigns for both the U18s and U23s, supplying the grateful strikers with a constant stream of quality crosses and through balls from out wide.

Since the start of 2019/20, the 20-year-old has bagged seven goals and provided a further 15 assists in 50 appearances for Everton, highlighting his top-class potential.

His eye-catching exploits for the youth teams led to Hughes signing his first professional contract in January 2020, before U23 manager David Unsworth lauded his technical ability.

“He’s got ability. What we’ve looked at is where do we play him,” said the tactician in a recent interview. “We felt playing off one of the sides, coming into the pockets, getting on the ball on the half-turn, was probably his best opportunity.”

However, Unsworth then suggested that the Wales U21 international needs to spend another 12 months in the youth setup to improve his physicality, although expressed his excitement at the potential of the dead-ball specialist.

“He has to get quicker, he has to get stronger, he has to develop physically, but this all happens naturally.

“He’s got the ability, he needs to build his stamina and his physicality but if you’re talking a footballer, he is an outstanding footballer with great technique and a great set-ball delivery. Those type of players are worth their weight in gold and after another year of development, we’ll see where we are with him.”

With Alex Iwobi still unable to discover his best form on Merseyside, the opportunity for Hughes to impress could be just around the corner, and his breakthrough may well be the catalyst Everton need to resurrect their faltering campaign.

And, in other news…Everton could find a new Holgate in £50k-p/w dud who’s an “accident waiting to happen” 

Manchester City fans are gutted after the club announced they have sold Lukas Nmecha to Wolfsburg this summer.

The Citizens are preparing for the new campaign as they aim to recover from their 1-0 Champions League final defeat to Chelsea in Porto. However, so far they are yet to make a single first-team signing despite heavy interest in the likes of Harry Kane (Sky Sports) and Jack Grealish.

In fact, it seems the Etihad Stadium outfit are looking to move on a number of players this summer. Eric Garcia (fcbarcelona.com) and Sergio Aguero have both completed moves to Barcelona, and now Nmecha has transferred from City to the Bundesliga (mancity.com).

The 22-year-old impressed on loan at Anderlecht last term and also finished as the top scorer at the U21 European Championships this summer (uefa.com).

The news was shared on Twitter by City’s official Twitter account, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Nmecha news below

“So another striker gone & nobody inbound……”

Credit: @theworldzyours

“Will be missed”

Credit: @LewMCFC

“Big mistake :/”

Credit: @JohnnyKF17

“We sold currently our best striker at the club, pathetic”

Credit: @McfcRxchy

“This isn’t good for the team. We keep losing good young lads and going out to buy other young lads at high prices. First sancho,then Diaz now Lukas”

Credit: @Elias7107

“Stop selling our youth”

Credit: @CxcWild

In other news, Man City fans were livid with these comments.

It’s not often you’ll find a Celtic supporter praising the club’s hierarchy but they deserve credit for the turnaround after their Eddie Howe move collapsed.

The Hoops could have sat licking their wounds but instead, they dusted themselves off and found themselves an alternative in double-quick time.

The frontrunner for the vacant manager’s position is now Ange Postecoglou, a man who enjoyed a successful spell with Australia and is now catching the eye in Japan.

Celtic have had to think outside of the box but it’s brought them to a manager who suits the club perfectly.

Postecoglou is currently in charge of Japanese top-flight side Yokohama Marinos, the club with whom he won the league in 2019.

His side play an attractive brand of football, keeping possession away from the opposition and tiring them to within an inch of their lives.

No team has kept more possession (64.7%) than his side while they also play with a long-busting intense press.

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The idea of that style of play is to win the ball back within just five seconds of losing it. Based on that, Celtic will need players who are willing to work hard or who are familiar with that style of play.

Last month, the Hoops were tipped as a potential destination for Xherdan Shaqiri.

The Swiss ace is now 29 and isn’t the hardest of workers but crucially, he has experience of playing in a team that loves to press.

Shaqiri currently plays his football for Liverpool where Jurgen Klopp has developed a successful gegenpress system.

Throughout 2020/21, only Manchester City and Leicester had a better success rate when it came to winning the ball back quickly; Liverpool’s percentage stood at an impressive 31.6% within five seconds of losing the ball.

Shaqiri didn’t play a great deal last term but his pressing statistics per 90 minutes outweigh a number of Liverpool’s star men.

He applied pressure to an opponent 16.1 times per 90 this term, more than Sadio Mane, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

As for successful pressure percentage, he sits on 33% which is above the likes of Henderson, Mo Salah and Thiago.

Those are some illustrious names that Shaqiri tops, leading us to believe he’d fit into Postecoglou’s system perfectly.

The Switzerland international would also offer plenty with his technical ability. An assured passer with clever feet, Liverpool reporter James Pearce once said he had “incredible intelligence as well as breathtaking technique.”

He may be approaching the age of 30 but there’d be few better players to target if he was available this summer.

Postecoglou needs to target the Liverpool winger.

AND in other news, Hoops set for colossal blow after Celtic news emerges, fans should be gutted…

Liverpool have kicked off their 2021/21 Premier League campaign in impressive fashion, with Jurgen Klopp’s side picking up six points, scoring five times and being yet to concede a single goal over their opening two fixtures of the season.

However, with an equally impressive Chelsea side being the visitors to Anfield on Saturday afternoon, the Reds are set to face a very different challenge to the one posed by both Norwich City and Burnley in their previous games.

Indeed, Thomas Tuchel’s side have also picked up six points over their first two fixtures of the season, have also scored five times and are also yet to concede in the league.

As such, the Reds must be at their very best to get a positive result from the top-of-the-table clash, and, with Klopp recently confirming that Andy Robertson, who is yet to feature in the league this season due to an ankle injury, is in contention to start the fixture, it would seem as if the 54-year-old has been handed a rather significant boost ahead of the match.

Game-changer

While Robertson’s stand-in at left-back, Konstantinos Tsimikas, has highly impressed over his two Premier League appearances in the absence of the Scotland international, with the 25-year-old averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.20 in the league, should Robertson indeed be fit enough to start the Chelsea game, it is undeniable that Klopp simply must start the 27-year-old.

Indeed, since joining the Reds from Hull City back in 2017, the defender has been one of the club’s most consistent performers in the league, as well as a fantastic creative outlet.

This is perhaps illustrated best by the £58.4m-rated man’s form in Liverpool’s title-winning 2019/20 campaign, in which, over his 36 appearances, the defender helped his side keep nine clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.1 interceptions, 1.5 tackles, 1.6 clearances and winning 3.4 duels per game.

The man Darren Fletcher dubbed an “inspirational” player also scored two goals, registered a whopping 12 assists and created 14 big chances for his teammates, in addition to making an average of 1.7 key passes per match.

These returns saw the £50k-per-week left-back earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.17, ranking him as Klopp’s joint sixth-best performer in the league that season.

As such, while Tsimikas is undoubtedly a decent stand-in for Robertson, there is simply no comparison between the two players in terms of overall ability, leading us to believe that Klopp must start the Scot against Chelsea, as his addition to the Reds’ backline would be game-changing for the German coach and his side.

In other news: Klopp can scare Chelsea by unleashing “extraordinary” £27m-rated Liverpool dynamo

Some Liverpool supporters are delighted after journalist Fabrizio Romano shared a claim from David Ornstein on Twitter that Jordan Henderson is close to signing a new Reds contract.

Jurgen Klopp’s side picked up a solid 2-0 win at home to Burnley on Saturday afternoon, continuing their 100% start to the season in the process. Diogo Jota opened the scoring with a precise header and Sadio Mane fired home an impressive second goal after the interval, putting the game to bed.

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There were a number of standout performers for Liverpool and Henderson caught the eye in the middle of the park on his first start of the season, completing a team-high 66 passes against the Clarets and executing six accurate long balls (Sofascore).

The 31-year-old is a key figure on and off the pitch, and according to Romano on Twitter – with attribution to Ornstein – he is close to extending his stay at Anfield until 2024.

The journalist tweeted: “Jordan Henderson will soon sign his contract extension with Liverpool. He’s discussing final details and clauses with the club – then everything will be completed. All parties confident. #LFC New deal will be until June 2024, approved by Liverpool – as per @David_Ornstein”.

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Liverpool fans ecstatic with Henderson update

These Reds fans took to Twitter to express their happiness at the update on Henderson’s contract status at Anfield, with one Kopite describing it as “great news”.

“Rightly so..top class yesterday..and a fantastic captain”

Credit: @S7G7S

“Yes yes yes please!!!”

Credit: @cobkop

“Let’s gooo! The skipper is staying “

Credit: @Football__433

“Yessss! The skipper is essential”

Credit: @Kikiin_97

“Great news”

Credit: @apakoyan

“Love to see this! Really enjoyed Hendo’s performance against Burnley, thought he was a controlling presence and was great on the ball.”

Credit: @Valiant_Virgil

In other news, some Liverpool fans criticised one Reds player during the 2-0 win over Burnley. Find out who it is here.

Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan believes that Pablo Hernandez knew it was time to call an end to his fantastic Whites career.

The Lowdown: Superb servant

The 36-year-old has been a wonderful player for Leeds, playing a big role in them returning to the Premier League with a nine-goal haul in their promotion-winning campaign and shining with his quality.

Hernandez has scored 36 goals and registered 41 assists in 174 appearances for the Whites, becoming a hugely popular individual in the process, with journalist Phil Hay describing him as ‘unreal’.

Despite still having a year remaining on his current deal, the midfielder will leave Elland Road at the end of the season, bringing an end to his time at the club.

The Latest: Whelan discusses Hernandez decision

Whelan spoke about the decision to Football Insider, saying that Hernandez’s lack of game-time this term will have played a part in him wanting to move on:

“He’s not needed by Leeds, he’s served his purpose.

“He’s done his job, he’s been a great servant, a fantastic player. He has entertained us for sure and been an integral part of our promotion and push to where we are now.

“I think when you look at his age, look at the players that are coming through now at Leeds and the players they’ve brought in, you’ve got to say he is third choice. Maybe even further down the pecking order now.

“Another player that will be held as a legend of the club for absolutely the right reasons. A player that has been a massive part of our growth to where we are today. I think everyone would thank him for that.”

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The Verdict: Right time to leave

Hernandez could easily have run down his contract at Leeds, but it is admirable that he may still be eyeing up regular football elsewhere at the age of 36.

The Spaniard has only managed two starts in the league this season and Marcelo Bielsa will be looking at summer signings, potentially sending him even further down the pecking order, as Whelan had feared.

Now is a good time to depart for all concerned and Hernandez deserves to be remembered as a true modern Leeds hero. Hopefully he will get a fitting send-off from the Elland Road faithful in today’s season-ending clash at home to West Brom.

In other news, Leeds have reportedly agreed a deal to sign a player this summer. Find out who it is here.

Sporting CP midfielder Matheus Nunes would be an excellent signing for Wolves, as well as a show of ambition, according to Midlands reporter Josh Holland.

The Lowdown: Nunes linked with Wolves move

Bruno Lage will be looking to bolster his options in the summer transfer window, ensuring his Wanderers side continue to head in the right direction next season.

One player Wolves have been linked with signing is Nunes, who is enjoying an impressive season for Sporting, starting 28 Primeira Liga games and chipping in with two goals and assists apiece.

The 23-year-old’s creative class has shone through in his central midfield role, with an 85.6% pass completion rate and an average of 2.4 dribbles per game.

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The Latest: Journalist talks up signing

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Holland talked up the idea of Nunes joining Wolves in the summer, saying it would be a statement of intent:

“I think it shows ambition and the fans will love that Bruno Lage wants players like that.

“Depending on where they finish, they need to be looking at players that will want to come to Wolves and help them get into the Champions League rather than a player who wants them to be in the Champions League now.”

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The Verdict: Neves replacement?

Nunes looks like a class act who could fit in seamlessly at Molineux, not least because of his Portuguese roots, and he is surely being viewed as a replacement for Ruben Neves.

The Wolves hero looks increasingly likely to move elsewhere at the end of the season and his compatriot could help the sizeable void left by him, considering he is not dissimilar in style, even hailed as ‘one of the best players in the world today’ by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.

At 23, Nunes would be considered a long-term replacement who should improve further in the coming years, also making up for the loss of one of the club’s most influential players.

In other news, one player has emerged as a new Wolves transfer target. Find out who it is here.