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It’s fair to say Jacob Murphy’s loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday hasn’t taken off as well as he would have liked.

The Newcastle man joined the Owls on a year-long spell earlier in the summer, and there must have been hope that he could rediscover the kind of form that convinced his parent side to shell out £12m to sign him from Norwich City.

Instead, the 24-year-old has endured a disappointing time at Hillsborough, scoring just the once in 11 appearances across all competitions for Garry Monk’s side.

Having been brought on as a late substitute when the Owls were leading Cardiff 1-0 on Friday night, Murphy delivered a virtually anonymous showing. As per Sofascore, the former Norwich man made just one accurate pass in 11 minutes of action, attempted no dribbles, and lost possession six times.

After seeing his horror cameo, Wednesday fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on their loan signing.

Many supporters of the side couldn’t believe the winger’s performance, with one fan in particular calling for someone to put him on the next train back to Newcastle.

Check out some of the reaction of Wednesday fans below:

It must be pretty difficult for Real Madrid fans not to get just a bit too excited about Martin Odegaard at the moment.

The 20-year-old Norwegian midfielder is definitely thriving on his loan spell at Real Sociedad and is, quite frankly, tearing La Liga apart.

And this is no exaggeration either. He’s definitely been one of La Real’s best performers so far in the ongoing 2019/20 campaign.

Just the fact that he was named the club’s Player of the Month in August and is their highest-ranked player overall according to Whoscored goes a long way to justifying that statement.

And just recently, when his performances finally started getting the attention of the public, there was a report from AS stating that Real Madrid actually can recall the player back from loan earlier than originally planned.

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Odegaard should be Real Sociedad’s player for two straight seasons but if Los Blancos change their mind, they can recall him as early as the 2020/21 campaign. The same report also states that the Whites have definitely noticed the young Norwegian’s brilliant displays, suggesting that his loan spell might actually be cut short.

But even though there’s no denying that Odegaard has simply been fantastic, taking him away from Real Sociedad and cutting his loan spell in half could prove detrimental.

Yes, it’s easy to get carried away and mesmerised by his performances as of late, but Real Madrid should be patient and let him continue developing before he makes his big return.

Odegaard is building something over at La Real and snatching it away from him early might have bad consequences and disrupt his progress. Breaking into the Real Madrid team – regardless of how well you’ve played elsewhere in La Liga – is never easy, and two campaigns of regular football is always more beneficial than just one followed by another wallowing on the bench.

It is essential that they don’t let that happen and that they let him thrive and grow even further now that his form is on the rise. Of course, there’s no knowing if it will continue further down the road but at the very moment, the mere mention of a potential callback could be a distraction that disrupts his flow.

Odegaard will still be far from a finished product by the time those two years go by but Los Blancos are bound to get an even better player back in their squad if they just wait a little bit longer. Patience is key here – let the youngster continue to blossom.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Injury News series, which considers the impact of the latest updates on players’ fitness.

Almost a month has passed since Lo Celso was sidelined with a hip injury, but there could be good news soon for Spurs fans.

What’s the latest?

The Argentina international picked up the issue when with the national team in September, having only played 44 minutes of football for his new side.

However, the latest report from Football London suggests that he will be back in full training very soon, and given the current problems in the squad he could come back into the fold as soon as he is fit.

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A positive for Spurs is that he doesn’t often suffer injury issues, making more than 30 league appearances two years running, so if care is taken and he isn’t rushed back then he should be able to maintain his fitness.

Boost for the squad

Lo Celso signing for Spurs generated a lot of excitement amongst fans over the summer, many of whom are probably eager to see him in action consistently.

His return should lift the crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, particularly if he starts to perform to the level he is capable of, and his return to playing should also create positivity amongst the squad.

Last season he scored nine and assisted five in La Liga, so has the quality in the final third to reinvigorate a lacklustre side, with the likes of Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela failing to produce the goods in his preferred position.

Those two have five goals and assists between them this term from 11 games each, and therefore the 23-year-old has a good chance of being called upon when he returns. He should be determined too, as so far he has failed to have an influence in the three substitute appearances he has made.

The psychological impact of having Lo Celso reintroduced should be significant alone, particularly for Harry Kane and Son Heung-min who will play in front of him, and if Mauricio Pochettino can get those two firing then his side should begin to return to their best.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Florentino Perez seems to think he knows exactly what the problem of the current Real Madrid squad is, and he outlined it perfectly in his latest interview with Marca.

What did he say?

A team that was once on top of the world have been a shadow of their former selves since the beginning of the 2018/19 season. The end of the previous campaign was probably the moment that sounded all the remaining alarm bells in the Spanish capital.

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Los Blancos failed to secure any trophies of real value as they ended the year with only the Club World Cup crown to their name. Even the return of Zinedine Zidane hasn’t changed so much, at least for now, as the team went through a disastrous pre-season and have had a mixed start to the 2019/20 La Liga season with one win and two draws.

Perez, however, seems to think there’s one clear issue plaguing this team and he told it to Marca in his latest interview:

“Our success made us lose our intensity.

“We have to recover it. These players and this coach made us champions, so they’ll do it again.

“Last season wasn’t good and we have to reflect on the criticism.”

The core of the problem

Whether Real Madrid want to admit it or not, Perez certainly hit the nail squarely on the head with that statement. The media were quick to bash Real for a poor transfer window but they were right for all the wrong reasons.

Sure, Real could’ve used more players who could directly improve the starting lineup but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s pretty difficult to acquire such players at anything below a premium price.

The likes of Sergio Ramos, Luka Modrić and Toni Kroos didn’t just lose their abilities and skills overnight. Of course, as they get older, they will inevitably fall out of favour but the lack of hunger might very well be at the core of their problems.

After all, there’s hardly anything left for this team to win after clinching three Champions League crowns in a row under Zidane and adding one La Liga title to the pile in the process. And now he is expecting those same players to retain that extraordinary level once again with the same eagerness.

New players are needed but they also need youth to restore that hunger once again. The experience, skill and leadership are all there but they need to remember that there’s still so much to fight for.

How exactly Perez is planning to solve this conundrum remains to be seen. But identifying the problem is definitely a wise first step.

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Oh Ed, you just don’t help yourself do you? Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman has been the target for many fans’ disdain over the club’s current plight, and his latest comments have certainly not gone down too well.

In a conference call with club investors following the release of United’s financial figures, Woodward strongly defended the recruitment policy in place at Old Trafford.

The 47-year-old insisted the Red Devils are going about things the right way, and that understandably prompted many supporters of the Manchester side to flood to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the matter.

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Many United fans couldn’t believe what Woodward said, and revealed they are stunned by the “utter delusion” of the club’s key figure.

Some went into meltdown, and suggested the club is now “finished”, with one fan in particular insisting they are going to give up with supporting the club.

Check out some of the shocked reaction of United fans below:

According to a recent report from ESPN, Ben Chilwell’s future at Leicester City appears far from certain. The England international came up through the ranks at the Premier League outfit and has since become a regular under Claude Puel, with his mightily impressive efforts for the Foxes seemingly attracting the interest of City manager Pep Guardiola.

And that’s because a recent report from ESPN suggests that the Citizens are eyeing up a summer move for the Leicester defender, which should prompt Puel’s Foxes to prepare for his possible exit by launching a move for fellow left back Patrick van Aanholt, valued at £8.1 million by Transfermarkt.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, while it took Chilwell some time to convince some sections of the Leicester faithful of his capabilities, the 22-year-old appears to have completely banished those doubts in recent times such have been his incredibly high-level displays for the Foxes in the last 12 months.

The Englishman, capped five times by his country at senior level in 2018, initially struggled to regularly dislodge the experienced Christian Fuchs from the starting eleven in the 2016/17 season, appearing only 12 times in the Premier League, only for the arrival of Puel to pave the way for the young defender to become the number one left back at the King Power Stadium.

And that’s because the 22-year-old appeared 32 times in all competitions for the Foxes last term as they finished ninth in the Premier League under the Frenchman, while he has missed only one league game so far this time round to underline his consistently high-level efforts for the Midlanders – there’s a reason he has forced his way into Gareth Southgate’s England reckoning.

And with Benjamin Mendy’s recurrent injury issues leaving Guardiola short in the left back ranks at Man City, a move for Chilwell this summer makes complete sense – and were that to indeed happen, Leicester have to be prepared by bringing Crystal Palace’s van Aanholt to the Midlands outfit.

The Netherlands international has proven to be one of the most impressive left backs in the Premier League over the years for both Sunderland and indeed Palace, with his exit from the former for the latter in January 2017 somewhat consigning the Black Cats to relegation that season.

Up until then, the 28-year-old had been a regular at the Stadium of Light and started the 2016/17 campaign well before Palace came calling, where he has since continued to produce the goods with 68 appearances for the Eagles, in which time he has netted nine times and laid on three assists.

Yes, there have been some question marks about his defensive capabilities in Roy Hodgson’s side, but one does not play 149 times in the Premier League at left back if one does not have adeptness at the back – add in his dynamism in getting forward and helping out in attack, and van Aanholt appears to be exactly what Leicester need were Chilwell to indeed leave.

As such, with City reportedly (as per ESPN) keen on the young Foxes defender, Leicester themselves have to be ready for such exit by launching a move for Palace’s van Aanholt.

Leicester fans… what do you think? Let us know!

FIFA have now officially released their nominees for the Fifpro World 11 of the year.

Once the results are in, we’ll get a team composed of the 11 best players in the world in their respective positions.

This year Real Madrid have nine players that were thrown in the hat.

The chosen team will be revealed at the Best Fifa Football Awards in Milan on 23 September.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

But interestingly enough, many Real Madrid fans took to Twitter to voice their disappointment over the nominated players from their club.

They did not set out to defend them but rather to slam them for even being mentioned as some of the best the world has to offer.

Many of them seem to believe only some of the players, like Eden Hazard and Karim Benzema for example, warranted their entry, while most of the other players have no place on that stage.

You can see their rather peculiar reactions in the collection of tweets below.

Check them out…

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With just over two weeks left until the current January transfer window closes, Celtic have been rather busy with their activity in the market so far with a number of players making their way to the Parkhead club to strengthen Ange Postecoglou’s squad.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the window, it seems as though a current Celtic player has been touted for a move away from the club that would surely not go down well with a lot of fans if it were to happen.

What’s the latest?

Speaking to Football Insider, Alan Hutton had this to say about Celtic defender Stephen Welsh, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £3.6k-per-week according to Salary Sport and his immediate future at the Parkhead club.

He said: “He deserves the praise that’s coming his way. I think for the player, he’ll be thinking about it, a chance to move. He will have seen the likes of Aaron Hickey going there, Jack Hendry going abroad.

“They’re doing really well, getting moves and progressing in their career.”

Welsh had recently been linked with a move to Udinese in Italy, a nation where former Celtic academy gem, Hickey, is currently enjoying his football in.

Transfer calamity

As a product of Celtic’s youth system, the 21-year-old has gone on to make 41 senior appearances for the club across all competitions, chipping in with three goals and one assist along the way.

Having been praised for his “superb” performances for Celtic in the past by fellow teammate Greg Taylor, Welsh has been a fairly regular figure in Postecoglou’s side across all competitions this season with 19 appearances under his belt and nine of them coming in the SPFL.

His performances have shown why it would be a disaster for Celtic to let him go as well with WhoScored giving him an overall season rating of 7.03/10, making him the ninth-highest rated player that’s currently in Postecoglou’s squad.

That shows he is more than capable of playing in this current Celtic team at a decent level and why it would be a calamity to see him leave.

With Postecoglou recently claiming that Welsh’s immediate future will be at Celtic Park, it’s safe to say that the fans would be more likely to take his word about the situation over Hutton’s.

Therefore, any worries about the defender potentially making a move away from Parkhead could be quashed, especially when you consider the fact that his current contract isn’t set to expire until 2025.

In other news: Big boost: Ange drops huge Celtic injury update that’ll surely have fans delighted – opinion

Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves is currently undergoing contract talks with the club, according to technical director Scott Sellars.

The Lowdown: Neves enjoying superb season

The 24-year-old has been one of Wanderers’ outstanding players so far this season, proving once again to be a class act in the middle of the park.

Neves has been a dominant figure both on and off the ball, not only enjoying an 83.7% pass completion rate but also averaging 2.3 tackles per game, with teammate and compatriot Jose Sa hailing him as an ‘amazing’ influence at Molineux.

There have been constant reports surrounding the Portuguese’s Wolves future, though, with moves elsewhere mooted this summer.

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The Latest: Sellars makes big claim

Wanderers may have been boosted, however, with Sellars confirming to The Express & Star that Neves is discussing a possible new deal at Molineux:

“Ruben is having a fantastic season and everybody should take a pat on the back in terms of how well he is playing.

“We’re obviously talking to him and we all know how much he loves playing for the club. We know how much he has settled here, but he is also an ambitious young man.”As with all players, you try and have an open dialogue with them and their representatives to come to the best scenario for the club and the player.

“Rightly so, elite clubs all over Europe will have Ruben on their radar, but we have an excellent relationship with him and will do things properly, and collaboratively, when the time is right.”

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The Verdict: Potentially huge news

Neves is arguably the most important player at Wolves currently, in terms of quality, age and influence all rolled into one, so losing him would be an almighty blow.

It is only natural that he may be looking at a move elsewhere – he is surely good enough to be starting for a Champions League-playing club – but if he signs a new contract with Wanderers it would feel significant.

Not only would it mean Bruno Lage keeping hold of a vital figure but it would also be a real show of loyalty and belief that this team is moving in the right direction.

In other news, a European giant are eyeing up a move for one Wolves player. Find out who it is here.

Newcastle United could look to bring Georginio Wijnaldum back to St James’ Park in the latter part of the January transfer window, according to The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards. 

The lowdown

The Magpies brought the Dutch midfielder to England from PSV Eindhoven in a £14.5m deal back in 2015. He made 40 appearances for the club, scoring 11 goals, before moving on to Liverpool following the Tynesiders’ relegation to the Championship.

After five years at Anfield, he joined Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer last summer, but he has found it difficult to nail down a place in the team under Mauricio Pochettino. He has started just nine out of a possible 19 Ligue 1 matches and was selected for three of the six Champions League group games.

The latest

Edwards reported in The Telegraph that a move for Wijnaldum isn’t a primary objective for Newcastle, but it could be a deal that they explore ‘later in the window’ if they miss out on their top midfield targets.

In a tweet, he added that this information was ‘based on conversations on the phone with people who know what’s going on’.

The verdict

Intriguingly, Wijnaldum admitted earlier in the season that he wasn’t ‘completely happy’ with his situation in Paris, and Sky Sports reported at the start of last month that he was open to leaving the Parc des Princes on loan. They did add that PSG ‘appear unlikely to let him leave’, but there’s time for that stance to change.

Wijnaldum earns £180,000 per week in the French capital, but Newcastle should be able to live with any wage arrangement.

In addition to Kieran Trippier, the ‘sensational’ Wijnaldum, as hailed by his former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, would inject Champions League quality into the Newcastle ranks, having played in the tournament for the last five seasons and won it in 2019.

In other news, this veteran forward is also an option for the Magpies