According to Leeds Live, 21-year-old loanee Izzy Brown is nearing his debut for The Whites.  

The Chelsea player sustained an ACL injury in January whilst playing for Premier League outfit Brighton. He signed for Leeds on loan in August with the pre-existing injury, but is now drawing close to his much awaited return from injury.

This is a player that manager Marcello Bielsa clearly has a plan for, otherwise he would not have signed him with such an injury. He must be highly regarded at Elland Road, which is understandable, as he has been very impressive in his brief career so far.

No matter what club Brown has played for, he has made a good account of himself. His Championship spells at Rotherham and Huddersfield two seasons ago proved to be very fruitful, particularly helping The Terriers earn promotion to the Premier League.

Leeds already have a small squad, and have looked to be struggling at times when injuries have occurred. When taking into the intense style of football that Bielsa demands, squad depth and rotation is key. While January is the time to strengthen a squad, Brown provides a much better alternative for The Peacocks. While a new signing would need time to adjust to the Argentinian’s style of football, Brown will be well accustomed to it already, it would just be a case of working his way to match fitness.

The versatile Brown will ease the pressure considerably of Leeds’ squad when he returns, and could well be the trick up Bielsa’s sleeve he’s been waiting to unleash in his title push.

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According to CaughtOffside, Manchester United are plotting an ambitious move to sign Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante.

What’s the word?

Kante has been a revelation since his arrival in England in 2015. By the end of his first campaign with Leicester City, he had become a Premier League title winner with the Foxes. A second league triumph followed in the next campaign with the midfielder by then a Chelsea player. 

A World Cup winner with France in the summer of 2018, the 27-year-old has become one of the most decorated and celebrated defensive midfielders in world football in recent years.

Watch Playmaker FC’s Thogden react to England’s dramatic second-half comeback against Croatia in the video below…

If the Red Devils could prise him away from Stamford Bridge, then it would be a major coup, but the current set-up at Old Trafford would not get the best out of the Frenchman.

A major step down

Jose Mourinho has so far failed to get the best out of his recent major signings, such as Alexis Sanchez and Fred. It seems unlikely that a character such as Kante would thrive under the combative Portuguese either.

What’s more, the Portuguese manager’s enduring presence in the Old Trafford dugout, from where he has overseen United’s awful start to the season, could put Kante off a switch to the club. 

Under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea, Kante is currently playing a progressive, exciting brand of football that has elevated the Blues to third place in the table after an unbeaten start to the campaign. As things stand, a move to United under Mourinho would constitute a major step down.

United could find that the longer they persist with the 55-year-old, the less attractive they are to the kind of top talents their squad desperately needs.

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Loads of fans have been reacting to Tottenham’s demolition of Chelsea on Saturday evening, and Liverpool fans are crucifying Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Chelsea-Liverpool rivalry has been refreshed this season, as both sides look like genuine title contenders for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

Fans are constantly arguing over whether Mohamed Salah or Eden Hazard is the better player, and they have started a similar debate over their goalkeepers.

Kepa and Alisson Becker both arrived this summer for huge fees, and until Saturday the pair were almost statistically identical.

The Playmaker FC squad decided to wind-up some unsuspecting Brazil fans at the Emirates on Saturday night. Watch the hilarious results in the video below…

Chelsea’s defence collapsed at Wembley though, as goals from Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min gave Tottenham a 3-1 win.

Kepa was caught out badly for the second goal, as he seemed to be completely wrong-footed by Kane’s long-distance effort.

It certainly didn’t help the young keeper that David Luiz moved out of the way of the shot, but Reds’ fans are destroying him on Twitter nonetheless.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Andre Gomes’ development in recent weeks has captured the imagination of Everton supporters and taken the limelight off Richarlison. 

The Brazilian boy wonder started the season in electric form and has rapidly vindicated Everton’s decision to complete a £35 million deal for his services in the summer.

But Gomes’ recovery from the injury that ruled him out of the early weeks of the campaign has allowed him to establish himself at the heart of Marco Silva’s midfield, and he has made quite the impression.

With just six Premier League appearances to his name, a unanimous decision has been made among the Toffees faithful: we want Gomes on a permanent deal.

That feeling is one mirrored by Silva, as his glowing admiration for his compatriot in the British media serves to prove, but after a relatively extravagant 2018 of spending it see if there is anything left in the transfer kitty to complete another high-profile deal in the new year.

Well, according to the Guardian, Silva has explained that patience is needed as Everton’s, Barcelona’s and Gomes’ interests all need to be taken into consideration before completing a permanent deal.

And the same report also claims that Everton may look to sell Oumar Niasse (Transfermarkt valuation £7.2 million) and Morgan Schneiderlin (Transfermarkt £18 million) to accumulate the necessary funds required to complete the most desirable of January deals.

Now, whether or not Everton will be able to command transfer fees in the region that their respective transfermarkt valuations suggest remains to be seen, but Schneidlerin’s decline since leaving Southampton will unquestionably make him a hard sell.

Considering that both players are on the fringes of Everton’s first-team and seemingly have no major role to play at the club it makes perfect sense to offload them and secure Gomes’ signature before interest begins to intensify from outside the club.

Although it’s early in Gomes’ season-long loan spell at Goodison Park it already appears glaringly apparent that the Portugal international is in his element at this level, so the sooner Everton raise the funds for a permanent deal the better.

Everton fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

Everton had a bit of a week to forget in terms of results, with their nightmare finish at Anfield last weekend not being helped by a midweek draw.

The Toffees though do look in good nick at times under Marco Silva, and it would not be a surprise to see them challening for Europe.

Silva have brought in a wealth of new players to Goodison Park and that has left a few players on the periphery of proceedings at the club, meaning a loan move for some might well materialise come the opening of the January transfer window.

And one side who might look to snap up a few of the Toffees fringe players is Aston Villa, who are making a big surge towards the promotion places under new manager Dean Smith.

A squad which is already riddle with talent at Championship level, adding more Premier League players is a scary thought for the rest of the league.

However, we’ve taken a look at TWO Everton players who might well enhance Villa’s promotion push further…

Jonjoe Kenny

The young defender burst onto the scene for the Toffees last season, but has been frozen out somewhat this term under Silva.

However, Kenny is a talent, and is someone who defensively can really help a club like Villa out during the Championship run in.

Good with the ball as well as being solid defensively, Kenny would be an excellent signing for Dean Smith’s men.

Kieran Dowell

The young midfielder spent last season with Nottingham Forest, and impressed in the main for Aitor Karanka’s men.

A classy operator in the middle of the park who would fit with Smith’s ethos of high tempo football, he would be a useful addition for the Villans if they could persuade Everton to do a short-term deal.

[ad_pod ]Manchester City extended their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-1 away win over Watford on Tuesday evening, but here at Football FanCast we want to know whether Vincent Kompany did enough to justify a start in the clash with Chelsea on Saturday.City’s club captain has had a torrid time with injury in recent years, and he has only made seven Premier League appearances so far this season.Against Watford though he was brought in to deal with the physical threat of Troy Deeney, with Aymeric Laporte dropping out and missing Premier League minutes for the first time in this campaign.[brid autoplay=”true” video=”338209″ player=”12034″ title=”Rafa’s Pub Facts Aubameyang Emulates West Ham Flop”]Many Manchester City fans might have worried that the Belgian international’s bad luck had struck again when he limped off after 82 minutes, but Ben Dinnery confirmed on Twitter that it was just cramp for the 32-year-old.

He will be fit then for the trip to Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, and Guardiola should consider starting him. There is no substitute for experience and Kompany has that in abundance.

He also brought back memories of his days as a holding midfielder against Watford, as his splitting passes broke the Hornets’ press.

Guardiola is clearly a big fan on Laporte and John Stones for their ball-playing abilities, but Kompany’s intelligence and tactical nous will be huge in negating the threat of his compatriot Eden Hazard.

So, City fans, do you think Kompany should start against Chelsea? Have your say by voting in the poll below.

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Former Tottenham Hotspur star Jermaine Jenas has revealed he could have easily ended up joining Arsenal instead of his ex-exmployers, with Arsene Wenger making it known he was an admirer of the then-Newcastle United midfielder’s talents.

However, Jenas eventually signed for the Lilywhites instead and the Match of the Day pundit believes the failed Arsenal careers of fellow Englishmen Richard Wright, Jermaine Pennant and Francis Jeffers played a big part in the potential move to the other side of North London never materialising.

Talking exclusively to Playmaker FC’s Natalie Polycarpou, the retired England international said; “Arsene Wenger, I think he fell out of love with English players at this point. He had like Pennant, Frannie Jeffers, Richard Wright – I think a lot of them let him down, so he kind of went the other way with it.”

Jenas would end up spending eight years of his career on the books at Tottenham, with one of his most defining moments coming in the form of a goal against Arsenal in a thrilling North London Derby that ended as a 4-4 draw.

Check out what Jenas had to say about nearly signing for Arsenal in the video above!

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Southampton picked up back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since April 2017 as they beat fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town 3-1 at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday, and midfielder Stuart Armstrong was one of the low-key stars of the show.

The Scotland international has endured an up-and-down start to his Saints career following his summer move from Celtic, impressing during pre-season and starting the opening day encounter against Burnley, before quickly finding himself out of favour when Mark Hughes chose to change formations.

However, he has been more of a regular fixture in the starting XI in recent weeks, and he has got the nod in all three of new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s matches in charge so far.

The 26-year-old once again played in an advanced position on the left in Yorkshire – although he, Danny Ings and Nathan Redmond all interchange – and while he failed to get on the score-sheet and they both did, his statistics from the game were impressive.

It may have been that Armstrong was anonymous at times during yet another tireless display, but he produced three successful dribbles and four key passes in his 69 minutes on the pitch, while he showed his defensive nous and work-rate by making one tackle and one clearance, as per WhoScored.

While he failed to have a single shot – something Hasenhuttl may not be too concerned about having seen the goals he produced against Fulham and Manchester United in recent weeks – he did produce three accurate long balls from the three he attempted.

The Scot is someone that may take a bit more time to get used to the Austrian manager’s demands on the pitch, but in general he looks to be perfectly suited to the 51-year-old’s style of play and the ex-RB Leipzig coach will surely be in dreamland that he has Armstrong at his disposal as he looks to push Southampton up the Premier League table.

Check out the video below for Emma Conybeare’s rundown of which clubs need what in the January transfer window…

Unai Emery has had the chance to utilise many youthful talents during his first six months at Arsenal.

Arsenal fans will have been disheartened when the club finished sixth in the Premier League last season, meaning it was another year of Europa League football.

But with a draw against BATE Borisov in the round of 32 in the Europa League and a chance of getting into next season’s Champions League if they go all the way, it could be an exciting end to the competition for the Gunners.

Perhaps Arsenal fans’ favourite part though is that the competition has given a platform for young starlets such as Emile Smith-Rowe and Joe Willock to perform and show Emery what they can do.

However, not all youngsters have had the successes’ they have had as of yet. Therefore, if this Arsenal DUO does not step up their game, they could be moved on in January…

Dejan Iliev

Dejan Iliev is in his seventh season at Arsenal and stands as the fourth choice goalkeeper, lending a hand for the U23s on a regular basis, having just featured on the bench once this season in the senior side.

Now aged 23, Iliev will soon be moving on from his days as a youngster and his role in a title-winning U23 side could be used as vital experience for another one of Arsenal’s young ‘keepers to develop for the time being.

Unless, in the unlikely event he forces himself into Emery thinking for an FA Cup fixture, for the benefit of Iliev’s playing career, he could move on in the near future.

Eddie Nketiah

At Just 19, Eddie Nketiah certainly has time on his side and has proven himself at academy level, so there is no reason why Emery should not look to him as a possible striking option.

Despite clearly having the clinical nature and attributes of a modern day forward to make it to the top, in four appearances for the first-team, Nketiah is yet to score.

Of course, it will take him time to adjust and a goal will come eventually, however, as a youngster needing to make an impact to prove as to why they should be picked, Arsenal fans will be hoping that comes relatively soon. If he does not, a loan move could be on the cards for him to get first-team, regular game time and develop his trade up top.

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West Ham fans have taken to Twitter to react after an unnamed Chinese club reportedly submitted a £35m offer for Marko Arnautovic, following a disagreement between the forward and Manuel Pellegrini after he was substituted early on against Blackburn.

The 29-year-old has been in exceptional form this season, scoring eight goals and recording two assists in all competitions, but fans were worried after they saw the Austrian international clash with the former Manchester City boss.

Arnautovic is the Hammers’ key man, and if they were to lose him, it would seriously derail their season and would deflate the mood around the London Stadium that something special is happening under Pellegrini.

£35m would not represent a huge profit for a player that has come on leaps and bounds since arriving from Stoke back in 2017, but at 29 years of age, it may be the Irons last chance to get that kind of fee for the player.

Let’s take a look at how Hammers fans reacted to the news…