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With 24 Premier League games played, Wolves have managed to win 12, draw four and lose eight, putting them in seventh place in the league table with 40 points on the board and well in the race to secure European football by the end of the campaign.

One player that has played a big part in the Old Gold’s season is midfielder Joao Moutinho, who has started 21 of their league fixtures and chipped in with two goals and one assist in the process.

Despite being a regular in Bruno Lage’s side this season, the 35-year-old’s current contract at Molineux is set to expire in the summer, making an exit from the Midlands club a real possibility.

With that in mind, if the Portuguese veteran were to call an end to his time at Wolves at the end of the season, Lage may not have to look too far to find a suitable replacement for him.

Having racked up 84 combined appearances for Wolves’ U18 and U23 sides where he’s managed to score eight goals and provide 13 assists along the way, midfielder Luke Cundle has also made five senior appearances for the Midlands club.

The 19-year-old made his Premier League debut as a very late substitute during the Old Gold’s 3-1 win over Southampton last month, closely followed by being given his first league start in their 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

His performance against Spurs allowed the youngster to show his quality on the ball by racking up an impressive passing accuracy percentage of 96% with 24 passes completed out of 25 attempted, ultimately earning himself an overall match rating of 7.1/10 from SofaScore.

After the victory against the north London club, Lage waxed lyrical over Cundle, saying he “was there against top players playing like he is in the playground.”

This highlights not only how confident Lage is to play the teenager in such a big game but also that the player can handle himself and play at a respectable level against senior opposition.

Taking all of this into account, if Moutinho does end up leaving Molineux in the summer, Lage could potentially save the club millions in potential transfer fees looking for a replacement elsewhere by making the young midfielder a regular starter next season.

With the former Monaco midfielder racking up a pass succession percentage of 86.6% in the league this season, Cundle and his passing abilities could make him an ideal heir for the veteran.

In other news: 56 aerials won: £28k-p/w Wolves titan likened to Maldini has been Bruno Lage’s hero – opinion

Many Sunderland fans have been left raging over some transfer news that has emerged on Jermain Defoe before the Portsmouth clash.

As per The Northern Echo, Lee Johnson is reluctant to sign the former Glasgow Rangers striker in the January transfer window, despite the board giving the green light for a deal to go through.

Defoe himself would prefer to move to the Stadium of Light, but Johnson has reservations over his match fitness and what exactly his squad role would be.

With Nathan Broadhead currently injured at the moment, Ross Stewart is Johnson’s only striker option, and so it does seem strange that he would not want to bring another one in.

Defoe is also cult hero among the Black Cats faithful, having scored 37 times in 93 games in all competitions over three seasons (Transfermarkt), including a memorable winner at home to rivals Newcastle United in the Premier League back in 2015.

Sunderland fans on Defoe transfer news

These SAFC supporters raged as the transfer news was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that they are ‘fuming’, while another simply called it ‘pathetic’:

“LJ not doing himself any favours here”

Credit: @safctim

“Trying to derail us or summit?”

Credit: @ColArmy86

“Johnson Out if we don’t sign him”

Credit: @Mustardinho

“The mind boggles. Fuming”

Credit: @ConnorBromley

“IF true, Johnson has just lost the fans”

Credit: @LewisGreaves1

“Pathetic”

Credit: @JHerra18

In other news, find out what exit claim has Black Cats gushing here!

A promising Newcastle transfer claim has been made, regarding the club’s attempts to land a defensive duo…

What’s the talk?

Sky Sports journalist Pete Graves has delivered updates on the Magpies’ efforts to sign Lucas Digne and Sven Botman this month.

He Tweeted: “Understand #nufc made superb offers for Botman and Digne. So far Lille determined to keep Botman while Digne remains unsure. Remember there’s still a long way to go in the window. Wood will be the second signing of the new regime. Buyout in region of £20m.”

Hope for Howe

This claim from Graves will surely give Eddie Howe hope heading into the next few weeks of the transfer window, with this Tweet leaving the door open on Botman.

The fact that the club made ‘superb’ offers for both players will also delight the fans, as it shows that PIF are not missing out through a lack of effort. They are working hard to reinforce the squad and address key areas, firmly putting their money where their mouth is.

Unfortunately, clubs now know that Newcastle are in a desperate position where they need to buy to help them avoid relegation to the Championship and this could lead to overinflated prices. Teams can raise their valuations by £5m-£10m or more because they know that the Magpies need to move quickly and will have to make decisive calls.

However, it does not appear as though the Botman deal is completely dead in the water just yet. This means that Howe can still hold hope for the Dutchman arriving at St. James’ Park this month, which will delight him as he could be an excellent addition to his squad.

The centre-back has averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.72 in Ligue 1 after managing a score of 6.99 in Ligue 1 last term. At the age of 22, he has been able to show strong levels of consistency and could have the potential to improve further over the years, which could make him a great signing for Newcastle in the short and long-term.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Wood: Romano drops big NUFC transfer claim that’ll infuriate Hammond…

According to Spanish news outlet El Nacional, a major update has come to light on Liverpool and their transfer plans involving Real Madrid star Federico Valverde.

The Lowdown: Klopp eyeing midfield additions…

As reported, the Reds and manager Jurgen Klopp have seemingly set their sights on improving the club’s midfield options as they become linked with a host of names.

The likes of Jude Bellingham, Toni Kroos, Denis Zakaria have been linked in the central midfield position whereas Villarreal winger Arnaut Danjuma is also thought to be on the agenda.

However, in what is a very interesting claim, El Nacional say FSG and Klopp now have a Galacticos star on their radar.

The Latest: Liverpool plotting Valverde bid…

According to their information, Liverpool have started ‘preparing an offensive’ for the 23-year-old and are ‘willing’ to table a huge €80 million (£66.6m) offer for his services.

As well as this, it is believed FSG will ‘insist’ on signing Valverde and ‘squeeze’ to reach an agreement with Real over the player – meaning they will push for his signing.

The Verdict: Major claim…

Scoring Real’s winner in their 3-2 El Clasico win over Barcelona on Wednesday, it’s clear the Uruguay international is playing his part under Carlo Ancelotti.

Starting ten La Liga matches and making six appearances off the bench (WhoScored), Valverde features regularly in a star-studded side and his past plaudits indicate why Klopp and the club are willing to pay.

Casemiro claimed he would become ‘one of the best’ in the world in his position with the €160,192-per-week (£133,000) man clearly possessing plenty of ability.

However, given how short Liverpool are in the forward positions with both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at AFCON, the club could be better placed prioritising more shrewd attacking options instead.

In other news: £210,000-per-week star now open to joining Liverpool as FSG plot eight-figure bid, find out more here.

The January transfer window has just under two weeks left to run and Newcastle United have been active in bringing players to the club this month.

They have already signed Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood on permanent deals and have been linked with a number of new additions to further strengthen their squad.

Eddie Howe’s side are 19th in the Premier League table and in desperate need of new signings, given that the current squad has them in such a perilous position as it stands.

Replace Lascelles

One player who could be replaced in the final two weeks of the transfer window is centre-back Jamaal Lascelles, with Joe Rodon recently being linked with a switch to St James’ Park.

Some Newcastle fans took to Twitter over the weekend to criticise the club captain for his performance against Watford, as he lost his aerial duel to allow Joao Pedro to score the equaliser.

The defender has started 16 of the club’s Premier League matches this season and the Magpies have the second-worst defensive record in the division. He has also averaged a modest WhoScored rating of 6.48 for his individual performances, which suggests that he is far from smashing it in recent months.

This indicates that Newcastle need to improve in this area of the pitch, and the prospective signing of Rodon could allow Howe to brutally axe Lascelles from the team.

Ex-Chelsea forward Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink lavished the £24k-per-week Tottenham centre-back with praise last term. He told Sky Sports, via Wales Online: “He looks like a proper Spurs player, a centre-half, nothing fazes him, he put his head in when needed. You have to be comfortable on the ball because you want to control the game.

“I like that he gets up straight away and gets on with it because that tells me he is hard enough.”

Earlier this year, journalist Ian Mitchelmore hailed Rodon as “flawless” and a “special player” following an excellent showing for Wales at international level. For Spurs last season, he averaged an impressive SofaScore rating of 6.97 in the Premier League as he won a whopping 73% of his duels.

At the age of 24, he also has the majority of his career ahead of him. This means that he would not come in as a short-term fix and could instead be a long-term solution to Newcastle’s problem with Lascelles in the centre-back position, with Howe able to axe his current captain by signing Rodon and helping him develop over time.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano claims Newcastle could seal third January signing by “Thursday”, fans will love it…

ScorecardEngland Lions opened their three-week tour with a comfortable 52-run victory against UAE A, but it needed a three-wicket spell from James Tredwell and a tight burst from Peter Trego to restrict the home side after a rapid start from their openers as they chased 185.Amjad Ali and Indika Sampath added 51 in 5.2 overs against the pace bowlers with Sajid Mahmood being dispatched for 19 from his one over and, as so often in Twenty20, it took the introduction of spin to slow the scoring rate. Tredwell, who will switch to the full England squad for the Bangladesh tour later this month, struck with his second ball to remove Ali (24) and also added Sampath (33) followed by Swapnil Patil, while Adil Rashid played his part with the wicket of Shaiman Anwar.Trego then ensured there was no late charge from the hosts with a miserly spell of four overs that cost 14 runs and also brought two wickets. Trego, the Somerset allrounder, had early provided the late punch to the Lions innings with 25 off 10 balls including three sixes and was named Man of the Match.He added 47 in 18 balls with Ian Bell who ended unbeaten on 37 from 21 deliveries. The Lions had opened the innings with two wicketkeepers and both Steven Davies and Craig Kieswetter scored at a good rate before Michael Lumb kept up the tempo at No. 3 with 42 from 32 balls.The scoring slowed after Kieswetter and Lumb departed as offspinner Salman Farooq bowled his four overs for 18 and Rohan Mustafa also contained well as he conceded a run-a-ball. However, the Lions were able to press the accelerator in the closing overs in a performance that will have helped shake off the early-tour rust.

Crystal Palace travel to Milwall tomorrow for their FA Cup third roundc lash, and they look set to be bolstered by the impending return of one crucial player for the south London derby.

What’s the word?

Eagles manager Patrick Vieira held his pre-match press conference this morning and confirmed that Conor Gallagher had returned to training after being missing from the team over the last few weeks.

The 45-year-old spoke briefly about the youngster’s return on Friday, saying: “Some of the players are back in training, Conor is one of them.”

The 21-year-old was absent from the last two Premier League games against Norwich and West Ham, but he has given the Eagles a huge boost by being available for the cup clash tomorrow afternoon.

Vieira will be buzzing

The Chelsea loanee has been a standout performer for Palace this season after joining on a season-long loan deal in the summer, with the midfielder scoring six goals and recording three assists in just 18 games so far, helping the Eagles to 11th place in the Premier League currently.

According to SofaScore, the 21-year-old is by far Palace’s best-performing player this season with an average rating of 7.42. In addition to his goals, he has also chipped in with plenty of work off the ball, winning 51% of his ground duels.

Vieira will be buzzing to bring back the £17k-p/w star for the FA Cup tie this weekend, especially after they missed him in last week’s defeat to another London rival in West Ham. Gallagher’s return to action appears to have come at the perfect time for Eagles fans ahead of Saturday’s trip to The Den.

In other news: Journalist makes this Palace transfer claim involving Eddie Nketiah

The IPL’s decision to rule out Pakistan’s players from the third season of the Twenty20 league was a result of time constraints arising from visa complications, Lalit Modi, the league’s commissioner, has said.Pakistan’s players will miss the IPL for the second season running, despite getting clearances from their sports, foreign affairs and interior ministries, an NOC from the PCB and letters of invitation from IPL franchises. However, the players failed to get their visas in time to meet the IPL’s deadline of December 7, two days before the trading window closes.Modi said the deadline had already been extended twice for Pakistan and another delay would handicap franchise planning and team-building for the next season, due to begin in March. “We follow the same procedure for all countries,” Modi told Cricinfo. “We ask players to obtain all permission – whether NOCs from boards, government and visas. We provide the back-up letters and players get their documentation. We had a deadline of November 20 for all players. At the request of PCB chairman Ijaz Butt we extended it twice, first to November 30 and then to December 7.”This was the absolute final date as the last date for teams to put their players for trading is tomorrow and the last date for teams to file expression of interest for players is December 11. Thus teams could not be handicapped with the notion that they did not know availability of players for whatever reason beyond a point.”PCB officials are clear that all that needed to be done from their end had been done, indicating that clearance ultimately hadn’t been given by the Indian government, either at all, or within the required time.Pakistan’s government did not clear their players to participate in the second IPL, concerned primarily over their security in India following the deterioration in relations between India and Pakistan after the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. Five Pakistan players were trying to clear a path to IPL 2010. Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul and Misbah-ul-Haq all played in the first season – six others who also played had their contracts cancelled after the Mumbai attacks – and Kolkata Knight Riders had expressed an interest in signing up Abdul Razzaq.After winning the World Twenty20 in June, Pakistan’s players were understandably in demand with franchises; men such as Tanvir and Gul also impressed enough in their only season for their franchises to be particularly keen at trying to bring them back in.Tanvir was the leading wicket-taker for Rajasthan Royals in their run to the title in the inaugural season and, though the franchise was disappointed, it said it had anticipated such a scenario in any case. “We are definitely disappointed some of our players will not make it,” Raghu Iyer, chief marketing officer Rajasthan Royals, said. “But it is finally IPL’s decision. It has not come as a shock for us as we were always prepared to handle such a situation. We knew the chances of Pakistan players playing IPL 3 was 50-50.”Though they have been ruled out of this season, the decision on any future participation will also rest ultimately, it appears, with the Indian government. “As far as we are concerned it is a government decision,” Kolkata’s Joy Bhattacharjya said. “We are obviously interested in having our Pakistan players back for the next IPL, so they asked us to provide them with the invitation letter. Throughout this our policy was to abide by the IPL’s decision. The IPL couldn’t extend its deadline as based on the Pakistan players’ availability, a decision about trading had to be taken as the deadline for the trading ends tomorrow.”As far we are concerned it is up to the IPL. We would love to have Umar Gul. But after this really the ball is in the government territory.”

Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick could sign a major upgrade on Harry Maguire with Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger.

What’s the story?

According to reports from Sky Deutschland (via Sport Witness), United are one of a number of top European sides who are chasing the Germany international.

It’s claimed that the likes of PSG and Bayern Munich have joined Real Madrid in the race to sign the central defender, and that Rangnick’s side have now emerged as an additional contender for his signature.

Better than Maguire

While Maguire may be established as a cornerstone of this United defence, Rudiger’s arrival would see the club land a genuine upgrade on the England international.

As per Whoscored, the £100k-per-week German has averaged an impressive 7.00 match rating over the course of the Premier League this season, which far betters Maguire’s measly 6.56.

And, when you look at the key underlying numbers, it’s easy to see why.

Rudiger averages almost double the number of interceptions that Maguire does, while he also boasts a far higher average number of passes and key passes per game – the kind of ball-playing centre-back that could thrive under Rangnick.

The Chelsea man also wins more offsides per game too, a pointer of how his pace and reading of the game is slightly superior to that of Maguire.

Rudiger’s performances for the Blues has earned rave reviews from a number of people, not least former United man Rio Ferdinand, who waxed lyrical about just how good he has been in the top-flight.

He said (via the Metro): “Look at Rudiger, he’s arguably, since Tuchel has been there (at Chelsea), been the best defender in the Premier League. Him or (Ruben) Dias in that time. He’s been unbelievable, he’s like an animal.”

And, speaking to BILD, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel was similarly effusive in his praise, saying: “Toni has established himself exceptionally since the first day we arrived. He is an absolute leader and plays at an incredibly high level.”

The £31.5m-rated star could bring some proven Premier League experience and quality to this United back-line, and a real upgrade on Maguire.

Meanwhile, Man Utd must move for this Serie A midfielder…

Kyle Mills has been fined 20% of his match fee for two breaches of the ICC code of conduct during his team’s ODI against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Cricinfo staff10-Nov-2009Kyle Mills, the New Zealand fast bowler, has been fined 20% of his match fee for two breaches of the ICC code of conduct during his team’s ODI against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi on Monday.Mills had been originally charged will three Level 1 offences – showing dissent, using offensive language and excessive appealing – by on-field umpires Bruce Oxenford and Nadeem Ghauri as well as third and fourth officials.Mills pleaded guilty to using obscene language but not-guilty to the other two charges. Following a hearing convened by match referee Andy Pycroft, Mills was found guilty of two out of the three charges.In addition using obscene language, Pycroft found Mills guilty of excessive appealing but not guilty of showing dissent at an umpire’s decision.The offences took place in the 49th over, as the match drew to a tense finish when Mills, ranked No.1 ODI bowler, appealed for a caught-behind decision against Mohammad Aamer. Mills celebrated without waiting for the umpire’s decision and then, once Aamer was ruled not out, Mills was heard using offensive language.Following the hearing Mills was fined 10% of his match fee for swearing and a further 10% for excessive appealing.”I fully accept it was a crucial moment in the match and the player was caught up in that excitement,” said Pycroft. “However, his actions went far beyond what is acceptable behaviour on the cricket field. He was heard to use an offensive expletive and clearly he was guilty of excessive appealing by celebrating a dismissal before the umpire had given his decision.”I am content to dismiss the charge of dissent because I feel it is tied up with the other two offences and so it would be unfair to charge him with that as well. The fines are on the low side because of Kyle’s good conduct in recent times and the fact that he is a senior member of a team that has shown itself to play consistently within the spirit of the game.”