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Oliver Skipp looked totally out of his depth as Tottenham Hotspur slumped to defeat in the Premier League on Saturday evening.

Nuno Santo’s side were easily brushed aside by an out-of-sorts and under-pressure Manchester United in north London to slip down to eighth place, and that could get worse depending on Monday’s result.

The young 21-year-old midfielder was trusted to marshall the defence alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg but he was completely played off the park and had a role in their downfall.

As explained by the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick, the England U21 star was caught in possession for Cristiano Ronaldo’s disallowed strike before repeating the same blunder for Edinson Cavani’s goal in the 64th minute that handed the visitors a two-goal cushion.

‘An afternoon when he looked short of experience at this level,’ he went on to claim.

Indeed, this was certainly the case as Skipp recorded the joint-third worst rating of any Spurs player (6.3) and it’s easy to see why when delving into the specifics behind his nightmare display.

The 5 foot 9 dynamo, who is thought to earn just £25k-per-week in N17, was dominated by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s midfield of Bruno Fernandes, Fred and Scott McTominay.

Per SofaScore, he won just one of his five battles (20%) in the engine room – the fewest of any Lilywhites player to contest three or more duels – whilst he was also dribbled past on three occasions, highlighting just how easy it was for the Red Devils to breach Nuno’s defensive wall.

Elsewhere, the Hotspur Way graduate registered only one tackle, which is below half his average for the current campaign (2.2) and that goes to show just how off the pace he was on Saturday night.

In the end, the Portuguese head coach saw some sense and hooked Skipp in the 66th minute, in favour of the more attack-minded Tanguy Ndombele but that didn’t solve their creative crisis in the final third whatsoever.

Plenty of supporters were left fuming by the performance from Harry Kane once again but he showed glimpses and moments early in the first half and throughout the second, he was starved of service as Spurs failed to register a single shot on target in the 90, nor did they create a single key chance in the final 45.

Whilst the England talisman up top can certainly improve, it was the shocking performance from Skipp that stood out more and as such, his involvement in matches against the big teams must be considered going forward.

He’s still young, learning and will always improve but he looked way off the standard required to stop a side as big as United.

AND in other news, Paratici could finally replace Eriksen in Spurs swoop for £58.5m-rated “elite talent”…

Ryan Sessegnon should consider a loan move away from Tottenham in the January transfer window, according to former Spurs defender Alan Hutton.

The Lowdown: Sessegnon’s struggles continue

Sessegnon joined Spurs in 2019 with a massive reputation after shining for Fulham, but he has struggled in north London, making just 14 appearances to date.

The 21-year-old has suffered from fitness issues and Nuno Espirito Santo confirmed another development earlier this week, with a setback expected to keep the youngster out for ‘a while’.

The Latest: Hutton tips youngster for move

First-team opportunities look sparse for Sessegnon currently, so it could be that a loan move in January is beneficial to him.

That’s certainly the opinion of Hutton, who told Football Insider that a switch elsewhere could be important for Sessegnon following the news on his fitness this week:

“I would want to move out somewhere on loan. He can have a future at Tottenham but it’s a matter of going out and finding out about himself. Where is his best position?

“Playing for a club regularly to come back a better player and then really try and focus on getting into that Tottenham team. I think it would be good for him to go out on loan.”

The Verdict: Makes perfect sense

At 21, Sessegnon is still such a young player and his talent is undeniable, with Jose Mourinho once hailing the left-sided player as ‘fantastic’.

The Englishman needs some luck with injuries and to pick up some playing time and confidence elsewhere – if he can achieve those things he can still go on to reach his potential at Spurs.

Time is still very much on Sessegnon’s side and some players can take longer to fully develop than others.

In other news, three Spurs players struggled in the defeat to Vitesse Arnhem. Find out who they are here.

West Bromwich Albion have been dealt an injury blow ahead of their upcoming Championship fixture.

What’s the latest?

In a statement posted on the West Brom Twitter account, Albion revealed that Callum Robinson will be unavailable for selection for the club’s trip to Peterborough United on Saturday evening, as he is currently self-isolating after falling ill.

Further reports claim that the forward will also be ruled out of the Republic of Ireland’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Portugal and Azerbaijan, and may also miss the fixture against Serbia, depending on the speed of his recovery.

Ismael will be gutted

Considering just how impressive Robinson has been for West Brom so far this season, the fact the 26-year-old will miss the club’s clash with Peterborough United is sure to have left Valerien Ismael gutted.

Indeed, over his four Championship appearances so far this term, the £5.4m-rated man has scored three goals, registered one assist and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of three shots and making one key pass per game.

These returns have seen the forward average a rather remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.42, ranking him as the Frenchman’s third-best performer in the second tier of English football.

As such, it is undeniable that Robinson will be a big miss on Saturday, although, with Albion having recently signed Jordan Hugill from Norwich City on a season-long loan deal, perhaps the former Sheffield United man’s absence will present Ismael with the opportunity to hand the centre-forward his West Brom debut.

Furthermore, with an international break following Saturday’s fixture, Robinson could well be in line for a return to the starting XI for the visit of Millwall on September 11, all being well with his recovery.

However, despite the positives, Ismael will nevertheless have to make do without Robinson for the Posh game, something that will undoubtedly cause a blow to Albion’s chances of securing a positive result from the fixture.

In other news: West Brom confirm transfer development which is sure to have Albion fans buzzing

With Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers side heading into Wednesday evening’s Premier League clash in something of a slump in form, having won just one of their last four league outings and scoring just one goal over these fixtures, the 45-year-old manager would have undoubtedly been hoping for a much-improved result from Wolves’ trip to Brighton & Hove Albion.

And, while it was by no means an all-out attack display from the visitors, Romain Saiss’ superb first-half strike following a delicious Ruben Neves through ball was enough for Wolves to take all three points back to Molineux, with the game ending 1-0.

However, while it is true that both Saiss and Neves were two of Lage’s better performers on the night, it was undoubtedly 26-year-old Daniel Podence who really stole the show against Brighton.

Won 62% duels

Being handed just his third start of the Premier League season, Lage somewhat surprisingly decided to unleash the Portugal international in a central attacking role against the Seagulls, taking the place of the suspended Raul Jimenez at the tip of Wolves’ attack.

And, over the course of his 90 minutes on the pitch at the American Express Community Stadium, the £22.5m-rated man highly impressed in an unfamiliar role, hitting the target with two shots, completing five dribbles, making two interceptions and winning eight of his 13 attempted duels – a success rate of 62%.

These returns saw the man who Pedro Neto dubbed a “mini-Hazard” receive a SofaScore match rating of 7.3, the second-highest of any player to feature in the match, while Birmingham Live also awarded the £60k-per-week forward an eight in their own player ratings, stating of the 26-year-old’s performance:

“Podence played as a false nine in Wolves’ fluid front three and popped up all over the pitch in an all-action display. There were lots of delightful flicks and tricks, especially one reverse pass to Marcal. Podence was a huge threat throughout.”

As such, considering how little game time Podence has been given by Lage so far this season, if the fixture against Brighton was the Portuguese dynamo’s big test, there is absolutely no doubt that the former Sporting CP winger passed with flying colours.

In other news: Tim Spiers drops 8-word Wolves injury update that will leave Bruno Lage buzzing

Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge is confident that Harry Kane will stay at Tottenham this summer.

Rumours linking the 28-year-old with a move away from the club, and more specifically, Man City, aren’t going away.

Kane first expressed his desire to leave his boyhood club prior to the end of the season, with the striker desperate to play in the Champions League and challenge for major trophies.

He won both the Golden Boot and Playmaker award in the Premier League last term, although his best efforts couldn’t help Spurs qualify for Europe’s elite competition.

Since the season ended, Kane has been strongly linked with Pep Guardiola’s side, although chairman Daniel Levy is expected to demand a Premier League record fee for City to bring the England captain to the Etihad having already knocked back their previous £100m bid.

Despite those claims, Bridge believes that the England captain will still be with the north London giants past August’s deadline.

He told Football FanCast:

“If you’d have asked me at the start of the summer, I would have said he probably would go, but as it’s the start of August and you look at what’s happened over the last few weeks, and even that Sun article, I don’t think it did him any favours, so he will probably stay.”

Former Tottenham captain Graham Roberts reckons that Harry Winks’ conservative style has seen him become an “average footballer”.

Winks had been a regular during his first four seasons since breaking into the first-team, but hit a major bump in the road last term which may have thrown his future into potential doubt.

From midway through the 2016-2017 campaign until the end of 2019-2020, the midfielder was an almost guaranteed starter.

However, the arrival of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg not only saw him slip down the pecking order and start just nine times in the Premier League last season, but almost led to Winks leaving on loan in January.

With Oliver Skipp now set to be integrated into the first-team following his heroics for Norwich in the Championship, Winks’ place in the squad would now appears even more uncertain.

Having been one of Mauricio Pochettino’s favourites and then completely out of favour under Jose Mourinho, it’s unclear what the future holds for Winks under the incoming manager, but his position in north London feels in danger for the first time in his career.

And Roberts told Football FanCast that Winks isn’t the player he thinks he is:

“He’s gone Mr Conservative, he plays simple, and if I don’t give the ball away, I’m a great player.

“You’re not, he’s become an average player, and that’s being fair.”

Southampton have built up an impressive reputation for bringing through academy products and making them a success in the game.

The likes of Luke Shaw, Theo Walcott, Alan Shearer, Matt Le Tissier, Adam Lallana and Gareth Bale all came through the Saints academy, along with current first-team captain James Ward-Prowse.

Some academy players showed signs of promise at Southampton before moving on to other clubs, however, with Fulham defensive midfielder Harrison Reed being one of them.

Reed came through the youth set-up at Southampton and made his debut as a teenager in the 2013/14 campaign, going on to make 30 first-team appearances for the club. After making just three Premier League outings in the 2016/17 season, he was sent out on loan to Norwich, Blackburn and Fulham in consecutive seasons.

At the end of his loan spell with Fulham, upon which he achieved promotion to the top-flight, the Cottagers signed him on a permanent deal from the Saints. At the time of the sale, Transfermarkt valued Reed at just £2.16m.

However, since signing for The Cottagers on a permanent deal, his value has soared exponentially. After 31 appearances in the Premier League last term and three in the Championship this season, Reed is currently valued at a whopping £9m. This is a 317% increase from the time of his Southampton departure.

He is now valued at a higher price than Oriol Romeu and Stuart Armstrong in terms of current Southampton midfielders, as well as Will Smallbone, but falling just behind Ibrahima Diallo’s £13.5m and James Ward-Prowse’s £27m.

This suggests that it was a disaster of a decision from Martin Semmens to cash in on Reed when he did. The defensive midfielder’s price is rising and Southampton may have been better off keeping him around.

Romeu turns 30 this week, which suggests that the time could be coming for a natural successor to take his place as the anchor of Southampton’s midfield and Reed could have been that player.

Reed was not given a chance to show what he could do in a competitive environment under Ralph Hasenhuttl and is now showcasing his quality and value for Fulham week-in-week-out. It will be interesting to see whether or not any other Premier League clubs decide to take a gamble on him if the second-tier side fails to get back up to the top-flight this season.

AND in other news, Ralph confirms injury blow for Southampton “leader”, it’ll have fans feeling worried…

Flocking to Twitter, many Manchester City supporters have erupted over a claim involving AC Milan left-back Theo Hernandez.

Sky Blues boss Pep Guardiola is currently short of natural left-backs following Benjamin Mendy’s arrest and subsequent suspension by the club.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, a makeshift option, impressed over the 2020/2021 season and dazzled City supporters with some of his Champions League displays in particular .

Joao Cancelo is another who can operate in that position, though is a natural right-back, while 2020 summer signing Nathan Ake is also capable of being deployed there (WhoScored).

Aymeric Laporte has even played there on occasion, yet a report from The Sun journalist Martin Blackburn indicates that City want to shore up that position with an assured natural choice.

As a result, the club and sporting director Txiki Begiristain are reportedly eyeing a move for AC Milan star Hernandez.

Indeed, as explained by Blackburn, City are closely monitoring the player who is rated at around £68 million and want a new natural left-back following Mendy’s suspension.

An exciting ace and real threat out wide, the 23-year-old attracted more fouls per 90 (2.5) than any of Pep Guardiola’s men domestically last year whilst also outdoing them all in terms of completed dribbles (2.2), according to WhoScored.

Taking this into account, there’s little wonder many City fans want to see him at the Etihad – with one calling him a would-be ‘phenomenal signing’.

Find all of their best verdicts, in response to City Xtra on Twitter, down below.

Man City fans erupt as club eye Hernandez…

“would be an absolutely phenomenal signing”

Credit: @BernardoControl

“PAY UP TXIKIII”

Credit: @ferrandowski21

“Come on pls get this done”

Credit: @7Mcfcmax

“We’re feasting today”

Credit: @vlahovicszn

“One of the best LBs in the world rn. Very underrated”

Credit: @lacomps

“Up there with the best itw in his position, we need to do everything we can to get him”

Credit: @bdeanMCFC

“This would be absolutely perfect”

Credit: @FodenCTID

“Please just pay it and get him and Haaland to the Stade”

Credit: @SxrgioSZN

In other news: ‘Outrageous’…Man City fans flock to Foden contract development, find out more here.

For years, Manchester City struggled defensively but now they could be tempted to sell Aymeric Laporte this summer if the right offer arrives and former defender Steve Howey believes that offer would have to be around the £70 million mark.

Before Ruben Dias arrived at the Etihad, Laporte was seen as the lynchpin in City’s defence, however, his injuries and the revival of John Stones has seen the Frenchman pushed down the pecking order and now competing with Nathan Ake for the third-choice centre back spot, having made just 27 appearances in all competitions last term.

With Premier League minutes not guaranteed next season, Laporte has been linked with a move to Barcelona and he would be with familiar faces like Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia who are now both with the Catalan club.

Laporte is an established Premier League centre back who has not even reached the peak years of his career so City will surely be looking to receive a monster fee for the now Spanish international, according to Howey, who spoke exclusively to Transfer Tavern:

“They will be looking in the region of £65-70 million for him and I think if they can get that for him, then it will be good business.

“I think if they can get more money than they paid for Laporte, then I think it’s good business and they could probably get another couple of centre backs to have in the squad.”

If Laporte was to leave, then it would certainly leave the Premier League champions short in the heart of their defence as they’d be left with just Dias, Stones and Ake who have experience at the top level.

Man City will know that teams around them will be looking to improve their squads this summer so instead of selling their players, they will also want to add depth and quality to their ranks.

Rangers are open to offers for youngster Josh McPake this summer, according to The Daily Record’s Live Sports Editor Gavin Berry. 

The lowdown

The 20-year-old right winger is currently in the midst of a fifth spell out on loan from Ibrox.

After temporary stints with Dundee and Greenock Morton, he has since spent time with three English clubs in Harrogate Town, Morecambe and most recently Tranmere Rovers.

The Morecambe loan was terminated in January following an ankle injury, with Rangers hopeful of an upturn in fortunes when he dropped down a division to the Merseyside club in League Two.

He still has more than two years left to run on his contract at Ibrox.

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The latest

Berry wrote for The Daily Record that McPake ‘hasn’t kicked on in the way that he or Rangers would have hoped this season’.

As a result, he is unlikely to make a first-team breakthrough at Ibrox, so the Gers will look to facilitate either a permanent exit or a further loan move during the transfer window.

The verdict

The start of McPake’s time at Prenton Park was positive, with Tranmere manager Micky Mellon handing him six straight starts. However, clearly the Rovers boss wasn’t all that impressed as the 20-year-old has now fallen down the pecking order.

Indeed, since that run of games in January, he has only made the starting XI on three occasions, and he has been an unused substitute in four of the team’s last six matches, featuring for a meagre three minutes.

He is no doubt a talented player, having featured for Scotland’s under-21s in June last year and earned some rave reviews. Simon Weaver, his manager during his time at Harrogate, said that the ‘excellent’ winger is ‘blessed with ability’ and proved ‘too hot to handle’ at times.

However, McPake – who has five goals and three assists to his name so far in his senior career – hasn’t taken the next step this season, and the outlook now looks fairly bleak for him under Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Rangers.

In other news, Jordan Campbell reacts to this Rangers development