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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Wolves have had an extremely quiet transfer window so far with the club deciding to sit back and relax a little compared to some of their Premier League rivals.

Out of the door has gone Helder Costa who has departed for Leeds on loan but as far as incomings go, there hasn’t been any activity.

Jeff Shi has recently made comments regarding the club’s future in which he stated Wolves would need to invest and bring through young talent.

We’ve already stated how centre-back target Benoit Badiashile fits into that category after being linked to the club by L’Equipe, but would he actually make an instant impact?

On the chalkboard

Badiashile is one of the finest young defenders in France, something that can be exemplified by the fact he played 20 times for Monaco in Ligue 1 last term.

At the age of 18 he is very much one for the future but as the Midlands outfit head into a new season where perhaps players with European pedigree should be thought about, he wouldn’t exactly fit the bill.

Yet it’s also difficult to see how he may actually fit into the starting line-up. In the past, we’ve documented how Ryan Bennett could be under threat if a central defender joins but as far as his stats go, both he and Willy Boly outclass Badiashile.

The £8.1m-rated centre half is cool in possession, completing 89.5% of his passes in 2018/19, but beyond that it’s difficult to establish what he’d offer, especially to a three-man defence that was so trusted by Nuno Santo last term – Conor Coady played every minute in the Premier League, while Boly and Bennett were third and sixth respectively in the squad when it came to time on the pitch.

Coady had quite low stats but playing as the middle centre-back, most of the work was left to his two main defensive partners in terms of tackling and interceptions.

Gareth Bale to Wolves? Wolves Fan TV discuss how ambitious Nuno Espirito Santo will be this summer in the video below…

Wolves’ captain only made 0.8 tackles per game whilst the same number was averaged in terms of interceptions. Boly, however, made over 2 tackles and interceptions per game whilst Bennett managed 1.7 and 1.3 respectively.

Badiashile’s statistics were worse, making just 1.3 challenges every match and completing a further 1.1 interceptions.

Although he could well be a star in the future, at the current moment in time, he wouldn’t be a direct upgrade on what they already have.

If Wolves could play him as a middle centre-back it would perhaps be more beneficial, but it’s highly unlikely that Coady would switch positions.

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Eros Grezda had a difficult season at Rangers and now it seems he’s fallen out of favour on the international scene too, if Albania manager Edoardo Reja’s comments as quoted by The Daily Record are anything to go by.

What’s he said?

The 24-year-old quit the country’s training camp prior to recent European qualifying matches, with the paper reporting that while the Albanian FA stated he had “personal problems”, the player himself insisted he had an injury.

Now comments from Reja have shed more light on what went on and it sounds like Grezda is in his bad books, suggesting that the Rangers winger left because he would not be playing in the matches.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

As quoted by The Daily Record, the Albanian boss said:

“Eros has made his decision and it’s clear he’s got some problems going on. The situation was I had two other players who weren’t going originally going to be in the team either – Kristi Qose and Odise Roshi.

“But they both chose to stay with the camp and tried to show me what they could do. They impressed me.

“I ended up using both of them and they made a big difference.

“They stayed because they have Albania in their heart.

“Grezda is wrong on this matter. He needs to start taking responsibility for his actions.”

Rangers future

The comments certainly don’t bode well for Grezda’s future at Ibrox with manager Steven Gerrard unlikely to put up with that kind of nonsense when the squad returns for pre-season training on Monday.

Reja’s words give some context to the lack of progress the attacker has made since arriving in Glasgow last summer. Does he have the commitment and mentality to play for a club like Rangers?

After a season of fitness problems and lack of appearances, fans of the Ibrox club aren’t going to be very happy with these latest developments either. They want and need their stars pulling in the same direction for the benefit of the team, rather than being individuals.

Gerrard needs to seriously think about axing the player this summer somehow.

Wolverhampton Wanderers made some stunning signings last year, but the acquisition of Rui Patricio from Sporting Lisbon was on the rather understated side.

The Portuguese number one arrived in the Black Country with a Euro 2016 winner’s medal and many years of experience at the top level – including 93 appearances in Europe – so it was no surprise that he settled into the Premier League comfortably, finishing the season with seven clean sheets.

HRH, who can be seen in the video above filling out his Panini Tabloid, hopes that Wolves can make the most of qualifying for the Europa League aided by Patricio’s rich experience in Europe.

Check out HRH’s thoughts on Patricio in full in the video above.

The Premier League Panini Tabloid is a special commemorative newspaper sticker collection celebrating the exciting new partnership between the greatest league in the world and the legendary name in football publishing, Panini. As the official collectable licensee to the Premier League, Panini are delighted to bring consumers a new era of collectables and the best collecting experience. See more here: http://bit.ly/PaniniFFCEditorial

Southampton look desperate to follow up the signing of Moussa Djenepo with the addition of a new striker.

According to The Sun, the south coast club are hoping to sign Birmingham City’s Che Adams, who scored 22 Championship goals last term, though there is still some work to do.

The English newspaper reports that the Premier League outfit are readying a £14m bid, which is £2m short of Birmingham’s reported valuation of the 22-year-old.

At just a £2m difference, Southampton really should not be haggling, especially with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s said plan for the entire transfer window.

According to Sport Bild (via Read Southampton), the former RB Leipzig boss wants up to five new signings this summer.

Djenepo is certainly a good start but, if Sport Bild’s report is true, then there is still plenty of work left to be done at St. Mary’s before the start of the new Premier League season.

Furthermore, the Southampton board cannot afford to waste time playing a game of who blinks first with their Birmingham counterparts over Adams. With £2m potentially the difference between a deal being struck, and other areas also needing to be addressed this summer, it is just not worth it from the Saints’ perspective.

But given the different struggles Danny Ings, Shane Long and Charlie Austin all went through last season, you would expect them to stump up the cash, and hopefully sooner rather than later.

Southampton fans, do you see the club getting this deal over the line? Let us know in the comment section below!

يرى لاعب وسط نادي ليفربول الأسبق، ديتمار هامان، أن وجود تياجو ألكانتارا في خط الوسط يعد مشكلة كبيرة بالنسبة للأسلوب الذي يعتمد عليه المدير الفني للفريق الأول، يورجن كلوب.

وانضم تياجو من بايرن ميونخ إلى ليفربول في الميركاتو الصيفي الماضي، ولكنه عانى في بداية مشواره داخل قلعة “أنفيلد” من إصابات بدنية بالإضافة إلى فيروس كورونا وهذا ما أبعده عن العديد من المباريات.

اقرأ أيضًا.. أوين: محمد صلاح وكلوب سعيدان رغم خسارة ليفربول أمام مانشستر يونايتد!

ووضح هامان وجهة نظره بشأن تياجو في تصريحات نقلتها شبكة “Stadium astro” وقال: “لم يلعب ألكانتارا كثيرًا مع ليفربول، لقد أصيب لفترة طويلة”.

وتابع: “لقد رأينا العديد من اللاعبين المميزين الذين يستغرقون بضعة أسابيع أو أشهر للتكيف مع الكرة الإنجليزية، أعتقد أنه مع مرور الوقت سنرى مستوى أفضل من تياجو”.

وأضاف: “كان ليفربول دائمًا فريقًا يلعب الكرة إلى الأمام بسرعة، لكن وجود تياجو الذي يفضل الاستحواذ والتمرير يبطئ من حركة الفريق”.

وواصل تصريحاته: “تياجو يصل في بعض المباريات إلى 120 تمريرة، وسيحاول دائمًا لاعبي المنافس تضييق المساحات عليه لمنعه من تشكيل أي خطورة على مرماهم”.

واستمر: “ليفربول يخسر الكثير من الوقت عندما يمرر اللاعبون الكرة إلى تياجو بدلًا من محمد صلاح أو ماني، لطالما كان الفريق أكثر قوة في تلك الحالة”.

وأكمل: “حصول محمد صلاح وماني على الكرة في أسرع وقت ممكن، يجعلهما قادرين على التحول السريع والركض باتجاه مدافعي الفرق المنافسة لئلا يستطيع أحد إيقافهما”.

وأتم تصريحاته: “سيتغير شكل الفريق ولكن لست متأكدًا إذا كان سيكون من الأفضل أم لا مع تياجو، بالطبع هو لاعب رائع لكن هل هذا ما يحتاجه ليفربول أم لا لست أعرف”.

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Harry Kane has struggled since his comeback from injury but the Tottenham Hotspur striker may have confirmed that he could thrive in a more withdrawn role next season.

On the chalkboard

Following the Champions League final defeat to Liverpool, in which Kane appeared to be half-fit, the striker was called up to the Nations League finals by manager Gareth Southgate.

He started the semi-final defeat to the Netherlands but touched the ball just 33 times, per WhoScored, though he used his possession remarkably well.

Across the 90 minutes, he completed 12 of his attempted 15 passes, made two successful dribbles and had a total of three shots on goal.

He won one aerial duel, too, and was a general nuisance towards the Dutch defence, repeatedly dipping into pockets of space in order to make himself available for a pass.

In the third-place play-off against Switzerland, he had just 29 touches of the ball, fewer than any other England player who started the game.

Nevertheless, he used the ball remarkably well again, chalking up a pass accuracy of 89% from 18 passes, along with one key pass. He also completed one dribble.

Kane does this regularly for Spurs too. It seems almost sacrilege to claim that one of the best strikers in world football could thrive in a more withdrawn role but one has to wonder if he would benefit from a proper strike partner at Spurs.

Passing is underrated

Kane is excellent at everything and his passing is severely underrated. He averages one key pass per game and registered six assists in 2018/19.

Of course, the goalscoring burden at the club largely falls upon him; he netted 24 times before his injury woes.

But the acquisition of a proper partner to him – neither Fernando Llorente nor Vincent Janssen have been good enough – could see his contribution to the club skyrocket.

He wouldn’t only have to hit the back of the net, he could drop off repeatedly, collect the ball from midfield and look to spray it to his team-mate, creating chances at will.

Kane, then, wouldn’t have as much pressure on him to constantly be at his prolific best.

It can only be a win-win for Spurs and for Pochettino, who would be afforded the chance to occasionally rest his star man, instead of working him to the bone.

أطاح أتالانتا بنظيره لاتسيو من كأس إيطاليا بعد فوز مثير بنتيجة 3-2، على الرغم من تأخره لأكثر من نصف ساعة والتصدي لركلة جزاء لدوفان زاباتا.

والتقى أتالانتا مع نسور العاصمة ضمن منافسات الدور ربع النهائي لكأس إيطاليا.

وتقدم بيرات ديمستي بهدف مبكر لأتالانتا في الدقيقة السابعة، ثم تعادل فيدات موريكي للاتسيو في الدقيقة 17.

وأحرز فرانشيسكو أتشيربي هدفًا ثانيًا للنسور في شباك أتالانتا بالدقيقة 34، لكن رد رسلان مالينوفسكي سريعًا وسجل هدف التعادل لأتالانتا في الدقيقة 37.

اقرأ أيضًا.. تشكيل يوفنتوس ضد سبال.. موراتا يقود الهجوم في غياب رونالدو

وبداية من الدقيقة 53، أكمل أتالانتا المباراة بعشرة لاعبين بعد طرد خوسيه لويس بالومينو.

وأهدر دوفان زاباتا ركلة جزاء لأتالانتا حيث نجح بيبي رينا في التصدي لها.

وفي الدقيقة 57 انتزع أليكسي ميرانتشوك الفوز لأتالانتا بهدف ثالث في شباك لاتسيو.

وسيلاقي أتالانتا في الدور نصف النهائي، الفائز من مباراة نابولي وسبيزيا.

جدير بالذكر أن إنتر ميلان تأهل لنصف النهائي على حساب ميلان بعد الفوز بنتيجة (2-1).