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Leeds United director of football Victor Orta is no longer under consideration for Chelsea’s sporting director role.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Ben Jacobs, with the CBS Sports journalist revealing in a recent post on Twitter that, despite the Spaniard reported to be one of the names on new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly’s shortlist of candidates for the vacant position at Stamford Bridge, the 43-year-old is no longer an active target for the American.

In his tweet, Jacobs said: “Lots of candidates spoken to with various options explored. There may even be a ‘group’ recruitment head as/when Chelsea add other clubs to their portfolio allowing for a longer-term senior appointment. Luis Campos and Victor Orta are not under active consideration.”

Fantastic news for Leeds

Considering just how impressive a job Orta has done over his five-and-a-half-year tenure as Leeds’ director of football, Jacobs’ claim that the Spaniard is no longer being considered by Chelsea is undoubtedly great news for everyone involved with the club.

With the 43-year-old making the move to Elland Road some 13 years since the Whites had last been playing Premier League football, Orta took just three years to right that wrong through his managerial appointments and transfer business.

Indeed, the Spaniard’s first season at the club saw the arrivals of players such as Adam Forshaw, Pontus Jansson, Gjanni Alioski and Mateusz Klich – all of whom helped to elevate the quality of football played in LS11 almost immediately.

However, it was undoubtedly the director of football’s appointment of Marcelo Biela in the summer of 2018 that proved the catalyst for dragging Leeds out of the second tier, with the Argentine coach being key to the club’s 2020 promotion.

Indeed, following the further additions of players such as Patrick Bamford, Helder Costa and Illan Meslier, as well as Jack Harrison and Ben White on loan deals, the Whites would romp to the Championship title in 2019/20 – ending 16 years of hurt.

Since their promotion, Orta has continued to work hard in the transfer market to ensure that Leeds retain their top-flight status, with international players such as Raphinha, Robin Koch, Diego Llorente, Brenden Aaronson, Luis Sinisterra, Tyler Adams and Rasmus Kristensen all making the move to Elland Road over the past two years.

However, it has not only been the senior side that Orta has strengthened, as the 43-year-old has also brought some incredibly exciting young talent to Thorp Arch in recent seasons, with the likes of Joe Gelhadrt, Sonny Perkins, Sam Greenwood, Crysencio Summerville, Lewis Bate, Darko Gyabi and Mateo Joseph all linking up in the Whites academy setup.

As such, with Orta very much having been the man to have taken Leeds back to where they belong, ensuring the club remained a top-flight team and having meticulously planned for the Whites’ future, the news that the architect of Leeds’ recent success will be remaining at the club for the foreseeable is most certainly fantastic news for all involved with the Whites.

Wolverhampton Wanderers are currently enduring a miserable start to the season having found themselves facing a potential relegation scrap after picking up just six points from their opening nine Premier League games, with a return to the second tier a very real possibility at present.

The Old Gold are now in their fifth season in the top flight after enjoying a real rise in recent years, prior to this latest slump, having secured promotion out of the Championship back in the 2017/18 campaign during former boss Nuno Espirito Santo’s first season at the helm.

One figure who was crucial in helping to guide the Molineux outfit back into the top tier in that triumphant season was defender Barry Douglas, with the full-back proving a real fan favourite in what was his one and only campaign at the club.

The Scotsman had joined the Midlands side from Turkish outfit Konyaspor in the summer of 2017, going on to provide a remarkable haul of five goals and 14 assists in his 39 league games – with that latter tally of assists the joint-highest in the division that season.

The one-cap gem had offered a real threat down the left flank in his wing-back berth, although was unable to enjoy the fruits of his labour as he was swiftly axed prior to the start of the following season, eventually joining Leeds United on a £3m deal to see him forced to remain in the second tier.

That decision to allow the Glasgow-born star to depart had been a “surprising” one at the time- as per Wolves Fancast – although the aforementioned Nuno has seemingly been vindicated, with Douglas hardly pulling up any trees since then.

The first permanent signing of Marcelo Bielsa’s tenure in charge at Elland Road, the 5 foot 9 menace went on to make just 44 appearances for the Yorkshire over the next few years, notably again missing out on life in the Premier League as he was loaned out to Blackburn Rovers for the 2020/21 campaign, as his parent club made their return to the promised land.

After recording just two assists in 31 games during his time at Ewood Park, the ageing defender was subsequently released by Leeds upon his return to the club, eventually making a move to Polish side Lech Poznan where he had previously spent time earlier in his career.

Now 33, the £450k-rated veteran remains with the club at present, although has failed to provide a single goal contribution in 19 games in all competitions so far this term, having done little to leave those back at Molineux ruing their decision to let him depart. It truly seems as though they sold the full-back at exactly the right time.

Sunderland will go into tonight’s game full of confidence that they can end the night in a playoff spot, as they host a wounded Blackpool.

Whilst the Black Cats have lost just one of their last five, the visitors have lost all of their last three Championship games. If they were to lose tonight and results went against them, the Seasiders could conversely finish the night in the relegation zone.

Due to the struggling nature of their opposition, plus the fact that they played on Saturday, Tony Mowbray could use this game to rest some key players and start some of the more under-utilised but exciting individuals.

The Stadium of Light would rejoice at the chance to finally see Amad Diallo start for the first time, and show the magic that made Manchester United fork out an initial £19m for his services.

Although he has shown little in his brief cameos, across his loan spell at Rangers and limited game time at Old Trafford, he has offered glimpses of immense quality that suggest he could terrorise his opposition full-back, likely Dominic Thompson.

For the Scottish giants, across all competitions he scored five and assisted once in just 16 games.

He has mainly starred for the United U21s during his short career, with six goals and four assists in just five games suggesting this level is beneath him

Owen Hargreaves is one who expects big things from the 20-year-old but saw qualities in him that reassured him. He said: “He’s got real talent, got a nice left foot… I think he’s a creative player.”

He continued by noting that “hopefully he’s a special one for the future.”

With Thompson part of a Blackpool side that has conceded 16 times in just 11 games, they will be petrified at the prospect of facing the Wearside outfits’ numerous tricky attackers.

The 22-year-old in particular is being dribbled past 0.8 times per game and wins possession just 0.3 times per game. If Diallo is on form, therefore, he should have a field day against the fellow youngster.

Conversely, the Ivorian has averaged 1.0 key passes per game during his few minutes for Sunderland. Given the fragility of their opponents, and the space Diallo will likely find himself in, now could be the perfect time to truly unleash him upon the Championship.

West Bromwich Albion have not enjoyed the finest of starts to the Championship season, as they sit 21st, having won just once from ten games.

Steve Bruce has been crying out for a goal scorer, as his side only have 15 goals in these games (with five coming in one match). Brandon Thomas-Asante shows promise but is still raw, and Daryl Dike remains injured.

That just leaves Karlan Grant to shoulder an incredible burden up front, which he has somewhat struggled with.

However, his career so far at the Hawthorns has to be viewed as something of a success.

Signed for £15m by Slaven Bilic, he only managed one Premier League goal in his debut season.

The season following, however, he was able to truly flex his muscles in front of goal. He scored an astounding 18 league goals in the Championship, proving that he has the capability to fire them back to the top-flight should he be handed the service. He also provided six assists that season.

He unsurprisingly was voted Players’ Player of the Season for that campaign, further solidifying the importance he will hold for the Baggies.

Paul Robinson had predicted that he would thrive that year too, as he claimed: “This season West Brom fans will see the best of Karlan Grant.”

He continued: “The Premier League was a big step up for him and he found it very difficult to start off with. He never gained his confidence and we never saw the brilliant player who was in the Championship.”

With just three league goals this season, he has endured a slow start.

But with his past being so laden with goals, 23 in fact for Albion, he is sure to come good once more sooner or later. When on form, there are few better in the division who could fire a side back up to the Premier League, and we might see that “brilliant player” once more.

The £15m outlay may have been significant at the time, but if one day he does score the goals necessary for a promotion, it will have been more than worth it. Indeed, the prize of a place in the top-flight is worth significantly more than Grant’s transfer fee.

Liverpool have had their worst start to a Premier League season in the Jurgen Klopp era and it is looking like the club are taking no chances with transfer targets already being identified for the winter transfer window.

What’s the latest?

According to 90min, Liverpool are now interested in signing Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk in January.

As per the report, the Reds are the latest side to express an interest in the player who is set to become available for £50m when the transfer market reopens in a few months’ time.

Sadio Mane replacement

Although Liverpool did sign Luis Diaz last January there is no doubt that Klopp will want to continue to strengthen his out-of-sorts forward line after Sadio Mane made the move to Bayern Munich this summer.

Although Mane wasn’t always in his best form over his last few seasons at the club, he could always be relied upon to deliver goal contributions when it mattered the most, scoring 120 times and delivering 49 assists over his time with Liverpool, tallying up a goal or assist every 127 minutes.

Last season the Senegalese winger was an important part of the team’s progression to their third Champions League final in five years, with three goals scored in the knock-out stages of the prestigious European competition which led to him breaking the record for the most knock-out goals scored by an African player.

As a result, replacing Mane was never going to be easy and Klopp will be hoping that securing a deal for Mudryk could put them in a great position to push on in the second half of the season to encourage further successes for Liverpool.

The 21-year-old Ukrainian winger was hailed a “serious talent” by Shakhtar chief Darijo Srna who gave a glowing reference to the young talent in an interview with CBS Sport:

“Mudryk is a serious talent. After Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr, he’s the best player in Europe in his position.

“If someone wants to buy Mudryk they must spend a lot, a lot, a lot of money and respect our club and our president.”

Despite not being given too many opportunities to display his clear ability in front of goal the rising star has scored four goals and delivered 12 assists, with a goal contribution every 87 minutes played since breaking through into the first team with Donetsk.

This season Mudryk has been proving his worth over the Champions League campaign so far with the youngster dominating games as a standout performer on the European stage, tallying up two goals and two assists already in the group stages. He found the back of the net against Celtic and had three direct goal involvements against RB Leipzig in Donetsk’s opener.

With that being said, there is nothing more that Klopp loves than taking raw talent and turning them into superstars so the signing of Mudryk could be the German coach’s next opportunity to polish up another young up and coming player at Liverpool.

Despite having only joined Leeds United from Feyenoord Rotterdam in what was a £21m deal this summer, Luis Sinisterra already appears to have been something of a bargain for the Whites.

Indeed, the 23-year-old was in sensational form over his 30 Eredivisie appearances last season, scoring 12 goals, registering seven assists and creating nine big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.6 shots – 1.2 of which hit the target – making 2.0 key passes and completing a whopping 3.6 dribbles per game.

These returns saw the Colombia international average a simply breathtaking SofaScore match rating of 7.51, not only ranking him as Feyenoord’s second-best performer in the league but also as the joint sixth-best player in the Dutch top flight as a whole – level with €40m (£35m) Leeds target Cody Gakpo and one place ahead of Manchester United’s £86m summer signing Antony.

As such, when taking into account Sinisterra’s metrics last season, coupled with the fact he cost the Whites £65m less than the Red Devils paid for Antony and £14m less than PSV Eindhoven were demanding for Gakpo, it would indeed appear as if Orta secured something of a bargain when landing the £35m-rated Colombian for the price he did.

Furthermore, while a hamstring injury has limited the 23-year-old’s game time so far this season, the attacker has nevertheless started to catch the eye at Elland Road, having already scored two goals in two Premier League starts, as well as bagging a goal and assist in one Carabao Cup fixture – averaging a direct goal contribution every 60.5 minutes so far in his Leeds United career.

Thus, it is not difficult to see why journalist Josh Bunting appeared extremely impressed with Orta’s signing of the winger, stating in a post on Twitter back in August: “Luis Sinisterra is a frightening player, Leeds have pulled off a real masterstroke in signing him. The scary thing with him is he’s so good but nowhere near full fitness just as yet.”

As such, with Sinisterra having already seen his valuation climb a massive 67% from the £21m the Whites paid for his services just 10 weeks ago, as per CIES Football Observatory, it is evident that Orta did indeed hit the jackpot when landing the 23-year-old this summer – as the Colombian sensation will not only prove to be one of Leeds’ main goal threats this season but he could also represent a huge payday for the club further down the line.

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ goalscoring woes that held them back last year have yet again reared their head during the first seven Premier League matches of this campaign.

Having scored only 38 league goals in 2021/2022, the Old Gold have managed a paltry three efforts so far and this is despite having signed Goncalo Guedes and Sasa Kalajdzic (although he will miss most of the campaign having been injured on his debut).

This prompted Bruno Lage to delve back into the market, with the club announcing the signing of Diego Costa to provide cover for the injured Austrian last week. The 33-year-old might not be in his prime, but it was certainly a better option than another face who was looked at by the club.

Lage avoided a howler

Wolves were linked with a shock move for Andy Carroll before Costa joined, and this would have been a disaster, as he could well have potentially been a worse signing than that of Willian Jose two years ago.

The Brazilian centre-forward joined on loan from Real Sociedad in January 2021 until the end of the season, but the move turned out to be a nightmare for both parties.

In the end, he managed a solitary Premier League goal in 18 appearances in all competitions, with Wolves unsurprisingly not exercising their option to buy.

Carroll, who is of similar stature, would likely have had an impact comparable to that of Jose, with the 33-year-old scoring a total of just six goals in the previous four years. Indeed, it is evident that both players are not exactly prolific inside the opposition area.

The Englishman’s career hasn’t exactly taken off since he made a £35m move from Newcastle United to Liverpool in 2011 and overall, has scored just 54 top flight goals in 248 matches, hardly setting the world on fire.

His injury record was also a major cause for concern, thus rendering him worse than Jose who was, at least, available during his time at Molineux. The former England international has had 23 separate incidents throughout his career where he was injured and Lage certainly dodged a bullet over the former West Ham hitman.

Karen Brady once dubbed Carroll as a “behemoth from ages past” due to his poor attitude during his stint in the capital, and this is another reason why he was best to be avoided.

The jury is out on Costa, but one thing is for certain, he will be a far better option to call upon than Carroll.

Tottenham Hotspur, and club director Fabio Paratici by extension, ‘tried to sign’ colossal 6 foot 3 defender Kim Min-jae before his move to Napoli, according to a close contact.

The Lowdown: Spurs enjoy busy summer…

The Lilywhites completed a plethora of astute deals over a memorable summer transfer window.

Indeed, the likes of Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Richarlison, Clement Lenglet, Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie put pen to paper on moves to N17, with star defender Cristian Romero also completing a permanent transfer following his loan spell.

Antonio Conte’s side have also started this 2022/23 Premier League season in fine fashion, remaining unbeaten over their first six league games.

However, a ‘close collaborator’ of Kim has now revealed that Paratici was looking to strengthen Spurs’ options further as he attempted a move for the South Korea colossus.

The Latest: Paratici ‘tried to sign’ Kim…

As shared by Calcio Napoli 24, Spurs attempted a coup for the centre-back before his move to Napoli in Serie A.

Of the interested teams, a Jose Mourinho-lead AS Roma were also eyeing a move, along with Conte’s former team Inter Milan.

Ho Lee, a source close to the player, made some statements in a documentary about South Korean players before the winter World Cup in Qatar, saying:

“Inter, Juventus, Tottenham, Rennes and Roma have tried to sign Kim, and many clubs have held meetings on video, but we wanted Kim to be able to play in a good team with a certain continuity, and that team was Napoli.”

The Verdict: Big miss?

Judging by Clement Lenglet’s start to life in north London, it’s very debatable as to whether Kim will end up being a source of regret for Tottenham.

One thing that’s incontestable is the player’s quality, as evident by his WhoScored numbers so far this season.

Indeed, the 25-year-old is starring defensively at his new club overall – averaging among the highest rate of clearances per 90 in their squad (4.2) whilst also ranking as one of their top performers by average match rating (7.48).

Spurs coming back in for Kim in the next few years may well be one to keep an eye on, especially given his ‘monster’ reputation.

Everton could reportedly still sign FC Porto attacker Goncalo Borges after making a bid for the player.

The Lowdown: Attackers wanted

It seems as if the Goodison Park outfit still want to bring in a new attacker before the deadline, having recently been linked with moves for Watford’s Joao Pedro and Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze.

They have recently confirmed the signing of Idrissa Gueye from PSG, and their business may not be done there given the need for more firepower up front.

The Latest: Borges bid

As per Portuguese news outlet O Jogo (via Sport Witness), the Merseyside club have made a €12m (£10.3m) bid for Borges, which has been rejected by Porto.

The Portuguese giants are holding out for a transfer fee closer to €15m (£12.9m), and Frank Lampard’s team face competition from Estoril for his signature.

Porto intend to try and keep hold of Borges in the last hours of the window, but a number of clubs in Portugal are thought to be keen, and the Toffees could still raise their offer.

The Verdict: Time running out

If the Blues are serious about wanting to sign Borges, then they need to put in an improved offer fast that matches Porto’s valuation of the player.

Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig claims that he is a ‘similar’ player to Bayern Munich and Germany star Serge Gnabry, reporting his strengths in pace, dribbling, technique, ball control and creativity.

The 21-year-old is clearly very talented, having scored ten goals with six assists for Porto at youth level, as well as making three appearances for the senior team (Transfermarkt).

Borges also actually shares the same agent as four EFC players, and so this could help push a last-minute deal through before the deadline.

West Ham United are ‘in contact’ to sign free agent Adnan Januzaj, according to reputable journalist Fabrizio Romano. 

The lowdown: Moyes favourite

Handed a Manchester United debut under current Irons manager David Moyes back in 2013, the Belgian burst onto the scene, scoring twice on his first competitive start for the Red Devils, and he appeared to have every chance of becoming a smash hit at Old Trafford.

However, the 27-year-old was sent out on loan to Borussia Dortmund soon after and then reunited with Moyes at Sunderland for another temporary spell away from Manchester.

Januzaj then signed for Real Sociedad, where he directly contributed to 44 goals in 168 outings before being released as a free agent this summer…

The latest: Another chance under Moyes?

Taking to Twitter, Romano has claimed that West Ham are ‘in contact’ with the 15-cap ace regarding a move to east London, with the player waiting on a decision from the Premier League club.

Alongside detailing a possible swoop for Lucas Paqueta deal, the Italian stated: “West Ham are also in contact with Adnan Januzaj – but he’s waiting for club decision.”

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The verdict: No-brainer

Signing a player of Januzaj’s proven quality for nothing – with nearly 300 senior club appearances encompassing the Premier League, Bundesliga and La Liga along with the Europa League – is a no-brainer for the Hammers, particularly with Moyes clearly in need of additional strength in depth within the squad ahead of another European group stage campaign.

Last season, the skilful Belgian – who was hailed as a ‘very special’ performer by reporter David Cartlidge – earned a 6.81 SofaScore rating whilst winning 3.8 duels, completing 1.4 dribbles and making one key pass per La Liga outing, highlighting impressive recent form at the highest level.

His dribbling average matched that of the Irons’ three best performers for that metric in 2021/22, which suggests that Januzaj would make the team even more adept at beating opponents one-on-one. Indeed, it places him in the top 7% among positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues over the past 12 months.

Sharing similar stylistic traits to the likes of Raphinha, Lucas Moura and Cengiz Under (FBRef), landing the £10.8m-valued man for free could prove to be one of the deals of the summer should GSB get it over the line.