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Leeds winger Raphinha won just his second cap for Brazil on Sunday in a 0-0 draw with Colombia in a 2022 World Cup Qualifying match.

The 24-year-old has finally been recognised at international level for his impressive form for Leeds in the Premier League, since joining from Rennes for £16.74m last summer.

Raphinha produced six goals and nine assists in 30 league appearances for Marcelo Bielsa’s side last term, proving that he has the quality to regularly contribute to goals in the English top-flight. This has continued into the current campaign, with the winger on three goals in seven games so far.

So, how did he get on during his debut for the Seleção? He watched on from the bench in the first half as £54m-rated Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus lined up in Raphinha’s favoured right-wing role.

Pep Guardiola’s gem failed to showcase his talent as he came off the pitch with a rating of 6.5. Per SofaScore, he lost 100% of his duels and created zero chances, whilst also failing to register a single shot. Jesus also lost possession of the ball 12 times from 32 touches as he completed 73% of his passes.

Raphinha was then given an opportunity to shine off the bench and he eclipsed Jesus with an excellent showing for his country. Per SofaScore, he completed 66.6% of his attempted dribbles (2/3), won 60% of his duels (3/5) and completed 85% of his passes.

Along with that, he created one ‘big chance’ and registered two shots, one being on target, in just 29 minutes on the field, recording a SofaScore rating of 7.2. This shows that he was able to provide a higher quality of end product in comparison to Jesus, whilst he also offered a reliable outlet in possession that the Man City man was unable to do against Colombia.

A glowing review from Chelsea’s Thiago Silva shows just how big of an impression he made for his country: “The boys showed a quality that I have hardly seen in more than ten years with the Brazilian national team [of newcomers]. It’s really cool to see Raphinha and Antony showing personality.”

The Leeds man was able to outshine Jesus and show Tite that he deserves more caps for his country moving forward, potentially from the start instead of from the bench. With the World Cup coming up next year, performances like this could be beneficial to his chances of featuring in a major international tournament for Brazil.

Bielsa will surely be delighted with this impressive cameo from the winger as it could build his confidence ahead of Leeds’ upcoming Premier League fixture.

It was the ideal scenario for the Whites head coach as Raphinha enjoyed a positive performance that will keep up his positive momentum while not being overplayed during the break, something that may have led to fatigue.

AND in other news,  Bielsa masterstroke: Leeds warrior has seen value soar 600% since Argentine’s arrival…

Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore has provided an injury update on Dennis Adeniran following Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Plymouth Argyle.

The Lowdown: Mid-table start

The Owls’ start to the League One campaign has seen them accumulate three wins from six matches, but after winning three of their opening four games, Moore’s side have now lost their last two.

Morecambe defeated them 1-0 before the international break before Plymouth romped to a 3-0 on Saturday afternoon thanks to goals from Joe Edwards, Dan Scarr and Ryan Law. The defeat leaves Wednesday 12th in the table, albeit only five points off Sunderland at the top of the league.

The Latest: Adeniran injury

Speaking to Yorkshire Live, Moore provided an update on 22-year-old Adeniran, who missed the game through injury.

The Owls manager said: “It’s nothing serious; he had a bit of a muscle strain that we thought would keep him out for seven to 10 days – so we didn’t risk him here today.

“But we’re very hopeful that he’ll be fit again for next week.”

The midfielder has one goal to his name this season, scoring in the 2-0 home win over Doncaster Rovers in August, and had played in all of Wednesday’s matches before yesterday [Transfermarkt].

The Verdict: Quiet September

After playing seven games in August, Wednesday have just three more fixtures this month as they face Shrewsbury, Ipswich Town and Wigan, before a tough schedule in October with a further seven matches.

Adeniran’s performances so far this season have been a telling part of the Owls’ good start to the campaign and the result would suggest that he was badly missed yesterday. His power, pace and athleticism alongside Barry Bannan and George Byers in the middle of the park has stood out in the opening five games, while according to WhoScored figures, he is the second most-fouled player in the squad and has the fourth-best tackling average at Hillsborough.

With Wednesday’s next two games against teams beneath them in the table, resting Adeniran until they host second-placed Wigan may be on Moore’s mind. At least the manager’s comments offer reassurance that the 22-year-old should be back before long.

In other news, details of Owls’ summer signing contract have emerged. Find out more here.

Former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Carlton Palmer has warned the Owls that they need to win promotion this season if they are to have any chance of signing Bailey Peacock-Farrell permanently.

The 24-year-old goalkeeper joined the club on loan from Burnley in the recent transfer window and has thoroughly impressed since his arrival.

After a strong start to the season, Peacock-Farrell was voted as the official swfc.co.uk August Player of the Month, while he has also impressed while on international duty for Northern Ireland, saving Haris Seferovic’s penalty in his nation’s recent 0-0 draw with Switzerland.

It would now not be a surprise to see Wednesday try and sign the former Leeds United shot-stopper from Burnley permanently, with Palmer believing promotion back to the Championship is key to any potential deal.

“He’s a talented ‘keeper,” the ex-Wednesday player said to TT in an exclusive interview. “They’ve got a season-long loan for him. I doubt for one minute – he’s an international – that he’s going to sign for a club in League One.

“For Wednesday to have any chance of signing him, they’ve got to get promoted at least back to the Championship.”

If he maintains this form, you would expect Peacock-Farrell to attract a lot of Championship interest next summer. So if Wednesday are not in that division, it is hard to imagine him returning to Hillsborough.

According to Give Me Sport, Glen Kamara is weighing up his future at Ibrox in the final few days of the transfer window amidst interest from Aston Villa.

The Lowdown: Rangers want new Kamara deal

Finland international Kamara, who made the move to the Gers in January 2019, has two years left on his contract at Ibrox (Transfermarkt).

The Gers, and manager Steven Gerrard in particular, are eager to get 25-year-old to sign a new deal at the club (via FourFourTwo), but there has not yet been enough progress.

The Latest: Kamara considers future

Now, as per this latest report, Kamara is considering his future with the 55-time Scottish champions as the transfer window approaches its end.

Aston Villa are said to be interested in the former Dundee man.

The Verdict: Worrying for Gerrard

This news is no doubt worrying for the Gers. Kamara is a crucial player for the club, making 110 appearances for the side since he made the move to Ibrox (Transfermarkt). Soon after he made the switch, Steven Gerrard called the midfielder a “class act” (Sky Sports) and he has continued to prove that since then.

Rangers’ failure to qualify for the Champions League group stages means they are in a vulnerable position in regards to holding on to their key players. As such, the Premier League is a far more attraction proposition than it already was.

The Gers must hold firm if an official bid comes in from Villa, or at least look to get the best fee they possibly can – after all, the Midlands outfit have already spent £95.04m this summer and appear to have plenty of money to spend after the sale of Jack Grealish.

In other news, Rangers fans praise this man against Ross County.

Kristjaan Speakman has dropped an encouraging hint on the future of Sunderland defender Bailey Wright.

What’s been said?

In a recent interview with the Sunderland Echo, the Black Cats sporting director suggested that fans should not be overly concerned regarding the speculation surrounding any of the club’s players, including the centre-back who has been heavily linked with a move away from the Stadium of Light this summer.

The 42-year-old continued by reinforcing his belief that he and his side are in the process of putting together as strong of a squad as possible at Sunderland, rather than simply cashing in on a player if interest in their services arises.

In the interview, Speakman said: “I’d always say not to get too concerned about speculation. What I would say is I hope there’ll be a confidence that we won’t let a player go unless it’s in a situation that suits the football club.

“We’re well blessed because we’ve got a lot of players who would complement squads in the Championship and League One, and so there will be interest in them.

“When you’ve got players coming into the final year of their deal, there will naturally be interest. We’ll work on a case-by-case basis, and be flexible enough to deal with any changes we need to make. But we’re trying to build a stronger squad, not a weaker squad.”

Fans will be buzzing

While Speakman does not mention Wright by name, it is abundantly clear that the sporting director is referring to the defender in his comments, and the position the 42-year-old appears to have on the potential sale of the centre-back will undoubtedly leave fans of the club buzzing.

Lee Johnson is neither blessed with a wealth of talent or depth in the heart of his Sunderland defence, with the 29-year-old very much appearing to be one of the manager’s best options in the position.

Indeed, over his 35 League One appearances for the club last season, the £720k-rated man helped his side keep 10 clean sheets, as well as making an average of 0.8 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 4.6 clearances and winning 5.9 duels per game.

The defender also chipped in for his side going forwards, scoring two goals and taking an average of 0.7 shots per match.

These returns saw the man Johnson dubbed a “warrior” earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.05, ranking him as the Mackems’ seventh-best performer in the third tier of English football last season.

As such, sanctioning the sale of the £13k-per-week centre-back would appear to be something of a mistake by Speakman and his transfer team this summer, particularly to a Wigan Athletic side who could well be one of the club’s promotion rivals next season, meaning that the sporting director’s latest comments are likely to be well received by the Stadium of Light faithful.

In other news: Speakman drops update on “huge” £4.3k-p/w “nightmare” that will have SAFC fans buzzing

Marcus Bent has failed to rule out James Rodriguez staying at Everton this summer despite increased speculation surrounding his future.

The Colombian was signed by Carlo Ancelotti last summer, but the short-term contract he penned means he’s already entered the final 12 months of his contract.

Rodriguez proved a key player during the early parts of his Everton career, making a blistering start to last season to leave the Toffees dreaming of the Champions League.

However, his own dip in form coincided with their slide down the Premier League table – culminating in a 10th place finish and no European football.

Since the campaign ended and Ancelotti subsequently re-joined Real Madrid following Zinedine Zidane’s departure, Rodriguez has been linked away from Goodison Park, with a shock return to Madrid and AC Milan the two rumoured destinations.

However, Rodriguez appears to have shaken off his injury problems and looks in like to start the season with the Toffees having featured on their pre-season tour of Florida, despite a story from the Daily Mail suggesting that he’s not in Benítez’s plans.

Asked where he sees Rodriguez’s future, Bent exclusively told Football FanCast:

“He’s probably there training well, will he stay? That’s something I’m not sure about. But if he’s training well, and Rafa likes him, then maybe.”

Graham Roberts insists that Tottenham Hotspur will only allow Tanguy Ndombele to move to Bayern Munich if they receive a big fee or Robert Lewandowski in part-exchange.

Ndombele is reported to have informed Spurs that he would be open to an exit from the club prior to the transfer deadline.

That has led to links with Bayern Munich, and a mooted swap deal involving midfielder Corentin Tolisso.

Roberts, though, insists that Spurs have no interest in the players that are currently being offered, and that Bayern need to pay up.

Ndombele, of course, is Spurs’ all-time record signing after arriving from Lyon for a fee of £54m.

Indeed, the club legend believes that the Bundesliga giants would need to offer a player of the quality of Lewandowski to convince chairman Daniel Levy to swap Ndombele.

Lewandowski has also told his current club that he would like to take on a new challenge, per reports, and has been a legendary player at Bayern, scoring a staggering 298 goals in 332 games for the club.

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, he said: “It will if they want to pay the money.

“We don’t want the players that they’re throwing at us. If they want to throw Lewandowski in it, then yeah we’ll take him and we’ll swap you, but they don’t want to do that.”

Manchester United are reportedly in fairly advanced talks to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves this summer.

What’s the story?

According to Eurosport’s Dean Jones, the Red Devils are prioritising a move for the Portugal international despite being heavily linked with a move for Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez.

“I just haven’t heard a lot about Saul Niguez personally,” he told The Football Terrace podcast (via The Express).

“So it’s hard for me to assess that one. So I’d say because of the information I’ve had, and it all depends on your sources, I know for a fact that they do like Neves, that they’ve been working on it in the background, and it’s reasonably far down the line.”

Fans may be worried

Neves cultivated an enviable reputation for himself at the beginning of his career, becoming the youngest ever player to captain a Champions League game when he led Porto out against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

However, he’s arguably struggled to live up to his early promise. Despite playing a pivotal part in Wolves’ impressive recent success, the technically gifted midfielder has done little to show he’s capable of playing for a side as ambitious as United.

The Old Trafford outfit are thought to be in the market for a new holding midfielder in the current window, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer determined to move away from the ‘McFred’ double pivot.

While Scott McTominay and Fred have performed admirably in recent times, providing a solid foundation for United to build from, their limited attributes make them unsuitable for long-term success.

Neither man is deemed capable of playing the holding role on their own, leading to Solskjaer searching for someone who is, allowing him to field a more attacking lineup in the future.

Having said that, Neves is not that man. The 24-year-old’s underlying numbers indicate McTominay and Fred outperformed the Wolves man last season, meaning he wouldn’t be an upgrade on United’s current options.

While the Portuguese midfielder recorded a pass accuracy of 84.3% in 2020/21, McTominay achieved 87.3% and Fred 88.2%. The Red Devils pair also outperformed Neves in terms of interceptions, with Fred managing 1.77 and McTominay’s 2.15 compared to the former Porto ace’s 1.55.

Therefore, United supporters should be worried at this latest revelation. The 20-time English champions have had a very successful transfer window so far, but bringing in Neves wouldn’t offer them the upgrade they so desperately need at the base of their engine room.

And, in other news…Ole must brutally axe “headless” £16.2m-rated Man Utd flop, he’s not good enough 

Writing for Eurosport, journalist Dean Jones has dropped a transfer update involving West Ham United star Declan Rice.

The Lowdown: Rice rejects contract offers…

As per The Telegraph, who first broke the news, the 22-year-old has rejected multiple contract offers from the Irons as multiple clubs circle, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City all thought to have an interest in him.

This claim is backed by club insider ExWHUemployee, who says that the England midfielder has indeed rejected offers of a new deal but the club have no intention to sell this summer (via Hammers News).

The Latest: Jones drops update…

As per Jones, writing for Eurosport, Rice is prepared to consider offers away from West Ham this summer as he eyes Champions League football and a chance to win trophies at club level.

The report added that being being a key part of the England squad over Euro 2020 has only reinforced beliefs that the midfield gem is ready and could handle the pressure of a ‘big club’.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-latest-3/” title=”West Ham latest!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Meanwhile, it is believed that the Irons’ London rivals Chelsea will ‘touch base’ about making an offer for the 22-year-old ‘later this month’.

In terms of potentially signing a new deal at West Ham and putting the exit saga to bed, the club may have to offer Rice a salary which has ‘never been seen before’ at Rush Green.

The Verdict: Keep or sell?

According to this report, West Ham value him at around £80m, so if Chelsea come calling with the correct bid later this month, should the Irons consider it?

David Moyes arguably needs to strengthen in key areas such as centre forward and centre-back, but losing their superstar midfielder could be a heavy price to pay for a bolstered transfer kitty.

Rice averaged the joint-most interceptions per game out of the entire West Ham squad over 2020/21 whilst started 32 Premier League matches, highlighting just how integral he is to Moyes’ team (WhoScored).

As West Ham gear up for the Europa League group stages, the club should only contemplate letting him go if a truly ridiculous offer comes in and they’re sure they can strengthen the squad overall with the subsequent funds.

In other news: ‘We understand’…Sky Sports drop live TV claim as West Ham eye ‘powerful’ striker, find out more here.

Southampton fans want to sign Liverpool’s Divock Origi this summer after the St Mary’s outfit were linked with a move for the Belgium international.

Saints will be hoping to improve on a disappointing last term that saw them finish 15th in the Premier League table. Their run to the F.A Cup semi-finals, though, will give Ralph Hasenhuttl hope that his side can be more competitive in the league this coming campaign.

The club were hit with a bit of a bombshell when Danny Ings turned down a new four-year contract on the south coast which would have made him the highest-paid player in their history (Sky Sports).

As such, they could be on the lookout for a new striker and, according to 90min.com, the Saints are interested in £10.8m-valued Origi (Transfermarkt).

The news was shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about Origi below

“Definitely”

Credit: @MagicBamba

“100% I would, but 100% we won’t be able to afford him. He’ll end up somewhere like West Ham I think”

Credit: @SFCMart

“Yes yes yes”

Credit: @lagbo13

“Be very happy with Origi coming here! Make it happen!”

Credit: @bfgfox

“I’d love this to happen. But as usual we will be priced out by the fee or wages. Bet he’s on about 150k a week at least.”

Credit: @James90044529

“Would be a good fit for us, although can see him ending up at palace”

Credit: @DavidEdwardsSFC

In other news, Southampton fans rage at this Adam Armstrong news.