Harry Wilson: Liverpool’s Wales midfielder is expected to leave the club today and there’s no shortage of interest in the 23-year-old. Nottingham Forest, Cardiff City, Swansea City and Derby County are all believed to be interested in securing his scrawl, but reports from Wales suggest he is currently undergoing a medical with Cardiff ahead of a £1.2m season-long loan deal. Should Wilson move to Cardiff, Swansea will try to bring in Bristol City’s Kasey Palmer instead.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær talks about Harry Maguire’s woes
Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjær has been addressing the ladies and gentlemen of the press about Harry Maguire’s woes before his side’s trip to Newcastle tomorrow night.
“Football is very … very … you’re in the spotlight all the time,” he said. “When Harry is in the No ranked team that beats Belgium, that’s a normal day. And then you get the headlines when you get the sending-off, that’s just football for you. There’s so many ups and downs that we’ve got to deal with individually and as a group.
“Harry has got great resilience, I know he’ll bounce back. He wants to play, he wants to work his way out of the last couple of games he’s been criticised for. He picked up a knock just before he came off [against Denmark] so I’m just hopeful he’ll be fit. We had a look at him yesterday and we’ll give him a test today.”
Watford: Speaking of football’s nicer men, Ben Foster could be on the move today. The Watford goalkeeper is being linked with a move to Liverpool, where he would work as understudy to Alisson instead of Adrian. One of the hardest working men in football journalism, it should come as no surprise to learn that Ben Fisher had a very interesting chat with Foster not too long ago …
Nottingham Forest: Chris Hughton, widely regarded as one the nicest men in football, returns to the dug-out on Saturday, when he brings Nottingham Forest to Ewood Park for a game against Blackburn in his latest managerial role. He has a big job on his hands following Forest’s disastrous start to the season and Ben Fisher spoke to him as he prepares for his first game in charge …
Celtic v Rangers: The first Old Firm derby of the season takes place at lunchtime tomorrow, when Celtic will entertain Rangers at an empty Celtic Park. Their manager Neil Lennon has been talking about how weird an experience it will be for both sets of players to go about their business in spooky silence.
“I think it’s very difficult for this generation of players to go through what they’re going through,” he said. “We’ve adapted as well anyone but it’s a huge ingredient that’s going to be missing: the electricity, the atmosphere, the rawness, the noise, the colour … it’s going to be a derby like we’ve never seen before. We’re on a good run and we want to maintain that consistency.”
Crystal Palace: Wayne Hennessey was forced off with injury after becoming Wales’s most capped ever goalkeeper when representing his country for the 94th time against Bulgaria on Wednesday night. His injury means Crystal Palace could move for Stoke City’s Jack Butland, who is looking for a fresh start elsewhere after falling behind Adam Davies in the Stoke City pecking order. Butland has also been linked with Liverpool and Southampton.
Taking care of business: A number of players could move from the Championship to the Premier League before stumps at 5pm, with Watford winger Ismaila Sarr among the bigger names expected to move. Manchester United had a deadline day bid for the 22-year-old rejected on the most recent deadline day and may up their bid in an effort to get him to Old Trafford. Brentford winger Said Benrahma, Bournemouth midfielder David Brooks, Norwich midfielder Todd Cantwell and Swansea centre-back Joe Rodon are among others who could find themselves getting promoted from the Championship before the day is out.
Greetings one and all …
The international break is behind us and normal – or as normal as it gets in the current climate – football returns this weekend. We’ll bring you news from various press conferences, in which we can almost certainly expect to hear assorted managers moan at great length and with plent of justification about how ill-advised it was to let players leave their club bubbles and go gadding around the world in the middle of a pandemic.
As if one wasn’t one too many, Deadline Day Two is also upon us, so you can expect plenty of last-gasp horse-trading before the domestic only window is inched shut at 5pm. The rules: Premier League clubs are not allowed sign anyone from a foreign club or do business with each other, but can keep doing deals with teams in the EFL or below.
We’ll bring you all the news that’s fit to print and much that isn’t, so stay tuned to your one-stop shop for all the day’s comings and goings.