Poch’s £25m Spurs signing has cost Levy £1m per 90 mins

Tottenham Hotspur are in the thick of a battle for Champions League qualification in the Premier League, with Ange Postecoglou seeking a positive finish to his first campaign in London.

After finishing eighth last season and resultingly losing Harry Kane to Bayern Munich, Spurs were in desperate need of a reset and the Australian has offered just that, placing the pillars of a new era despite much ebbing and flowing.

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou celebrates.

Several exciting signings have been made to shape the improving team, while one of Postecoglou's first ports of call was to ship out deadwood such as Tanguy Ndombele and Davinson Sanchez – also ridding his system of the out-of-favour Eric Dier last month – there are still players yet to be shipped on that very much look without a successful future down N17.

Spurs' signing of Ryan Sessegnon

One player who is surely nearing the end of their Lilywhites career is Ryan Sessegnon, who has made one paltry appearance this season, against Burnley in the FA Cup, as he battles against ongoing fitness issues.

Signed from Fulham in a £25m package back in 2019 as a 19-year-old after dazzling in the second tier, posting 25 goals and 18 assists across 120 displays, there was much buzz surrounding then Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino's new left-back, also capable as a winger.

Life on the major stage had such promise for this dynamic flanker and while Sessegnon is still only 23, he will need to get a grip on his fitness sooner rather than later to live up to the chatter when plying his trade for the Cottagers.

Ryan Sessegnon's cost at Spurs so far

Sessegnon has completed 57 appearances for Tottenham, scoring three goals and providing four assists for his teammates, but there is no questioning the fact that he has fallen by the wayside after prodigious beginnings and, out of contract next summer, might be approaching the end of his time at the club.

Ryan Sessegnon.

While his injury issues are unfortunate, his time on the pitch has not exactly been paved in praise, with Tottenham expert Jon Wenham claiming that he looks like a "Championship player".

When combining the player's transfer fee with his wages earned throughout his time at Tottenham, it can be deduced that he has cost the club more than £39m, and counting.

To put that in perspective, popular footballing information site Transfermarkt records Sessegnon's total minutes for the outfit at 3,391, meaning he has cost approximately £1m per 90 minutes. That… is grim reading.

Ryan Sessegnon Spurs Salary vs Teammates

Player

Salary

Ryan Sessegnon

£55k-per-week

Yves Bissouma

£55k-per-week

Micky van de Ven

£55k-per-week

Emerson Royal

£40k-per-week

Bryan Gil

£40k-per-week

Oliver Skipp

£40k-per-week

Source: Capology

As the table shows, Sessegnon is on par with first-team stars such as Micky van de Ven and Yves Bissouma, while sitting comfortably above a host of players who compete in Postecoglou's matchday plans with regularity.

The incessant injury troubles that have ravaged much of his career are unfortunate, but it's reaching the point where chairman Daniel Levy must consider whether keeping him on the books is a good idea, with the new chapter at the club requiring a certain ruthlessness to catch up with the Arsenal's, Manchester City's and Liverpool's of the Premier League.

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Ultimately, Sessegnon is still only 23 years old and has a real shot at returning to prominence, but he would be better placed doing so away from Tottenham, where he can move to a side with a greater chance of earning a prominent, regularly starting spot.

The mystery of the Pune pitch

What is the Pune pitch, deep down?In first-class cricket, it’s one of the flattest in the country. Thirty-six Indian grounds have hosted at least 10 first-class games since the start of the 2011-12 season, when the MCA Stadium made its debut. Of those 36 grounds, only two have a higher runs-per-wickets figure than Pune’s 35.82.

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In 26 first-class games here, there have been ten individual scores of 150 or more, two triple-hundreds and three other doubles. Thirteen of the 26 games have ended in draws.ODIs here have largely been high-scoring too, with three out of four matches producing first-innings totals of above 280.When a ground hosts a Test match, however, it can change character dramatically. Pune’s debut Test, in 2017, ended in less than three days, with India scoring 105 and 107 and the pitch ending up with a “poor” rating.Two days before Pune’s second Test, therefore, everyone wanted to talk to Pandurang Salgaoncar, the curator. But Salgaoncar wouldn’t talk to anyone.Associated Press

Salgaoncar has endured a difficult couple of years. There was the “poor” rating for the Test against Australia, to start with, and later that year even greater controversy arising from his getting trapped in a sting operation, which led to his being suspended for six months by both his home association and the ICC.Two days from the start of India’s second Test against South Africa, Salgaoncar’s primary worries were to do with the weather. Rain has lashed Pune incessantly in the weeks leading up to the game, and this has, no doubt, complicated preparations for the game.Tuesday afternoon was dry, though, and the heat oppressive. Out in the middle, the groundstaff were hard at work under Salgaoncar’s supervision, with India coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharat Arun keeping a close eye.It wasn’t clear whether Shastri and Arun were merely watching the preparations or also passing on instructions. Arun, only half an hour earlier, had said this at his press conference:”We don’t ask for the kind of wickets that we get. To us, to be a good No. 1 team in the world, any conditions that come your way, you’ve got to accept and say these are home conditions. Even when we go abroad, we hardly take a look at the wicket. Yes, in the last minute we tend to assess the wicket by looking at it, but we say that we are going to look at this as home conditions, and the wicket is the same for both the teams, so we are going to work on our bowling, rather than looking at the wickets.”Steve O’Keefe shocked the strong Indian batting order with identical six-fors in the Pune Test•Associated Press

When the covers came off, it wasn’t a straightforward task to distinguish the pitch from the square surrounding it. It was green, and uniformly so. But soon enough, the groundstaff began taking grass off the pitch, with the means of stiff brushes and then a mower.It remains to be seen how much of the grass survives by the time Test starts on Thursday. But given how the weather has been in the run-up to the game, the pitch is unlikely to be as dry as the one in 2017, which became what it became thanks partly to the 37-degree weather that had preceded the Test match, and partly to the reduced watering it was deliberately subject to.Riyaz Bagwan, the secretary of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, refused to get into any detail over the effect of the weather on pitch preparations, but he was confident that the ground’s drainage would help reduce the length of any rain interruptions. He estimated that the sand-based outfield would take less than half-an-hour to be ready to play on again.In the weeks leading up to the game, Bagwan said Maharashtra’s players had played a few practice one-day matches at the venue, and that these had begun on time – “9.30 sharp” – even if there had been overnight rain.Much like the pitch, the weather in Pune can change dramatically in the space of a day. The blazing afternoon quickly gave way to dark clouds, and a short, sharp shower arrived at around 4pm. Rain was forecast for all five days of the first Test in Visakhapatnam, but it kept away for all but one session of play. With a similar forecast for Pune as well, here’s hoping for similar cooperation from upstairs.

Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin in shortlist to contest BCCI elections

On October 16, a week before the elections, the BCCI would release the final list of candidates along with the positions they would be contesting

Nagraj Gollapudi04-Oct-2019Former India captains Mohammad Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly along with former India batsman Brijesh Patel are among the biggest names put forward to contest the BCCI elections scheduled for October 23.They were part of an electoral draft roll made public on Friday which also included Jay Shah (Gujarat Cricket Association secretary and son of India’s Home Minister Amit Shah), Arun Dhumal (president Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association and brother of former BCCI president Anurag Thakur), Rajeev Shukla (former IPL chairman), Rajat Sharma (Delhi Districts Cricket Association president) and Jaydev Shah (Saurashtra Cricket Association president and son former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah)Friday was the last date for all the state associations to wrap up their polls and send in the names of a representative that would attend the BCCI’s annual general meeting, which happens alongside the elections.This list of 38 representatives would now be vetted by the BCCI’s electoral officer N Gopalswami before releasing a final electoral list on October 10. The state associations would then have to send in names from that final electoral list of representatives to contest various positions at the BCCI elections. On October 16, a week before the elections, the BCCI would release the final list of candidates along with the positions they would be contesting.The board would be looking to fill five office bearer posts (president, vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer), one seat on the Apex Council and two positions on the IPL Governing Council.Although Ganguly, who was re-elected president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, has been to a BCCI AGM previously, he has never contested the elections. It remains to be seen whether he would put his hat in the ring considering the BCCI’s new constitution, framed as per the RM Lodha Committee reforms, dictates that he would have to accept a cooling off period of three years after he completes six years as office bearer. That is only 10 months away.Azharuddin, meanwhile, would be attending the board’s AGM for the first time. But the new president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association would be surrounded by people who were close to him during his playing career, including Patel and Shukla, a veteran administrator and former IPL chairman.Both Shukla and Patel did not take part in elections at their respective state associations – Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka – but have still been pitched as representatives. Questions would be raised about their eligibility considering both Shukla and Patel have already served several years as office bearers at their state associations.Eligibility is bound to become a key factor in the coming weeks keeping in mind the rules drawn by the Committee of Administrators (CoA), which was appointed as the supervisory authority of the BCCI by the Supreme Court on January 30, 2017.The CoA has made it clear that in order to participate in the BCCI AGM and nominate a representative for the elections, state associations’ constitutions would need to be compliant with that of the board’s. If not, they would not be allowed to cast their vote nor would their respresentative be allowed to contest for a position in the elections. Gopalswami has reiterated that point in the communication he has sent in the last two weeks.Not everyone agrees with this though. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), the bastion of former BCCI president N Srinivasan, has challenged the CoA directive and told Gopalswami that as far as it was concerned, it was compliant and would be the attending the AGM and contesting the elections.

Tottenham now in advanced talks to sign "incredible" Liverpool target

After a successful January transfer window, which saw them welcome Timo Werner, Radu Dragusin and Lucas Bergvall, who will join up with the squad at the end of the season, Tottenham Hotspur have already reportedly set their sights on a bargain deal this summer. With talks at an advanced stage, the completion of this one could just be a matter of time.

Tottenham transfer news

Whilst the additions of Werrner and Dragusin are impressive, Spurs' best winter move may well prove to be Bergvall. It's a great compliment to the work that Ange Postecoglou has so far done that the Swede chose a move to the Premier League side over Barcelona.

Timo Werner applauding Tottenham supporters.

Bergvall explained the decision, telling Sportbladet: "It felt better in my gut. They're both incredible clubs. It was a very difficult choice, it was 50/50 for a very long time, but it felt like the next step for me was Tottenham. It wasn't very easy to say 'no' to Barcelona, it took a very long time to decide. It was a tough decision."

Now, ahead of the summer window, those in North London will be hoping to see another decision swing in their favour. According to Seb Ecrivain Foot, Spurs are in advanced talks with Lloyd Kelly over a summer move, but face competition from Liverpool, who are at the same stage.

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The Bournemouth centre-back will reportedly refuse to extend his contract at the Cherries and will, therefore, leave as a free agent this summer to potentially hand Spurs a bargain deal. Those at the Vitality Stadium may well be left frustrated at the fact that they didn't cash in during the January transfer window, as they watch one of their best assets walk away for free.

"Incredible" Kelly can complete Ange's backline

Spurs took a major risk in the summer by signing just one central defender in the form of Micky van de Ven. Postecoglou was left with just three senior centre-backs to turn to, with one of them being an experienced left-back in Ben Davies and another being Eric Dier, who the former Celtic boss had seemingly frozen out of the side.

Aware of their mistake, the Lilywhites have since signed Dragusin and can now welcome Kelly to complete a defensive rebuild. From two out of their four options being relatively uncertain, Spurs could have a quartet of solid options at their disposal with Van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Dragusin and Kelly. Here's how Kelly and Davies have compared this season…

Progressive Carries

11

9

Progressive Passes

34

58

Tackles Won

14

15

Interceptions

7

9

Clearances

31

32

Kelly has unsurprisingly been at the centre of praise in the past, including from former Bournemouth manager Gary O'Neil, who said after his side's victory over Liverpool: “I thought Lloyd was incredible. I think he had a 12-week ankle injury followed by a six-week calf injury.

"Didn't have much time in between, and then came back today having not trained much, to play left back against one of the best wingers in the world. I thought he showed everything, the potential he has to be a top defender. I thought it was a very, very impressive performance against a top attacker.”

Ceni curtiu isso: L! lista os 5 maiores destaques do time alternativo do Flamengo

MatériaMais Notícias

A partir da próxima rodada do Campeonato Carioca, o Flamengo voltará a ter Rogério Ceni e o elenco principal à disposição. Sob o comando de Maurício Souza, o time alternativo passa o bastão na liderança da competição, após seis rodadas, e o LANCE!sublinha os cinco maiores destaques até aqui.

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Todos os cinco jogadores destacados abaixo se reapresentarão nesta segunda-feira, junto aos titulares, para os treinos de Rogério Ceni. Cabe destacar que o próximo jogo – o primeiro com o plantel unificado – será já nesta quarta, contra o Bangu, às 21h, no Estádio Raulino de Oliveira, em Volta Redonda.

Veja os destaques que mais ganharam pontos com Rogério Ceni:

BRUNO VIANA

Em três jogos (contra Resende, Botafogo e Boavista), todos como titulares, Bruno Viana apresentou ótimas credenciais: velocidade, boa antecipação e qualidade no passe vertical, longo ou não.

O nível de exigência foi baixo, sobretudo pelo Flamengo ter dominado as ações nos três jogos supracitados, mas o zagueiro emprestado pelo Braga-POR mostrou que chega para brigar diretamente por uma vaga no time titular de Ceni, ainda mais com Rodrigo Caio lesionado – e sem previsão para voltar.

HUGO MOURA

Da equipe alternativa, Hugo Moura é o único jovem que retornou de empréstimo em 2021 e atuou pelo Flamengo.Cedido ao Coritiba na temporada passada, o volante fez um bom Brasileiro e, nos cinco últimos jogos, quando foi titular no time de Mauricinho, voltou a ter atuações elogiáveis.

Hugo foi o primeiro volante do Fla, iniciando a articulação das jogadas, mas se apresentou bem no ataque para finalizar. Marcou um golaço contra o Botafogo e, no último jogo, acertou o travessão com outra bomba de fora da área. O volante de 23 anos pode aproveitar a brecha no elenco principal, sem Thiago Maia por mais alguns meses, e ganhar espaço gradualmente.

JOÃO GOMES

Para muitos, João Gomes pode passar despercebido em campo, já que é volante e tem como principal função desarmar. Mas o meio-campista foi o representante do time de Mauricinho mais consolidado dentre os atletas disponíveis do grupo principal. Ele optou por abrir mão das férias para atuar nos seis jogos iniciais e acumular rodagem.

Mais uma vez, Gomes mostrou que está pronto para o time principal, até para o titular. O tão almejado e tentado gol ainda não saiu (e não foi por falta de finalização de fora), mas o jovem de 20 anos foi, em muitos momentos no Cariocão 2021, a principal referência técnica do Fla.

VITINHO

Embora tenha oscilado nos três jogos realizados, Vitinho fez valer a volta antecipada. Ele foi um dos reservas do grupo principal a se misturar com a molecada do sub-20 antes do previsto. Saiu com dois gols – um diante do Resende, golaço, aliás, e outro diante do Boavista.

Alvo de críticas desde a sua chegada, o camisa 11 jogou nas duas pontas e, em certo período do clássico contra o Botafogo, fez a função de meia (por dentro). Ou seja, a experiência serviu para ganhar bagagem em três funções ofensivas, isso sob o olhar in loco de Ceni. Mostrou ainda ser uma carta no baralho.

RODRIGO MUNIZ

Assim como Hugo Moura, Rodrigo Muniz também esteve emprestado ao Coritiba em 2020, mas retornou ainda para reforçar o Fla na temporada passada, a pedido de Rogério Ceni. Ou seja, o centroavante conta com o respaldo do treinador, que, se não o tem comandado no Carioca, viu de perto as suas boas atuações como referência na equipe de Maurício Souza.

Muniz é o artilheiro do torneio, com cinco gols em seis jogos. Provou o seu faro de artilheiro com vasto repertório: gols de cabeça, golaço de sem-pulo e um tento após trombar com zagueiro e tocar com categoria. Ainda com idade sub-20, o centroavante passa a ser uma opção de respeito para as estrelas Gabigol e Pedro (reserva de luxo, atualmente). Ceni que lute para dar espaço ao trio.

+ Veja a tabela e o regulamento do Cariocão 2021

Concorda com a lista de destaques? Deixe a sua opinião nos comentários.

Ederson wanted by Al-Ittihad! Saudi Pro League side willing to offer £25m for Man City goalkeeper

Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad are reportedly showing interest in Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson Moraes for a summer move.

Article continues below

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  • Ederson wanted by Al-Ittihad this summer
  • Saudi Pro League side ready to offer £25m
  • Al-Nassr also interested in the Brazilian
  • Getty

    WHAT HAPPENED?

    As per The Daily Mail, the Saudi Pro League side are looking to make a switch in personnel in-between the sticks this summer. They have admired the Brazilian goalkeeper since last summer and are now preparing a move for the Manchester City number one as they look to challenge the likes of Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr next season.

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  • THE BIGGER PICTURE

    The report has suggested that the club, while interested in the Brazilian last summer, were not willing to shell out serious amounts of cash. However, this summer they believe they can tempt Manchester City with a low bid starting at £25m ($31m).

  • (C)GettyImages

    DID YOU KNOW?

    Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr are also said to be interested in making a move for Ederson this summer as they look to replace the ageing David Ospina in goal, whose contract runs out at the end of the current season.

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  • WHAT NEXT FOR EDERSON?

    While Stefan Ortega has impressed as Ederson's deputy over the course of the season, it seems highly unlikely that Pep Guardiola would be happy to lose Ederson as he is still one of the best at his job in the world.

Sob protestos da torcida e pipoca, São Paulo chega ao estádio em Limeira

MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo chegou sob protesto ao estádio Major Levy Sobrinho, em Limeira, onde joga, nesta quarta-feira (3), contra a Inter de Limeira pela segunda rodada do Paulistão. Na recepção ao Tricolor, torcedores chamaram o time de ‘sem vergonha’ e também atiraram pipocas no ônibus da delegação.

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O São Paulo estreou com um empate diante do Botafogo-SP, no último domingo (28), no Morumbi. A partida marcou a estreia do treinador Hernán Crespo no comando da equipe.

Após uma temporada decepcionante em 2020, na qual o Tricolor liderou o Brasileirão com sete pontos de vantagem mas despencou nas rodadas finais até a quarta colocação, ainda mais com eliminações nas copas, os protestos passaram a fazer parte da rotina do time.

Entre protestos e manifestações de torcedores, um ato foi marcado por sua violência, quando o ônibus da delegação foi atacado com pedras e rojões no caminho para o Morumbi, antes da partida contra o Coritiba.

Além dos ataques ao veículo, foram encontradas bombas nos arredores do local da emboscada. Ao todo, catorze indivíduos foram presos em flagrante, e 15 pessoas foram denunciadas pelo Ministério Público por um total de cinco crimes.

Unemployed David de Gea spotted training in Man Utd kit as goalkeeper's search for new club drags on

Free agent David de Gea posted a video of himself training in a Manchester United kit as his search for a new club continues.

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  • De Gea released by Man Utd last summer
  • Goalkeeper still searching for a new club
  • Posts videos of him in Red Devils training kit
  • WHAT HAPPENED?

    The 33-year-old has been without a club since United released him last July, with Andre Onana replacing the Spanish international after 12 seasons at Old Trafford. While the former Atletico Madrid star is still a free agent, he is keeping himself in shape just in case an opportunity comes his way.

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  • WHAT DAVID DE GEA SAID

    In an Instagram story, De Gea – who was on £375,000 a week wages at Old Trafford before departing the club – can be seen doing shot-stopping and reflexes drills with three coaches and attached the words: 'Work, work, work'.

    Instagram

  • THE BIGGER PICTURE

    While it seems De Gea's career is on a downward trajectory, he has had offers to return to the sport. The veteran caught the attention of Newcastle United in December following Nick Pope's long-term injury but he would have had to have taken a wage cut. He also turned down the chance to play for Nottingham Forest in January but if he stays away too long, it could hurt his game. It seems he is content to bide his time and wait for the perfect opportunity.

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  • Getty

    WHAT NEXT?

    The 6ft 4in goalkeeper, who has been linked with a return to La Liga and a Saudi Pro League transfer, will hope to find a new team soon, with the free agent able to sign for any club at any time.

We built pressure on them to get runs, and got wickets – Akshay Wakhare

The Vidarbha offspinner said that if their batsmen could get off to a good start, there would be no stopping the team in the Irani Cup

Sreshth Shah in Nagpur12-Feb-2019″Keep things simple” at all times. That’s the mantra Vidarbha’s bowlers used on the first day of their Irani Cup match against Rest of India, and the one that earned them rewards, according to off-spinner Akshay Wakhare.At one stage after lunch, Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari had set RoI’s base towards a mammoth first-innings score when they were 171 for 1, with both batsmen nearing centuries. But disciplined bowling from Vidarbha meant nine wickets fell for only 159 more runs.After Agarwal and Vihari had started well, the spinners found their rhythm to systematically dismantle a team whose batting looks powerful on paper. What worked for Vidarbha was their decision to switch to attritional cricket. Ajinkya Rahane could hit no boundaries in his 38-ball stay, and after his wicket in the 50th over, the RoI batsmen could find the fence only 13 more times.”After the start they got, I think our bowlers applied themselves really well to make a comeback,” Wakhare said after the first day’s play. “When Rahane came, we decided to focus bowling on maidens during that period. We built pressure on the batsmen to score runs, and that’s how we got his wicket.”Wakhare, himself, had the brightest bowling figures on the day, although two of his three scalps were lower-order batsmen. The top-order batsman that he dismissed – the hard-hitting Ishan Kishan – fell to a specific plan to bait him into throwing his wicket away.”Ishan Kishan is basically a hitter, he never does defense, we know that,” Wakhare said. “We’ve been playing for 3-4 years together so we know how he plays. I had very simple plans, bowl away from him, don’t give him easy runs and he will try something.”That plan forced Kishan to try and clear the cover-fielder, but with the ball turning away from him, all he could do was splice a simple catch to the infielder. The turn was prominent as the day’s play progressed, and Wakhare said that the pace of the spin bowler determined how much (or little) the ball turns in Nagpur. In all, the spinners accounted for seven RoI wickets.”At first, we thought it was going to turn if spinners bowl fast, but it wasn’t like that,” Wakhare said. “You had to look to bowl slow to extract spin here.”For Vidarbha, though, the job has just begun. On a pitch that has had an average first-innings score of just under 400, a result is always likely.Wakhare felt that Vidarbha’s opening pair holds the key to their success, and that if they manage to consolidate well on the second morning, then Vidarbha would be favourites to defend their Irani Cup title, despite the line-up lacking Wasim Jaffer, who is sitting out with injury.”The batting wicket is very good,” Wakhare said. “If we get a good opening stand, then there’s no stopping us.”

Leeds could accept transfer offer for "special" Wilfried Gnonto in January

Leeds United could accept an offer for one of their first-team stars in January as Daniel Farke aims to continue his side's promotion push, according to a recent report.

Leeds United 1-1 Coventry City

In a lively match at Elland Road on Saturday, Leeds and Coventry City shared the spoils and took a point apiece after Crysencio Summerville's opener was ruled out by a reply from Bobby Thomas eight minutes later.

Making it two games without a victory for the Whites in the Championship, Farke's men remain third in the table with 42 points from their 22 fixtures played; however, Southampton lurk just below them on goal difference following a 4-0 victory over Blackburn at St Mary's Stadium.

In his post-match press conference, Farke didn't hide his frustration after failing to take three points against the visitors, saying:

"Disappointment and frustration. When you win a point you see positive aspects but after this game it feels like two points dropped. When you judge the game, we should have won. We did more than enough."

"I don't want to talk about the positives. Coventry put everyone who could defend on their teamsheet. They left their creative players out. It was clear that they would sit very deep. You have to be relentless until you open them. We did this with a fantastic goal. The problem is we didn't bury the game."

One flashpoint during proceedings came at the end, where Summerville refused to shake Thomas' hand at the conclusion of the game, leading to something of a brawl between the two sets of players on the field in which several key men had to intervene.

Now, one of the men involved in the scenes at full-time, Wilfried Gnonto, who restrained Summerville before getting involved in an altercation of his own, could now be allowed to depart Elland Road in the January transfer window.

Wilfried Gnonto could leave Leeds…

According to Football Insider, Leeds United could sell Italy international Gnonto in January and use the funds to invest further in their playing squad. The former FC Zurich man has struggled for regular football under Farke and is being monitored by several clubs from the Premier League and his native Italy.

Wilfried Gnonto's key Championship statistics in 2023/24 (Sofascore)

Expected assists

1.41

Successful dribbles

0.9 (56%)

Touches

27.4

Possession lost

6.8

Goal conversion

7%

The 20-year-old is under contract at the Whites until 2027 and previously agitated for a move earlier this year and was removed from first-team activities; however, he has since returned to the fold to try and help his side's promotion push.

Wilfried Gnonto for Leeds United.

Labelled "special" by former coach Michael Skubala, the Verbania-born man has made 17 appearances in all competitions this term, registering one goal and a solitary assist (Gnonto statistics – Transfermarkt).

Looking ahead, cashing in on Gnonto could be a productive way of being able to bankroll new signings that could earn promotion at Leeds, making this one to watch.

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