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Sunderland have had a horrible habit in recent years of letting their academy gems walk through the exit door for not very much money.

Sam Greenwood was one of the first to start the trend. He departed Sunderland for Arsenal in 2018 and is now on the cusp of senior football with Leeds United.

Josh Maja is the most high profile case. His agent convinced him his future lay elsewhere and he left for Bordeaux in January 2019. Now playing at Fulham in the Premier League, there seems to be a familiar trend here.

Other young prospects like Joe Hugill, Bali Mumba, Luke Hewitson, Morten Spencer and Logan Pye have also all departed.

Though, if you cast your mind back to 2014, there is a name who is arguably doing better things than any of those mentioned above.

That happens to be John Egan. The centre-back never made a first-team appearance for the Mackems before being released seven years ago.

He subsequently joined Gillingham on a free transfer, before moving to Brentford and then Sheffield United.

The Irishman has been a wonderful presence in the Blades’ backline, very rarely missing a game. He played 44 matches during their promotion-winning campaign from the Championship in 2018/19 and since they were promoted, he’s been absent for only two games.

During that time, the 28-year-old has become an established international, earning 12 caps for his country, the Republic of Ireland.

Egan has very much become a classic case of one who got away. The defender is Premier League proven and was part of a backline that proved one of the best in the top-flight last term.

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The former Sunderland academy graduate helped Sheffield United to the fourth-best defensive record in the entire division. They conceded 39 times, a better tally than Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea.

Egan has come on leaps and bounds over the last few years, being described as “rock-solid” by Chris Wilder.

It’s unsurprising, therefore, that his value has risen so dramatically. Released on a free transfer by Sunderland all those years ago, he is now rated at an eye-catching £9m by Transfermarkt.

That kind of fee is one to bulk at, especially for a club now plying their trade in League One. As the Black Cats tumbled down the leagues, it would have been difficult for them to keep hold of him.

That being said, they got rid of him at a time when they were in the Premier League. He has since proven he is up to the challenge of performing at that very level.

AND in other news, Rarely-seen 18 y/o could rival Diamond at Sunderland, he’s a “talented lad”…

Leicester hit a roadblock in the Premier League this afternoon as they were well beaten on home soil by Leeds United. The newly-promoted Whites made easy work of brushing aside the title hopefuls, despite their early opener.

Harvey Barnes put the Foxes ahead but Leeds responded immediately as just two minutes later, the visitors were on the scoresheet thanks to Stuart Dallas, with two more goals coming in the second half to put the game to bed.

It was a weak performance from Leicester as a whole, but Brendan Rodgers must be particularly disappointed with centre-back Wesley Fofana.

Fofana stats vs Leeds

Patrick Bamford is undoubtedly one of the Premier League’s most clinical strikers. His goal and two assists this afternoon took his season tally up to ten goals and three assists in 19 appearances, as per Transfermarkt.

However, he can be silenced. Before playing Leicester, he was on a three-game goal drought and had struggled to make an impact against Spurs, Brighton and Newcastle. But today, he clearly had his shooting boots on.

Fofana was unable to deal with the Englishman’s threat and contributed to the poor defensive display from the Foxes. According to Sofascore, the £30million summer signing completed just 68% of his attempted passes and had fewer touches (37) than goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (42). Fofana also completed more clearances against Everton (4) compared to today’s performance of just two.

These are not great stats for a centre-back who has been solid in his previous appearances. For example, in his last game against Everton, he took 105 touches and was confident in completing 85 of his 96 attempted passes.

Whilst it won’t warrant him being dropped for the next match against Fulham, Rodgers will be more than aware that this wasn’t a performance of Fofana’s usual calibre, both with and without the ball.

In other news, Exclusive: Rob Lee tips James Justin for big England future…

Mike Ashley could land Newcastle United their next Allan Saint-Maximin by signing Independiente sensation Alan Velasco in the January transfer window.

What’s the word?

According to El Intransigente, the Magpies are one of a number of potential suitors monitoring Velasco’s situation in the mid-season market, with Parma and Club America providing worldwide competition for the 18-year-old.

Parma are intent on striking a winter deal for the left-winger, as they consider the Argentina U17 international as a weapon who can aid their efforts in securing European qualification after re-establishing themselves as a Serie A side.

Velasco is seen to be one of Argentina’s great jewels after proving his enormous potential at a tender age, having become a staple of Lucas Pusineri’s side in 2020, though Independiente accept it is only a matter of time before he leaves the Estadio Libertadores de America.

Independiente would prefer to retain the diminutive 5 ft 5 forward, who is protected by a $23.5m (£17.5m) release clause, but accept that his sale would help solve several issues with the club facing Fifa-imposed lawsuits for non-compliance with transfer payments.

Velasco provided each of his career three goals and three assists in senior football last year, while Independiente never lost when the Quilmes-born attacker influenced the scoreline.

Bruce’s next Saint-Maximin

Mike Ashley providing the funds needed for Independiente to consider selling Velasco in the January market could see the Newcastle owner hand Steve Bruce the Toon’s next Saint-Maximin, having seen the St. James’ Park natives struggle without the Frenchman.

Saint-Maximin has not featured for United since November after testing positive for coronavirus and remains some weeks away from a return, much to Bruce’s frustration.

“We’re missing him at the moment. He’s had an up and down time, he needs to find that consistency like we all do, if he really wants to hit the heights. When he is on song there is no better sight is there? He gets you on the edge of your seat,” Bruce told the Chronicle.

Velasco could be the one to bring the same level of excitement to St. James’ Park if signed, having proved a creative wonder in South America to warrant vivid transfer interest from Europe.

The youth international made seven of his appearances in the 2020 Copa Sudamericana, in which he also contributed one of his three goals and two of his assists thanks to creating an average 2.9 chances a game with 1.5 shots and 1.4 key passes, per SofaScore.

He additionally offered 15.8 of his 19.9 total passes a game in the opponent’s half, plus 1.1 successful tackles, 1.0 interceptions, 3.0 successful dribbles and wining 5.3 ground duels, with opponents forced into committing 1.1 fouls a game.

Velasco may be small and relatively unknown in England, but may prove the old cliché of the best things coming in small packages true with a successful move to St. James’ Park this winter.

AND in other news, Steve Bruce is keen to sign a “fantastic” £15.5m-rated brute for Newcastle United.

It wasn’t quite the embarrassing night of the 1986/87 season but Wolves tried their best to fluff their lines against Chorley on Friday evening.

Nuno Santo’s team have been desperately poor in recent weeks, and after their win over the National League North side have now only won three of their last 11 outings.

If anything summed up their abject performances of late it was the display they put in as they made it through to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

On paper, this was a mismatch. Wolves should have been easily out of sight given the opposition, but although they didn’t lose as they did to Chorley over 30 years ago, they were incredibly poor.

Going forward, Nuno’s side were devoid of confidence and authority. For large spells of the game, their non-league hosts looked comfortable and dare we say it, they even looked the better team.

Wolves’ only shot on target in the entire game produced the goal. It was a special one too from Vitinha who let fly from range, but beyond that, there was nothing to write home about.

The Old Gold completed just 25% of their crosses and carved out fewer goal-scoring opportunities than Chorley. A large reason behind that was the performance of Patrick Cutrone.

This was the Italian’s first start since returning from a loan spell with Fiorentina and on his big audition to Nuno, he completely failed. This was a week where Cutrone simply had to prove himself to the manager too.

Willian Jose has arrived from Real Sociedad on loan and thus, the Italy international could be heading for the exit door. After this performance, it proved why.

The striker isn’t good enough and cut an isolated figure against non-league opposition. Truth be told, Cutrone was anonymous.

He completed just 11 passes from 18 attempted, finishing with a success rate of only 61%. For context, only goalkeeper John Ruddy and substitute Adama Traore completed fewer passes in the Wolves side.

The 23-year-old’s tally of 24 touches, meanwhile, was the same as Ruddy’s and only more than Traore and another of Nuno’s substitutes in Pedro Neto.

Against opposition like Chorley, Cutrone should have run riot. Instead, his effort was minimal, registering just two attempts at goal.

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It would be extreme to call this a horror show but Nuno must be incredibly fed up of the Italian now. He has scored three goals in 27 outings for the Molineux outfit. Time and time again he has not been at the races.

Wolves need to get rid of him as soon as possible.

AND in other news, Wolves could find their dream Traore successor by landing “extremely quick” 31-cap ace…

After booking their passage into the last 16 of the Europa League on Wednesday night, Tottenham turn their attentions back towards the Premier League as they take on Burnley at home.

Jose Mourinho’s side suffered defeat last time out in the top-flight, falling to a 2-1 loss to London rivals West Ham. That game saw the Spurs boss make a couple of half-time changes to try and spark a comeback, and while it didn’t prove to be fruitful in the end, it did underline that one man simply has to be dropped: Erik Lamela.

The Argentine was one of those hooked at the interval at the London Stadium by the manager, with Gareth Bale coming on in his place. The Welshman was unlucky not to find himself on the score-sheet after striking a volley onto the crossbar, while it was his corner that saw Lucas Moura head home.

Lamela, on the other hand, delivered another disappointing display to add to his collection of below-par performances this season, with the West Ham game meaning that the £80k-a-week earning man has still yet to score or provide an assist in the Premier League this season – a truly woeful return for someone who has played out wide on the right and even as a number ten.

Former Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor delivered a scathing verdict on Lamela’s performances earlier this month, saying: “He’s not the same player he used to be, Lamela.

“When I watch him now, he doesn’t really get past anyone, he doesn’t score or assist. I think Jose Mourinho is just playing him because he’s annoyed at Gareth Bale. He’s just playing Lamela because he’s got nobody else to play. If Jose Mourinho is given a bit of money he will definitely get rid of Lamela.”

But, with Bale arguably producing his best 45 minutes in a Spurs shirt against West Ham last time out in the Premier League, and Mourinho himself claiming that the Welshman is in the best shape he’s been since joining the club, the time has surely come for the 31-year-old to get his chance in the starting line-up.

And that means making a ruthless call on Lamela and dropping him against the Clarets on Saturday afternoon. The fact is that the Argentine has been holding Spurs back with his lack of end product this season, and it’s about time Mourinho takes action.

David Sullivan must sanction a January swoop for Burnley defender James Tarkowski amid renewed links to West Ham United.

What’s the word?

According to Eurosport, Premier League interest in Tarkowski is beginning to grow ahead of the mid-season window as the 28-year-old continues to overlook a new contract at Turf Moor.

Tarkowski has entered into the final 18-months of his current £50,000-per-week deal, but he is yet to put pen to paper, saying that the terms presented thus far have been “nowhere near what I was going to sign”.

Recent discussions between Tarkowski and the Clarets have moved the two parties closer to reaching an agreement as they strive to secure continuity to protect the club’s Premier League stability amid a potential takeover of the Lancashire outfit.

But West Ham, who saw a £30m offer turned down in the summer, and Leicester City, who also bid £30m, are now said to be joined by growing top-flight interest in the star centre-back who Burnley valued at £50m ahead of the current season.

Manchester United were understood to have also assessed the merits of a move for Tarkowski, who Irons legend Frank McAvennie believed would have been “perfect” for his former side in the summer.

Tarkowski ultimately remained at Turf Moor and has started all 11 of his Premier League outings, helping Sean Dyche’s side to keep five clean sheets as they battle to avoid relegation.

Winter rescue

West Ham will head into Christmas sat middle of the pack having held one of the top-flight’s better defensive records thus far, with Moyes’ men allowing the same number of goals (19) over 14 games as title-holders Liverpool and European chasers Everton.

Moyes has rarely sought to make changes to his backline with Angelo Ogbonna starting all of the Hammers’ Premier League fixtures to date, while Fabian Balbuena has missed just one of his side’s last 12 through a groin injury.

Issa Diop returned to the XI to replace Balbuena, yet he has seemingly lost Moyes’ full support with the 23-year-old returning to the bench at Chelsea, where he had watched the action for all bar 27 minutes since testing positive for coronavirus in September before facing Crystal Palace.

Moyes seemingly has a lack of belief in Craig Dawson too, who is yet to make his West Ham debut, but any concerns over a lack of depth can be removed entirely with a winter raid on Burnley for Tarkowski, who the former Man United boss would adore.

The 6ft brute is registering 2.1 successful tackles per Premier League appearance this term – only Vladimir Coufal (3.0) is winning more at the London Stadium – while penning 1.2 interceptions, 4.4 clearances and winning a mammoth 7.2 duels, with success in 70% of his aerial contests, per SofaScore.

Tarkowski is only dribbled past 0.4 times a game, too, while offering a threat in the opponent’s box with 1.8 shots and 0.4 key balls, allowing for West Ham to improve their already-stellar record for scoring from set-pieces with only Chelsea, Southampton and Everton netting more often.

AND in other news, West Ham are monitoring a £20k-p/w talent to resolve David Moyes’ “big” blow.

Whilst Ademola Lookman may the focal point of a lot of Fulham fans’ anger following his failed panenka penalty attempt in Saturday’s defeat against West Ham, Antonee Robinson should not escape criticism for his disappointing display.

The left-back, who was signed from Wigan Athletic during the recent summer transfer window, made just his fifth appearance in the Premier League at the London Stadium but struggled throughout the game.

As per SofaScore, the USA international picked up a disappointing 6.6 rating for his display, managing to lose possession an extraordinary 26 times, which was the most of any Fulham player on the night.

Although the 23-year-old won five out of nine of his ground duels, and both of his aerial duels in the match, it was his attacking play that seemingly let him down as he completed just 31 out of 45 of his passes.

Scott Parker was clearly angry with Lookman after his penalty miss cost the Cottagers a point on Saturday but looking at Robinson’s stats, he will surely be frustrated that his left-back was so profligate with the ball.

The young defender has been one of Parker’s better players in the Premier League thus far, having averaged a 6.94 rating across his five appearances, which rates him as their fourth-best player in the top-flight so far this season (per WhoScored).

Therefore, it would perhaps be unfair to criticise the summer signing too much for his performance against the Hammers, as his overall performances since joining have been fairly impressive.

However, he will surely need to work on his passing in particular and ensure that he doesn’t lose possession as much if he is going to keep his place in Parker’s side going forward.

It will be interesting to see if the USA international keeps his place for Fulham’s next game against Everton following the international break.

Lots of Manchester United fans have been slamming the news that Amad Diallo still needs a work permit in order to play for the club.

According to Manchester Evening News, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team are still very much in the process of securing a work permit for the 18 year-old ahead of his scheduled move to the Old Trafford faithful in the January transfer window.

Diallo has shown the Man United fans what he is all about in training footage while on loan at Atalanta, and it seems as if he could be an exciting addition to the side for the rest of the 2020/21 term.

However, if a work permit is not sorted for him in time, then the winger will likely not be able to play for his new club this season.

Manchester United fan reaction to Diallo news

These Red Devils slammed the news about Diallo after reading about it on Twitter, with one Man Utd supporter even claiming that it is a ‘joke’:

In other news, find out which global star MUFC are interested in signing here!

Tottenham Hotspur advanced into the Carabao Cup semi-finals as they managed to escape an upset on Wednesday evening.

Jose Mourinho’s men made the trip to Staffordshire to face Championship outfit Stoke City and returned to north London with the prospect of being just two more victories from clinching their first piece of silverware since 2008.

Spurs superstar and fan-favourite Gareth Bale headed home an opener before Ben Davies and Harry Kane goals were needed to put them back on course following the Potters’ early second-half equaliser.

With the encounter broadcast live on Sky Sports, the commentary team handed the ‘Man of the Match’ award to Harry Winks in what was a rare start for the England international.

And whilst he quite rightly deserves some plaudits, we believe that Matt Doherty shone the most with an underrated display at right-back. He just like Winks made the most of his return to the starting XI.

Per SofaScore, the 28-year-old was heavily involved, recording a whopping 109 touches, which was only bettered by central midfielder and engine room orchestrator Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

He also accurately made 73 of 87 passing attempts, recorded two interceptions and provided one clearance.

In addition to that, the Irishman, who is valued at €50m (£45m), was strong in his battles, winning a total of eight duels, which included a win rate of 77% on aerials, and Doherty even successfully pulled off 75% of his longballs, so he was much safer than his full-back counterpart, Davies, in that sense.

The £15m addition from Wolves has been usurped by Serge Aurier in the pecking order under Mourinho in the Premier League so far this season, but with a performance like that, he is surely back on Mourinho’s radar.

He has now given the Portuguese boss an interesting conundrum ahead of Doherty’s return to Molineux on Sunday night.

Aurier has started each of their last six top-flight outings but was hooked for his horror-show against Leicester at the weekend, which is further reason to why Doherty may have raised his game tonight.

If you’re Mourinho, you’re surely not going to ignore the 6 foot 1 monster after that display, regardless of how big a headache he’s been dealt.

AND in other news, Levy can land Spurs their next Eriksen in £45m swoop for massive “goal threat”…

Everton’s transfer window has hit a rapid incline after signing both Allan and James Rodriguez in quick succession.

Whilst Carlo Ancelotti showcases his pedigree in the transfer market, the Toffees’ business has dealt a blow to Chelsea.

According to The Telegraph, Everton were on course to sign Blues castaway Tiemoue Bakayoko before the long-awaited deal for Allan was announced.

The Brazilian midfielder became Everton’s first signing of the summer window after joining from Napoli for £21.7m (via BBC Sport).

Allan had been linked to the Merseyside outfit for months and some fans were losing hope in him making the switch from Italy. As a back-up option, Ancelotti was keen on fellow midfielder Bakayoko, who has been left on the shelf under Frank Lampard.

The Frenchman has a Transfermarkt value of £22.9m and could have yielded a decent fee to fund Frank Lampard’s lavish summer spending. Having not made an appearance for Chelsea since 2018, Bakayoko is a player that the west Londoners would have benefitted from offloading in this window.

Whilst money hasn’t been a problem for the Blues, Roman Abramovich still wants to see Lampard balance the books amid an impressive haul of new recruits.

The likes of N’Golo Kante and Michy Batshuayi could be leaving the club ahead of the new season, despite both still arguably being beneficial to the team. However, for a surplus player like Bakayoko, Chelsea will be frustrated that the opportunity to cash in has wriggled away from them.

They must now shift into a higher gear in order to offload some of their castaway players to make back some of their outgoing transfer fees.

Do you think Chelsea should push to sell Tiemoue Bakayoko? Join the conversation in the comments below…