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Glasgow Rangers are no doubt plotting potential new recruits ahead of the January transfer window, with manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst seemingly in need of fresh faces in his bid to reverse the Ibrox outfit’s current slump.

One man who has been linked with a move to Glasgow in recent times is Bristol City striker, Antoine Semenyo, with the 22-year-old reportedly set to be the subject of a £5m offer from the Scottish giants amid his current contract uncertainty at Ashton Gate.

The Ghanian – who is in line to feature for his country at the World Cup – has just a matter of months remaining on his existing deal with the Championship outfit, with the Robins believed to be open to a sale in order to recoup a transfer fee for the explosive forward.

The four-cap sensation – who was also rumoured to also be interesting Celtic earlier this year – scored his first international goal during the warm-up clash with Switzerland at the weekend, with that strike proving a continuation of his prolific form at club level in recent times.

That hot streak has seen the exciting talent score four goals in all competitions so far this term, having previously caught the attention as a result of his displays last season, scoring eight times and providing 12 assists in England’s second tier.

A “nightmare to play against” as a result of his speed and strength – according to current boss Nigel Pearson – the Chelsea-born machine could well add another dimension to the Gers’ attack, with the club currently lacking that dynamic, mobile threat in the forward line.

Semenyo’s addition could well help to aid summer signing Antonio Colak, with the Croatia international – who missed out on his nation’s squad for Qatar – having been criticised for his all-round performances of late, with journalist Mark McDougall noting that the 29-year-old “offers very little in the build-up” having been somewhat statuesque in attack.

The deployment of the former Malmo loanee alongside the more lively Bristol gem could well allow the clinical marksman to stick to doing what he does best – scoring goals – having scored 14 goals in just 24 games in all competitions so far this term.

As such, Colak could remain the figurehead of the attack whose main remit is to put the ball in the back of the net, with Van Bronckhorst able to cover up the German-born striker’s other deficiencies by unleashing Semenyo to partner him.

That duo could prove to be a truly mouthwatering and nightmare attacking partnership in the New Year and beyond, with the Light Blues needing to do all they can to get a deal over the line sooner rather than later.

One issue that has plagued Leeds United over the past year or so has been the inability to deploy an out-and-out centre forward, with the Elland Road outfit having suffered as a result of the persistent injury woes of striker, Patrick Bamford.

The Englishman – who was signed from Middlesbrough on a £10m deal back in 2018 – had been an integral asset in helping the Yorkshire earn a return to the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa, scoring 16 league goals during the 2019/20 campaign to end the club’s lengthy stint out of the top-flight.

That sparkling form continued despite the step up to the top tier as the former Chelsea marksman netted 17 league goals in that impressive 2020/21 season, with such form having even led to involvement in the England set-up under Gareth Southgate.

Since then, however, the £35k-per-week man has been something of a bystander to proceedings due to injury, with the 6 foot 1 ace having featured just 19 times since the start of last season, scoring only two goals in that time.

The one-time Nottingham Forest forward has failed to score in ten league outings so far this term – only four of which came from the start – with manager Jesse Marsch having typically deployed Rodrigo or Crysencio Summerville in the striking berth.

While that latter duo have been in prolific form of late – scoring 13 goals between them this season – neither man is a true option as a number nine, with a new addition potentially needed amid Bamford’s continued woes.

The recent suggestion is that one man who could well replace the 29-year-old is Senegal striker, Boulaye Dia, with sporting director Victor Orta believed to be “keeping tabs” on the in-form ace, alongside the likes of Everton, West Ham United and Leicester City.

The Salernitana menace is currently on loan in Italy from Villarreal, with the Serie A side said to have the to option-to-buy the 26-year-old for a fee of around £10m, although CIES Football Observatory values him at closer to £17m.

The France-born machine has been in fine form so far this term with six goals in just 14 league appearances, having previously netted seven times across all competitions at his parent club last term after moving to Spain in the summer of 2021.

The former Reims ace – who previously scored 28 goals in 88 games during his time in France – has carried that sparkling form onto the World Cup stage, having notably netted for his country during the win over hosts Qatar earlier this week.

That strike is now the marksman’s third goal in 21 outings for his national side to date, with the 5 foot 11 star potentially able to go on to add to that tally in his side’s third group game against Ecuador on Tuesday evening.

With the addition of a centre-forward potentially set to be vital for Marsch’s men moving forward, Orta must seemingly do all he can to win the race for Dia’s signature.

Reported West Ham United transfer target Youssef En-Nesyri could be made available for sale during the upcoming January window. 

The Lowdown: West Ham linked with En-Nesyri

The Premier League club have been linked with a move for the Sevilla striker in the past, most recently during the previous summer transfer window.

Since then, the 25-year-old has gone on to make 15 appearances for his club across all competitions this season, while he also grabbed a goal for Morocco in the World Cup as he helped his country to top their group ahead of Croatia, Belgium and Canada.

Now that another transfer window is set to open for business in the coming weeks, it seems as though En-Nesyri could be at the centre of attention once again.

The Latest: En-Nesyri potentially up for sale

According to a recent report from Marca, Sevilla could look to cash in on the striker in January to improve their financial situation.

The report also mentions West Ham’s previous interest in signing the Moroccan in both January 2021 and last summer.

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The Verdict: A question for West Ham

With just two La Liga starts to his name across 10 appearances this term, it seems that the striker – who was once described as “prolific” by journalist Muhammad Butt – is not Sevilla’s first-choice at the moment, despite boasting 73 goals across club and international level.

However, the Moroccan has still shown how much of a threat he can offer by posting the second-highest rate of shots at goal per 90 minutes (3.98) at his club, along with the highest rate of shots on target per 90 minutes (1.49).

Considering how only four teams have a lower rate of shots on target per 90 than West Ham (3.53) in the Premier League this season, it could be said that a player with En-Nesyri’s attacking quality is something which could greatly benefit David Moyes’ side.

With all of that in mind, it could well be worth the Hammers testing the water to see how much it could take for Sevilla to sell the Morocco striker in January.

Aston Villa are thought to be keen on signing Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Djibril Sow.

The Lowdown: Sow profiled

Sow is 25 years of age and is primarily a central midfielder who can also play in defensive or attacking midfield roles. He has been with Frankfurt since 2019, making 137 appearances for the Bundesliga side and currently at the peak of his powers, holding a career-high €22m Transfermarkt valuation.

The midfielder has been with Switzerland at the World Cup in Qatar and played in all four games for his country, including the 6-1 defeat to Portugal in the last 16, coming up against another reported Villa target, Joao Felix.

The Latest: Villa links

Sports Witness relayed an update from Sport 1 regarding Sow, claiming that Vila want to sign the midfielder in January.

They claimed that Villa could face competition from West Ham and may need an ‘insane offer’ above €30m to convince Frankfurt to sell.

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The Verdict: Needed?

Sow played as an attacking midfielder at the World Cup, registering an assist in a 3-2 win over Serbia. His versatility could come in handy at Villa Park under Unai Emery, who has gone with 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 systems in his opening Premier League games in charge.

Sow could turn out as a defensive, central or attacking midfielder in those formations, so could be a shrewd signing, but Villa may need to pay big for his signature.

Everton have found themselves struggling for consistent form in the Premier League for the second season in a row and Frank Lampard will surely be using the World Cup break to find solutions in preparation for when his team return to action after Christmas.

The Toffees are currently 17th in the top flight after a poor run of form, recently winning just one of their last five outings and are now just one point shy of the relegation zone ahead of their clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers later this month.

As a result, Lampard will need to quickly establish the best course of action to start picking up crucial points in order to climb the table and out of a dangerous position that could lead them into another relegation battle.

Indeed, the Everton manager will have the opportunity to add more depth and talent to his team when the January transfer window reopens but could boost his funds by continuing to develop and refresh the squad he has.

As well as signing eight new players, the powers at Goodison Park were clearly keen to get some of the deadwood off the books including Allan, Dele Alli, Cenk Tosun, Andre Gomes and Jean-Philippe Gbamin and now the club could continue their clear-out in January.

Two players that have been linked with moves away from the club are Abdoulaye Doucoure and Yerry Mina, with the pair becoming more fringe players than first names on the team sheet this season.

Mina has been struggling with constant injury problems over the last 18 months and has rarely been available for the team which led to the signing of both James Tarkowski and Conor Coady in the summer with the new centre-back’s developing a flourishing partnership.

The lack of reliability from the Columbian defender contributed to the problems Everton faced over last season and now could be the perfect opportunity for the club to part ways with him and reinvest in other areas of the pitch.

As for Doucoure, the midfielder has also suffered with multiple injury concerns and with the signings of Amadou Onana, James Garner and Idrissa Gana Gueye, it is clear that he is not in Lampard’s future plans, so it could be a great opportunity for the club to move on and again, reinvest.

Coincidentally both players are also the highest paid players at the club and collect a combined £240k-per-week at Goodison Park, so there is no doubt that freeing up the wage bill along with collecting a transfer fee for the pair could be extremely lucrative for Everton in their pursuit of strengthening the starting XI.

With that being said, selling Doucoure and Mina could be the perfect opportunity for Everton to continue their squad rebuild. They’d be ditching some overpaid squad members and consequently adding some much-needed talent to the team, something that would surely secure a better future for the Toffees over the second half of the season and beyond.

A return to Rangers would be too good to turn down for Billy Gilmour, according to BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Alan Hutton. 

The Lowdown: Lacklustre 

Given the expectations surrounding a player with Gilmour’s potential, the 21-year-old’s spell in England has been lacklustre to say the least. 

Having made the jump from the Rangers reserves to Chelsea, he successfully navigated his way to the first team but could not progress any further. 

A failed loan spell at Norwich City did the starlet no favours, whilst a shock summer switch to Brighton has not worked out as of yet either.

The Latest: Gilmour’s return

Rather than being shipped out on loan to yet another Premier League side, Hutton believes Gilmour would benefit by spending time in a different league, specifically back at Rangers. 

Asked whether the 21-year-old could be persuaded to make a return to Scotland, Hutton told Football Insider: “I do not think you turn anything down.

“I think he will have to think about where his career is going at this moment in time. It has been difficult for him. He is an excellent player, he is still very young.

“It did not work at Chelsea, going to Brighton he has not had much game time so he needs to do what is best for him moving forward and that is playing football.

“There is no point in him leaving on loan to go to another Prem team. The opportunity to come back home, play in a top team in front of 50,000 every other week could be a good opportunity for him to shine and show everybody how good he is.“

The Verdict: Gilmour’s got to go

Scotland international Gilmour has made just four appearances in the Premier League since his surprise permanent switch to Brighton, and whilst you can blame a manager switch to some extent, former boss Graham Potter did not start him either. 

At this stage in his career, minutes are vital, so to have played 13 minutes in the league is a worrying sign.

This is now a second team to not feel he is ready to impact them as a starting player, which suggests that the starlet should look for an opportunity elsewhere. 

A move back to the familiarity of Scotland could do £2m-per-year Gilmour wonders, particularly at his boyhood club, though a pay cut would surely be required.

Everton return to action today as they host the Premier League’s bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers at Goodison Park.

With both teams enduring a tough season so far, it was the Midlands outfit who acted upon their lowly league position by relieving Bruno Lage of his duties and replacing him with Julen Lopetegui, with this match marking the latter’s first top-flight fixture at the helm of the Old Gold.

Both teams will be desperate for a win, with the Toffees having entered the World Cup break off the back of two harrowing losses to Bournemouth.

Having first been dumped out of the Carabao Cup, they lost by the same margin again in the league four days later as they were thrashed 4-1 and 3-0 respectively. As such, Frank Lampard’s men sit just one point above the relegation zone.

What makes this precarious fixture even tougher for Everton is that they will be without Conor Coady, as the loanee from Wolves will be ineligible to face his parent club.

Although the 29-year-old has already established himself as one of the Toffees’ best and most influential players – with DaveOCKOP dubbing him a “good leader” – it may come as a surprise that the £55k-per-week colossus is not already a permanent addition. That leaves Lampard with a defensive dilemma as he ponders who to play beside James Tarkowski this afternoon.

With Michael Keane and Mason Holgate having shown their frailties against the Cherries last month, as seen in their lowly Sofascore ratings, they are likely to have fallen even further down the pecking order. Yerry Mina is an option, but his unreliable fitness will surely worry Lampard.

Luckily for the 44-year-old, he could throw the returning Ben Godfrey straight back into competitive action today.

Having suffered a horror leg break in the first game of the season, he made his comeback at the start of November for the under-21s.

Having since had an extra month-and-a-half of rehabilitation, the 24-year-old should now be fit to recapture his form from his debut season at Everton.

Featuring 31 times in the 2020/21 campaign, he recorded a 7.03 rating from Sofascore whilst establishing himself as a physical marvel. As such, journalist James Whaling saw fit to label him a “monster”.

Enjoying a tough tackle and often using his blistering speed to cut out attacks ahead of time, he made 1.1 interceptions, 1.8 tackles and 3.5 clearances per game that season, all whilst having to deputise at left-back (via Sofascore).

Whilst the absence of Coady will likely be felt heavily given his aforementioned leadership traits, Godfrey can ease that burden whilst adding further pace and youthfulness to their back line.

Therefore, Lampard must unleash him from the off today for his first Premier League appearance since the opening day defeat to Chelsea.

West Ham United suffered yet another Premier League defeat last night, this time to Brentford, and it means David Moyes’ side have won just four league matches all season and are sitting just one spot from the relegation places.

It marks a remarkable turnaround from their form last season, with some inspired performances ensuring they finished in seventh place, however on this evidence, they will be lucky to reach the top half of the table.

Angelo Ogbonna was poor against Brentford, winning just 33% of his duels during the match and losing possession five times, however, it was one of Moyes’ better performers recently that let him down badly last night…

Benrahma was poor against Brentford

Said Benrahma’s form before the World Cup hiatus was solid for the club, and he even opened the scoring against Arsenal with a penalty on Boxing Day, but he just couldn’t get into the match against Brentford.

However, against Brentford, his Sofascore rating of 6.5/10 was the joint lowest in the starting XI alongside Ogbonna and the winger lost possession a staggering 22 times during the match.

Usually effective on the left flank, he was deployed in a slightly more central role behind Gianluca Scamacca, however, he failed with all six of his dribble attempts, won just three ground duels, and took 78 touches.

He failed to even register a shot of any kind and compared to Jarrod Bowen – who was the other attacking midfielder in the starting XI – who had four shots in total, it was a performance that seemed to lack any sort of cutting edge.

Benrahma did play three key passes throughout the match, yet they were to no avail as West Ham couldn’t find the back of the net – with the Algeria international letting Moyes down badly at the London Stadium.

Moyes will be hoping 2023 promises much more domestically, and with a run of fixtures that includes matches against Leeds United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton coming up, the Scot will be hoping to secure a couple of victories.

Football Insider pundit Gabby Agbonlahor has been reacting to rumours linking Leeds United with a move for Southampton striker Che Adams.

The Lowdown: Adams speculation

The Whites appear to be on the hunt for a new forward due to Patrick Bamford’s ongoing injury issues. One player with whom the club have been linked is Adams, with Phil Hay recently teasing a January move.

Reports elsewhere have claimed that the 26-year-old, who currently holds a career-high €22m (£19.4m) Transfermarkt valuation, is among the options being considered at Elland Road.

The Latest: Agbonlahor’s comments

Agbonlahor, who also contributes to talkSPORT, was talking to Football Insider regarding a potential swoop for Adams. He wasn’t sure if the Scotland international would improve Leeds and urged the club to target a forward ‘with more quality’.

The former Aston Villa striker said: “I find it really hard to judge Che Adams. Some weeks you watch him and he looks really sharp. But in other games, he can look really poor and miss some very good chances.

“Is he going to improve Leeds? I’m not sure, to be honest. I think they need to be looking at someone with more quality.

“This Bamford problem is a real worry because you can’t rely on Rodrigo to provide the goals all season long because he’s never been that player.”

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The Verdict: Has a point…

Adams began the season in fine form, scoring four times in all competitions in August alone. However, he appears to have dropped off in recent months, with the striker missing a ‘sitter’ in Southampton’s  defeat to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, which backs up Agbonlahor’s claim of inconsistency.

Therefore, you could say that a move for the Scotland marksman would be a gamble by Leeds officials, as there is no guarantee that he will arrive and score the goals which would guide the club to safety.

Victor Orta really needs to get this addition spot-on, though, so it will be interesting to see who the Whites pursue this month.

Chelsea are going into the January transfer window loving the Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez but will not pay over the odds for the Argentine.

What’s the word?

Reliable journalist David Ornstein has claimed the Blues have entered the January market with a midfield reinforcement firmly on their radar and Fernandez is certainly one of their options. However, he has also said the Londoners will be disciplined in their pursuit of the gem who shone at the World Cup.

“I can tell you that Chelsea love Enzo Fernandez. They love Jude Bellingham as well,” Ornstein told NBC Sports.

“There’s no doubt that they are focusing on Enzo Fernandez but not at all costs, reports that they have agreed or are on the verge of agreeing a deal, as my understanding are not quite accurate. That’s not to say that they won’t. It’s to say that they won’t be held to ransom. They’re going to be disciplined in this situation.”

The future of the 21-year-old appears to be up in the air following his success in Qatar with Benfica reportedly expected to hold out for the player’s €120m (£106m) release clause if he is to leave this month.

Fabrizio Romano has suggested the 21-year-old would green-light a move to Stamford Bridge despite only making the move to Portugal last summer from River Plate in a deal believed to be worth in the region of €12m (£10.6m).

Blues won’t be bullied

Although Ornstein has suggested the Blues are in love with this player, he did also make it clear that Todd Boehly will not be bullied into paying over the odds for the midfielder on the back of his displays for Argentina.

During his displays for Argentina which saw him awarded the Young Player of the Tournament award, the 21-year-old completed the most tackles and most passes into the final third of the pitch among all players in the Qatar competition (via Squawka).

However, it is not just in the World Cup where he has shone with previous praise coming from journalist Guilherme Lopes in 2022 where he claimed the player “has everything to be world-class”.

High praise for a player who is clearly providing a huge influence despite being just 21. But it is still a huge price to potentially pay for a player who hasn’t played a full campaign in Europe yet.

It is also believed Chelsea hold a strong interest in the West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice ahead of this summer’s transfer window – a player with vast Premier League experience at a young age.

Albeit with Rice playing for a struggling West Ham side, this season has seen Fernandez attempt on average 45 more passes per 90 minutes than the Englishman (via Fbref).

And the Argentine has a much, much higher pass completion rate than the West Ham midfielder but Rice does edge Fernandez when it comes to tackles completed per 90 – although only marginally (via Fbref).

With Rice and England international and established Premier League player, his price tag will likely be in a similar range to Fernandez so it will be interesting to see what avenue Boehly goes down in the coming months.