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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Darren Bent has been left baffled by the lack of playing time young striker Eddie Nketiah has faced at Elland Road this season after the Arsenal man netted for the England U21s on Friday.

What’s the word?

Leeds United clinched the signing of Nketiah on deadline day, beating off interest from a host of rival Championship clubs including Bristol City, but so far this campaign the forward has been faced with limited game time.

The 20-year-old has played a total of just 133 minutes in the league, which averages out at around 22 minutes per game from six appearances, via Transfermarkt.

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On Friday evening, the Whites’ loanee bagged a goal for Aidy Boothroyd’s Young Lions as they drew with Slovenia, meaning he has now scored five goals in seven games for the U21 squad.

In reaction to his latest exploits, Bent has questioned Nketiah’s future at the west Yorkshire club.

Speaking to Football Insider, the 35-year-old former Premier League striker said:

“He is playing well and Leeds are in a bit of a funny one at the minute. Patrick Bamford puts in such a shift for the team and that’s why he’s probably still in there.

“Eddie Nketiah, to be fair to him, is still sticking the ball in when he’s getting the opportunities. It’s a bit of a weird one because it’s where does Eddie Nketiah go from here?

“If he continues like he is at the minute, through no fault of his own – it’s just that the team are preferring Bamford – what happens to him next season? He’s not going to go back to Arsenal and play, not with the firepower they’ve got there already, so they’re going to be looking for another loan.”

Puzzling decision

Marcelo Bielsa has continually opted for Bamford to lead the line for United this season despite the striker going six games without a goal since bagging four in their opening five matches, per Transfermarkt.

The 64-year-old was so committed to signing Nketiah on deadline day that he gave Arsenal a presentation on how to use him, per The Athletic – surely the Gunners weren’t happy to oblige if that involved him featuring for just an average of 22 minutes per game?

Leeds have since let slip of their lead at the top of the Championship table as they now occupy fifth spot, two points behind league leaders West Brom, who they only beat a couple of weeks ago to end Slaven Bilic’s unbeaten start to the season.

It just seems ever so odd to bring in a player you desperately wanted, only to rarely play him.

At the end of the day, Nketiah’s career could be on the line, given the attacking firepower ahead of him back in north London in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, who have scored nine between them this season.

West Brom are entering the international break on a massive high.

They sit atop the Championship table after 11 matches following their 4-2 victory over Cardiff City at the Hawthorns over the weekend.

Charlie Austin and Romaine Sawyers grabbed their first goals for the club, both momentous occasions for differing reasons, while the likes of Matheus Pereira and Grady Diangana scored and continued to be electric in attack.

The Baggies responded perfectly from losing their unbeaten run at Leeds United a week ago, and the positives don’t just stop there as one of their promising youth prospects has extended his stay in the west Midlands.

Albion have revealed that their U23 forward Jamie Soule has penned a new three-year contract to remain at the Hawthorns.

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The 18-year-old is currently the top goalscorer amongst the Baggies’ youth ranks with four goals from six Premier League 2 matches, per Transfermarkt.

Several of the club’s supporters have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the news.

One fan was absolutely thrilled, calling Soule an ‘excellent prospect’ and that it was good to see that other clubs hadn’t turned his head.

Another member of the Albion faithful would like to see the young striker feature in the senior setup, particularly ahead of Hal Robson-Kanu, as he would play with ‘no fear.’

Others described Soule as ‘one to watch’ and as a ‘great young prospect.’

Here’s the best of the reaction:

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium hosted an NFL match between Oakland Raiders and Chicago Bears on Sunday and fans have been praising Daniel Levy for its success.

And the main reason for their plaudits is Levy’s decision not to sell off the naming rights for the stadium.

It seemed an interesting choice before as it meant he ignored a lucrative revenue stream, but now the name of Tottenham Hotspur has been broadcast across the USA, there is a new audience and more people are aware of the club.

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That should help to build Spurs’ reputation abroad and with it more commercial opportunities should arise to increase other sources of revenue for the club, and therefore Levy’s decision to think long-term could pay off.

Some supporters have praised the genius of Levy for the income garnered from the match, acknowledging that the length of matches allows for increased sales in food and drink.

On the pitch things may not be working well for Spurs but if they can continue to work efficiently off the field, there should be long-term foundations for success.

Here is some of the fan reaction praising Levy for his business strategy.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, John Hartson has spoken out about his departure from Arsenal in 1997.

The 52-time Wales international had been with Arsenal for two years, but at the time he had both Ian Wright and Dennis Bergkamp ahead of him in the pecking order. Both have since gone down as Gunners greats and are amongst the best forwards to have ever played in the Premier League.

Watch the Flying Pig tear into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jesse Lingard following Man Utd’s limp draw with Arsenal in the video below…

And Hartson has explained this as the reason why he left Highbury to move to West Ham.

He saidL “Very similar to myself at Arsenal (Phil Foden’s situation at Man City).

“I moved on. I had Bergkamp and Wright playing ahead of me. Several times Wenger played me and Wrighty with Bergkamp in behind in the hole, so the three of us did play quite a bit together.

“But in the long run it was always going to be Wrighty and Bergkamp.

“I got a little bit disillusioned and perhaps should have hung around to pick up a double winners medal in 98, but I never did that.

“Harry Redknapp told me he was going to build his team around me and he did. I played every single week, I had the number ten shirt on my back and I was starring for West Ham.”

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He may have missed out on that league title in England, but he would still go on to have a fantastic career in football. He scored 33 goals in 73 games for the Hammers before moving on to Celtic and It was north of the border where he truly excelled.

He would go on to bag over 100 times for Celtic, and also won six major trophies along the way. He was also the joint-winner of the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award in 2005.

The 44-year-old reaped the benefits of leaving a huge club when not getting the amount of playing time he wanted or felt he deserved.

There are several players, like Foden, who also find themselves away from the action more than they would like. Of course, the Manchester City midfielder is just 19 years old, but he already possesses the talent to feature on a regular basis.

It remains to be seen whether he decides to bide his time at the Etihad Stadium or chooses to seek pastures new.

Arsenal fans don’t want midfielder Granit Xhaka to start against Manchester United on Monday evening.

Football.London’s James Benge put out his predicted XI for the game against the north-west club, and fans gave their thoughts as he included the Swiss central midfielder.

The negative fan reaction comes amid reports from the BBC’s David Ornstein that the 75-cap Switzerland international has been chosen to be the permanent Arsenal captain, with Arsenal’s official Twitter now confirming it.

Xhaka has captained the side in six of their eight games so far this season, including the north London derby against bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur (via Transfermarkt).

However, Xhaka was booed and cheered off as he was subbed in his last outing in the 3-2 win over Aston Villa last weekend (via The Metro).

It seems fans are vehemently against the idea of him starting away at Old Trafford as they took to Twitter to give their opinions.

Here is a selection of tweets from Arsenal fans:

Harry Kane came off the bench to score a 20-minute hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur thrashed Slovenian champions NS Mura in the UEFA Europa Conference League.

The north Londoners were already ahead before the England international’s arrival but he certainly put the game to bed late in the second half.

It gives Nuno Santo and his side some much-needed confidence after last weekend’s derby defeat to Arsenal made it three straight heavy losses in a row in the Premier League.

The Portuguese made as many as nine changes and it paid off just four minutes into the match. Dele Alli, skipper for the night, earned and scored a penalty after he marauded into the box and was fouled by the visiting goalkeeper.

Just six minutes later, arguable ‘Man of the Match’ Giovani Lo Celso fired a second into the roof of the net before Kane’s arrival on the hour mark swung the pendulum firmly in Spurs’ favour.

It was the first time this season that the 28-year-old looked genuinely devastating and lethal in attack, so Nuno and co will be hoping that his form continues into this weekend when they face Aston Villa.

His chances of doing so could be aided if Lo Celso is granted another start as he looked the part throughout the 90 minutes that he was on the pitch. Not only did he score himself but he also provided an audacious nutmeg assist for Kane’s first goal.

“[Lo Celso] struggled to make an impact until he switched to the number 10 role and he became far more instrumental, including a nutmeg assist for Kane’s third goal and he was involved in plenty of Tottenham’s best work in the second half,” claimed football.london’s Alasdair Gold.

Indeed, the 31-time Argentina international, who is valued at £18m by CIES Football Observatory, was instrumental in Spurs clinching their first three points of the Europa Conference League.

As per SofaScore, he registered a total of two key passes from his 60 accurate passes, as well as two shots and one successful dribble. But his hard work wasn’t only in the final third as he also notched two tackles, won three free-kicks and came out on top in six of his eight duels (75%).

Nuno has long been looking for that missing piece who can link the midfield to the attack and the numbers above suggest that Lo Celso did the job to great effect. He was not only a creative presence in attacking midfield but he was also industrious in his work rate.

Forget Kane and his hat-trick, it’s the 25-year-old who ran the show for the Lilywhites on Thursday night.

AND in other news, Forget Graham Potter: Spurs not hiring “exciting” 51 y/o over Nuno was Levy’s biggest mistake…

Michael Owen was left in awe of Darwin Nunez's dinked goal which opened the scoring for Liverpool against Brentford.

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• Owen in awe of Nunez's dinked goal against Brentford
• But advises him to "adapt his way of thinking"
• Liverpool retained top position after win over Brentford

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The former Reds legend described Darwin Nunez's opening strike against Brentford as "insane" as he was left in disbelief by the Uruguayan forward's ability to convert such an outrageous goal. Owen, though, also shared a word of advice for the former Benfica player as he urged him to adapt his way of thinking going forward.

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• WHAT MICHAEL OWEN SAID

  Reacting to Nunez's goal, the former England international took to X where he wrote, "That finish from Darwin Nunez yesterday was insane. I can’t stop watching it. And I can’t begin to explain how difficult a skill that is. Moving at pace, the ball running away from you, being inside the box with no room for error. Incredible. But, it is also further proof that if he is to get closer to becoming the great player many people think he can be, he has to adapt his way of thinking.

  "I mean, to even consider that finish is madness. It’s a 1 in 10, 2 in 10 finish at best. Learning to slot, dink or go round the GK is a far more productive way to score and will increase his chances to 4 or 5 in 10, thus massively increasing his end return. I’m really not trying to rain on his parade as that goal was pure class. But I’d rather see it when Liverpool are 3-0 up, not at 0-0."

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  After handing his team in the first half, the 24-year-old striker was taken offat half-time which Jurgen Klopp described to be a precautionary measure as the player felt some discomfort during the half-time break. Liverpool were also jolted by the injuries to Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota who were also forced off to add to the club's injury woes.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL?

  Klopp's side maintained their two-point lead at the top of the table after Saturday's victory. They will next take on Luton Town in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Rio Ferdinand does not think in-form Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is in the "world-class" bracket, having yet to make his mark in the Champions League.

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• Ferdinand says Saka is not world-class yet
• Has scored four times in the last three matches
• Arsenal's top scorer this season

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The England international has displayed scintillating form of late, having scored five times in Arsenal's last five Premier League outings, including a brace against West Ham last weekend. Despite his rich vein of form, Manchester United legend Ferdinand thinks that the winger is yet to attain world-class status as he has not proved his worth in the Champions League yet.

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• WHAT RIO FERDINAND SAID

  Speaking on the podcast, the former England defender said: "Not yet. Listen. I think Saka's been unreal. I actually think he needs a bit of a rest, so many games for a young kid. But I think, it's almost like what is world-class? He hasn't done it in the Champions League, has he? I'm talking in the nitty-gritty stages. Saka's top, don't get me wrong. He's not world-class yet."

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  With his opening strike against the Hammers on Sunday, the attacker achieved the milestone of scoring his 50th club goal in 210 appearances at the age of just 22. Saka later doubled his tally in the second half to bring up his 51st goal for the Gunners. The English star is also the north London side's highest goalscorer this season with 13 goals to his name.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL?

  Mikel Arteta's side, who are currently tied on points with Manchester City and two behind league leaders Liverpool, will next take on Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday. Saka will then have the chance to prove Ferdinand wrong when Arsenal travel to Porto for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic took the opportunity to boast about his Ferrari collection during the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix.

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• Ibrahimovic attends Las Vegas Grand Prix
• Former striker reveals Ferrari collection
• Swede could return to AC Milan

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The great and good of the sports and showbiz worlds watched Max Verstappen win the first-ever Las Vegas Grand Prix. Never one to shy away from the spotlight, Ibrahimovic was front and centre. The former striker was in the pits ahead of the race when he spoke to Sky Sports about Ferrari.

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• WHAT IBRAHIMOVIC SAID

  When asked what he made of the set-up in Las Vegas, Ibrahimovic said: "It looks good, it's very exciting. I'm looking forward to the race. Ferrari is my team." When reporter Martin Brundle suggested the star has a few Ferraris in his collection, he replied: "Yes, several of them."

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  Ibrahimovic was joined in Las Vegas by a host of famous names including Brad Pitt, Rod Stewart and Inter Miami owner David Beckham. Unfortunately for the former AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and LA Galaxy star, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had to settle for a second-place finish behind Red Bull's Verstappen.

Manchester City were reportedly offered the chance to sign Saul Niguez from Atletico Madrid in the transfer window and he could’ve been a great addition to Pep Guardiola’s side.

According to the Daily Star, Atletico Madrid were keen to sign Bernardo Silva from the Citizens and offered Saul, as well as cash, to City in the hopes of signing him, but the deal was rejected by Guardiola.

The Spain international would instead complete a loan move to Chelsea, with the west London side holding an option to buy the midfielder for £30m should he impress during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Given that Bernardo Silva has struggled at times in the past two seasons and reportedly wanted to leave the Etihad this summer, it is perhaps a surprise that Guardiola rejected this deal, as Saul certainly would’ve been an impressive replacement for the former Monaco man.

[freshpress-quiz id=“577936”]

Despite being just 26, Saul has already made 340 appearances for Atletico Madrid’s first team, in which he has contributed 43 goals and 20 assists, predominantly from a central midfield position.

Although his performances dropped somewhat last season, the midfielder has been extremely consistent in La Liga in recent seasons, averaging above a 7/10 rating from WhoScored the between 2015/16 and 2019/20 seasons.

Despite his stylishness on the ball and obvious passing ability, WhoScored lists some of his main strengths as tackling, concentration and aerial duels, so he could’ve offered something similar to the likes of Rodri and Fernandinho in Guardiola’s side, which surely would’ve been appreciated by the Spanish manager.

Gary Neville was full of praise for Saul after he joined Chelsea, saying:

“Saul is just another excellent player. He’s got massive experience at the top of La Liga, massive experience in the Champions League and at international level.”

Therefore, it seems strange that City rejected this deal as it would’ve made a lot of sense, and they may well end up regretting it if Saul becomes a success with Thomas Tuchel’s side.

And, in other news… Sam Lee drops exciting update on Man City wonderkid