Leeds United look to have confirmed the signing of young goalkeeper Rory Mahady.

What’s the latest?

In a recent post on Twitter, LUFC Youth revealed that the Whites have now confirmed the signing of the Celtic goalkeeper on a two-year scholarship deal, having been heavily linked with a move for the 16-year-old over the course of the summer transfer window.

In their post, LUFC Youth said:

“LUFC have completed the signing of Scotland U17s goalkeeper Rory Mahady from Celtic. The 16-year-old has joined on a two-year scholarship and will link up with the U18s.”

In a further post on his personal Instagram account (via Leeds Live), the teenager also confirmed his departure from the Parkhead side, writing on Sunday:

“Today I have officially left Celtic. Just want to say a massive thank you to the players and staff for the last nine years. It was a pleasure, wishing everyone the best of luck for the future.”

The next Meslier

Considering the sheer amount of interest in the services of Mahady this summer – with Football Scotland reporting back in May that both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City were also keen to tie up a deal for the Celtic sensation – Victor Orta’s signing of the shot-stopper very much appears to be something of a huge coup for the Whites.

Indeed, while Mahady is yet to make a senior appearance in his career to date – something that is not exactly unusual for a 16-year-old goalkeeper – it would appear as if there is a great deal of hype surrounding the Scotland U17 international – with Scottish journalist Mark Hendry dubbing the ‘keeper a “starlet” back in November of last year.

And, considering how well Orta’s acquisition of another largely inexperienced and unknown goalkeeper in the shape of Illan Meslier has panned out for Jesse March’s side thus far, it would appear as if the Spaniard knows a young talent between the sticks when he sees one.

Indeed, following his £5m signing in the summer of 2020, the France U21 international was one of the Whites’ standout performers in his debut campaign in the top flight of English football, keeping 11 clean sheets and making an average of four saves per game – the second-most in the division – over his 35 Premier League appearances in 2020/21.

These returns saw the 22-year-old – who now has a market valuation of £43m – average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.13, ranking him as Leeds’ fourth-best performer in the top flight that season – form which has seen the Frenchman attract the interest of clubs such as Manchester United.

As such, while Mahady undoubtedly has a long way to go before he is competing with the former FC Lorient starlet for the Whites’ number one shirt, considering his growing reputation in the game and the fact that a number of elite-level clubs were extremely interested in his signature this summer, it would very much appear as if Orta could have unearthed his next Meslier in the Scottish sensation.

Reading are looking to sign midfielder Fabian Delph after securing the services of former striker Andy Carroll.

The Lowdown: Carroll deal

The Royals were extremely busy in the summer transfer window ahead of Paul Ince’s first full season in charge. Owner Dai Yongge didn’t spend a penny on incomings, though, with multiple free transfers and loan deals finalised.

The club recently brought in Carroll in an out-of-window deal, with the 33-year-old returning to the Select Car Leasing Stadium after leaving West Brom in the summer.

The Latest: Delph rumours

According to Football League World, Reading are one of five Championship clubs looking at signing Delph.

The report adds that Rangers are also keen on the midfielder, although a move to the second tier in England is looking more likely.

The Verdict: A gamble?

Once dubbed a ‘terrific buy’ by broadcaster Richard Keys, Delph was reportedly on £80,000 per week with Everton last season, so he could be an expensive free signing due to personal terms.

The 32-year-old made just two-time Premier League winner a while to get up to speed in the second tier.

However, it looks as if Reading are open to the idea of yet another free transfer, so this could be one to keep an eye on over the coming days.

Journalist Graeme Bailey has heaped praise on Southampton for capturing England youth ‘star’ Jayden Meghoma this week.

The Lowdown: Saints complete ‘exciting’ move…

The Saints completed Meghoma’s signing to the academy on Tuesday, announcing the deal on social media as owners Sport Republic take their capture of youngsters up another level.

Having already signed a plethora of teenage talent in the transfer window, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have moved to add another in the 16-year-old.

Head of Youth Recruitment, Dan Rice spoke after Southampton announced Meghoma’s move to the south coast – calling it an ‘exciting acquisition’ for both the academy and ‘future of the club’ (via southamptonfc.com).

The Latest: Journalist thrilled by Meghoma move…

Taking to social media, reporter Bailey has heaped praise on the Premier League side for signing Meghoma – who follows another promising youngster in Samuel Amo-Ameyaw from Spurs.

The 90min journalist called adding both starlets ‘big captures’.

He stated:

“England youth star Jayden Meghoma completes move to Southampton.

“Follows Samuel Amo-Ameyaw in moving to St Mary’s from Tottenham – two big captures for the Saints Academy.”

The Verdict: Planning for the future…

Sport Republic’s planning for the future is clearly underway with these additions who may well become first team stars in future years, especially going by Bailey’s reaction.

Meghoma, an England Under-17 international, is certainly one to watch whilst Amo-Ameyaw has been praised by Spurs pundits as a ‘really exciting player’.

The fact Southampton have managed to poach both of these promising gems from north London is an indicator of their real ambition behind-the-scenes to land the country’s best and brightest talents.

Former Leeds United goalkeeper Paul Robinson has rubbished any suggestions of one-time Elland Road idol Kalvin Phillips returning to the club.

The Lowdown: Agbonlahor’s claim

The midfielder moved to Manchester City over the summer but has struggled for game-time under Pep Guardiola. The 26-year-old has played just 13 competitive minutes at the Etihad Stadium this season and now looks set for a spell on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.

His slow start to life in Manchester led to Gabby Agbonlahor claiming last week that Phillips should be loaned back to Elland Road, and Robinson has been giving his thoughts on the former Aston Villa striker’s suggestion.

The Latest: Robinson’s comments

Talking to MOT Leeds News, the 42-year-old – who also contributes for Sky Sports – had this to say on Phillips and a potential return to Elland Road in light of Agbonlahor’s comments:

“For him personally, it’s a new challenge and a new step. He’s got off to a slow start but you don’t judge him at the first sign of trouble.

“He’s a fantastic player and he’s not even had an opportunity at Manchester City. He’s had a couple of niggling injuries and that’s stopped him from the opportunity to keep going.

“You don’t go to a club of that size and after three or four weeks decide it’s not working and go back again.

“He’s a player of huge ability and huge quality and it’s only a matter of time before he makes his mark on that Man City team.

“He’s against one of the best players in the world – Rodri – to get into that team and with the way they play, there’s only room for one of them. Kalvin will get in that team eventually.

“There’s an option for him to play in a three at the back, there’s an option for him to play in midfield. But he’s part of a huge squad so there’s no way in the world he should be considering going back to Leeds.

“He’s earned himself that fantastic move and it will come to fruition at some point.”

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The Verdict: Not happening

It is a shame to see that Phillips’ move to the Etihad hasn’t worked out so far, but it looks as if injury has played a big part in his absence instead of being snubbed by Guardiola.

Hopefully the 26-year-old will return in good time for the World Cup and duly break into the Man City team regularly during the second half of the season.

A move back to Elland Road could well materialise towards the end of his career, but for the immediate future, we’re with Robinson in believing that the midfielder should be focusing solely on impressing in Manchester.

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva is set for a new round of contract talks, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Uncertain future

The Portuguese’s deal at the Etihad Stadium isn’t due to expire until 2025, but his future has been up in the air ever since expressing his desire to leave the Premier League to move closer to his homeland.

Barcelona were heavily linked with the 28-year-old over the summer and are now believed to be preparing a second approach in January.

The Sky Blues have made revamping the midfield their new transfer priority, and it appears that they will soon find out whether the maestro wants to be a part of their project.

The Latest: Man City to offer extension

According to The Sun, Man City are ‘planning talks’ with Silva regarding his long-term plans as a result of wanting to know where they stand.

It’s reported that the club ‘do not want to lose’ their star, and are going to see whether he would be ‘tempted by a contract extension’ in a bid to secure his services.

The Verdict: Alongside Foden

City are said to have agreed a new six-year deal with Phil Foden, and it would be a huge boost if Silva followed in his footsteps to be the next to put pen to paper.

The Lisbon-born talent, hailed the ‘heartbeat’ of the team by sports journalist Josh Bunting, has clocked up 104 goal contributions during his stay (netting 50 times and assisting 54), highlighting the significant role he plays.

Silva has admitted that he is willing to give his all for as long as he’s with Pep Guardiola’s side, so despite interest, there’s every chance that he could be persuaded to extend his stay beyond the New Year.

Sunderland’s long wait for a return to the Championship ended this year as they won promotion out of League One at the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

The Black Cats spent four, long, years in the third tier of English football and finally made their way back to the second division as they beat Wycombe in the play-off final.

Kristjaan Speakman’s work in the transfer market played a part in their success as he brought in a number of talented and young players to bolster Lee Johnson’s squad in the summer of 2021.

One player the Black Cats landed a dream deal for was English defender Dennis Cirkin, who signed from Premier League side Tottenham on a three-year contract.

Johnson hailed the club’s work to snap him up at the time, telling the club’s website: “To get a player of Dennis’ quality at 19 speaks wonders in terms of what we’re trying to do because he is a top talent and he’s very highly regarded within the game. We have been really happy with the signings we have made so far and we will bank this one, but we will continue our work quietly and efficiently to try and get a couple more over the line.”

The gem quickly established himself as a regular in the Sunderland team and ended up playing 37 times in League One for Johnson and Alex Neil combined.

£1.08m.

This term, Cirkin has played eight games in the Championship and all of his 3.1 tackles and interceptions per game and won 56% of his individual duels, showing off his quality – defensively – at this level as Josh Bunting recently hailed him a “standout” in the team.

At the time of writing (20/09/22), Transfermarkt valued the former Spurs man at £1.8m. This means that his value has rocketed up by 67% in just three months, which illustrates how impressive he has been since arriving at the Stadium of Light in 2021.

Therefore, Sunderland landed a dream deal by signing Cirkin last summer as he has been integral to their success on the pitch and the youngster is growing in value, which makes him a great asset for the club to have now and in the future.

The fate of Wolves’ season after Bruno Lage’s sacking could hinge on Diego Costa’s performances, according to reliable journalist Steve Madeley.

The Lowdown: Lage sacked as Wolves manager

Following Saturday’s disappointing 2-0 defeat away to West Ham in the Premier League, the 46-year-old has been relieved of his duties as Old Gold manager.

In truth, it was a decision which seemed to have been coming for a number of weeks, with performances and results simply not good enough over an extended period, having won just one of his final 15 league games in charge.

A new manager hasn’t yet been confirmed but the players may be rejuvenated under another boss, with Costa one of those hoping to fire this season after joining the club last month.

The Latest: Much depends on Costa

Taking to Twitter, Madeley claimed that the Spaniard’s impact in attack, or potential lack thereof, could define Wolves’ season, regardless of who the new manager is.

The Athletic reporter stated:

“I think much still hinges on Costa coming off, new manager or not.”

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The Verdict: Is he still good enough?

Costa looked lively against West Ham as a substitute, taking one shot and completing 10 passes after coming off the bench, and it should be fascinating to see how he performs between now and the end of the campaign.

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With Raul Jimenez once again plagued by injury, the 33-year-old is likely to earn plenty of game-time in the Mexican’s absence, and the hope is that he still has enough in the tank to be a hugely effective figure.

Costa might not be hitting the same levels that he notably reached at Chelsea in 2016/17, but if he can lead the line in his own inimitable way, scoring goals and being a nuisance, Wolves’ new manager will benefit greatly.

Leeds United have undergone a changing of the guard in the 2022/23 campaign after the sales of Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips led to a number of signings in the summer.

Victor Orta backed Jesse Marsch in the transfer market by signing Brenden Aaronson, Luis Sinisterra, Tyler Adams, Wilfried Gnonto, Marc Roca, Darko Gyabi, Joel Robles, and Rasmus Kristensen.

Jesse Marsch has not needed to rely on some of the tried and trusted from previous years, as the likes of Luke Ayling, Adam Forshaw, Patrick Bamford and Liam Cooper have not been heavily involved.

The Whites skipper is yet to make his first Premier League appearance of the season as he continues to deal with an Achilles injury. However, he did play 45 minutes in the 3-1 win over Barnsley in the League Cup last month.

Cooper has been with Leeds since he joined the club from Chesterfield back in the summer of 2014 for a reported fee in the region of £600k.

Dave Hockaday was in charge of the Whites at the time and his decision to bring the centre-back in was a blinder as the central defender has gone to achieve great success in Yorkshire.

He instantly became a regular in the team in the Championship and he racked up 109 league appearances for the club in his first four seasons.

Marcelo Bielsa arrived in the summer of 2018 and Cooper was a key player for the Argentine manager as he averaged a WhoScored rating of 7.29 across 39 appearances in 2018/19 – the highest rating in the entire squad.

The enforcer caught the eye again in the 2019/20 title-winning campaign as he averaged a score of 7.11 – ranking fourth in the squad as he lifted the trophy as captain.

Goalkeeper Tommy Lee previously claimed that he had a “Ramos-style” to his game in the way that he stepped out from the back with the ball, which is a comparison he also earned from The Athletic’s Jack Collins, who dubbed him “Ramos-esque” due to his importance in defence for the Whites.

His ability to play out from the back allowed him to settle into life in the Premier League following the club’s promotion in 2020. He averaged a WhoScored rating of 7.06 in the top-flight in 2020/21 – the second-best score in the team – and completed 85.6% of his passes, making him a reliable player in possession of the ball.

To date, he has played 247 competitive matches and is valued by Transfermarkt at £6.3m. This means that his value has rocketed by 950% from the initial £600k Leeds paid to sign him from Chesterfield, which illustrates why the club played a blinder by signing him as they have got more than their money’s worth from him on the pitch.

Liverpool chiefs are now ‘confident’ they can sign Borussia Dortmund’s marquee midfielder Jude Bellingham after ‘extensive talks’ behind the scenes.

The Lowdown: Bellingham linked with Liverpool…

The 19-year-old is a very hot commodity in football right now as a ‘stampede’ of clubs reportedly take an interest in snapping him up next year.

However, it is reliably reported that Jurgen Klopp’s side are frontrunners for his signature, with Telegraph journalist Matt Law claiming (via This is Anfield) that both the Reds and Real Madrid are ‘leading the way’.

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly is also believed to be attempting some discussions with Bellingham’s entourage, although a new report has shed light on some of Liverpool’s own talks for the player.

The Latest: Liverpool ‘confident’ of signing Bellingham…

Indeed, Football Insider now claim that Anfield chiefs are ‘confident’ that they have laid the groundwork for a potential deal for the midfielder next year.

In addition, it is believed that ‘extensive talks’ have been held ‘behind the scenes’ with Bellingham’s camp as Liverpool attempt to get ahead of the competition.

The Verdict: Promising update…

The teenage superstar would be a stellar signing for Klopp on Merseyside and a real asset who could help to add much-needed depth to Liverpool’s midfield.

As per WhoScored, the England international ranks as Dortmund’s best-performing player this season by average match rating, while only defender Nico Schlotterbeck can match him for most minutes in the Bundesliga.

He also had the honour of captaining the team at the weekend despite still being a teenager, although his side fell to a 3-2 defeat against Koln.

He is quite evidently one of football’s most standout prodigies at the moment, and it seems only a matter of time before he seals a mega-money move to the Premier League.

Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane will be fit and ready to face Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League tomorrow night, according to Spurs pundit John Wenham.

The Lowdown: Kane’s injury

The England captain headed home in the 22nd minute at the Amex Stadium on Saturday, ensuring three points for the Lilywhites as they took down Brighton in the Premier League.

Worryingly though, going down in the final minutes of the game, the 29-year-old was substituted following a strong kick to the ankle as he made an attempt to block a shot shortly before the final whistle.

The Latest: Wenham’s claim

Wenham, who FI refer to as an ‘insider’, insists Kane will be fit and ready to face Frankfurt tomorrow night after hearing the player’s post-game comments.

Speaking with Football Insider, the N17 pundit claimed:

“He did an interview after the game, one of the journalists managed to grab him.

“He claims it was just a knock so there is nothing to worry about there, hopefully that is the case.

“I don’t see any reason to doubt that claim, H isn’t one to play games when it comes to his fitness. I think it was just a precaution.

“I am sure he will be in the team and looking to bag some Champions League goals against Frankfurt on Wednesday.

“He hasn’t got any in that competition yet this season and it’s a big game for us, we need Harry to be in there winning us that game.”

The talisman then performed pre-match press conference duties alongside his manager this week, so one would have to assume he is fit and firing.

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The Verdict: Huge news

Despite having failed to score in continental competition thus far this season, Kane has been prolific for Spurs in the Premier League, having impressively netted eight goals in nine games.

After three matches played, Tottenham sit second in their group with four points, with a 2-0 win over Marseille having sparked the push for round of 16 qualification.

However, the Lilywhites are on equal points with Frankfurt – only ahead in the table by a two-goal difference, so Antonio Conte will be relying on Kane to be 100 per cent on Wednesday as they fight for victory over their group rivals.