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Steve Parish missed the boat with Crystal Palace’s failed pursuit of CSKA Moscow striker Fedor Chalov after the Russians rejected a £14m bid for the centre-forward last year.

What was the story?

According to a report from Sky Sports at the time, Palace were among several Premier League clubs said to be interested in signing the Russia international in the summer of 2019, along with Monaco, Lazio and Valencia, having been impressed by the striker’s prolific top-flight form in the 2018/19 campaign.

Chalov burst onto the scene with 15 goals and 7 assists in 30 games in Premier Liga, whilst he also scored two goals in the Champions League that  same season.

Following their futile attempts to sign Chalov last summer, his agent Christian Emile said: “Fedor is one of the most striking players in Europe, and the increased interest in him is completely justified.

“Especially from the side of one Premier League club, which made a significant offer, but CSKA refused to sell the player.

“The position of CSKA is completely understandable – they have serious goals, and Fedor is the most important player for them.”

It’s believed that Palace boss Roy Hodgson wanted to sign two centre-forwards, having identified the Russian as one of his top transfer targets, as well as then-Brentford striker Ollie Watkins. However, as we all know, Hodgson didn’t end up with either of those options, signing Jordan Ayew in the end instead, before bringing in Michy Batshuayi from Chelsea on a season-long loan deal on transfer deadline day this season.

Missed the boat

Chalov has at times struggled for consistency so far this season, having scored two goals and supplied five assists in all competitions for his boyhood club, as a recurring knee injury has caused him several problems. However, he scored during the 2-0 win over Rostov before the international break, and has bagged two times and produced two assists in his past four games.

Per WhoScored, the 22-year-old has played 11 games in Premier Liga, scoring two goals and supplying four assists, whilst he is averaging 2.3 shots and 1.1 key passes per game.

By comparison, Batshuayi is barely managing one shot and just 0.2 key passes per game in the Premier League, via WhoScored, whilst he has failed to find the back of the net at Selhurst Park this season so far.

Pavel Koval, Chalov’s first coach at CSKA’s youth academy, once said his former charge “has everything a forward needs; speed, dribbling ability, a good scoring instinct – he has it all,” which is high praise indeed for someone who is still at the early stages of his career. 

In Chalov, Parish could have added a natural goal threat in the middle of the pitch to the Palace first-team squad, who can also play as an attacking midfielder, whilst he still has room for improvement at the age of 22.

The £11.7m-rated sensation could’ve become a first-team regular starter for years to come if he had brought him to Selhurst Park and he was able to hit the ground running, although his statistics seem to indicate that he would’ve done this, given his impressive return for CSKA Moscow (41 goals in 139 games), as he has shown he can score goals at the top levels of the game.

However, his contract is set to expire in 2022, and it’s unlikely he will be short of potential suitors if/when the chance once again arises to sign him.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace got rid of Aaron Wan-Bissaka at the perfect time…

Leeds struggled down in London on Saturday, with their loss meaning they have now registered back-to-back 4-1 defeats. Crystal Palace were the latest side to hit them for four goals, following an identical scenario at Elland Road last Monday.

With an international break coming up, Marcelo Bielsa will be using his time wisely to see where he can change his team to get back into winning form. The Whites look a shadow of the side who put Liverpool to the sword in their season opener and held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw.

Whilst in-form Patrick Bamford was able to find a consolation goal, it wasn’t enough on the day. Another man who put in a solid shift was the midfielder who supplied the assist for Leeds’ only goal of the game.

Mateusz Klich impressed against Palace

In a match of very few positives, Bielsa will be pleased with the performance put in by Klich. The Poland international played in a more advanced midfield role and it paid off with an assist.

According to Sofascore, the 30-year-old also made an impressive four key passes and contributed three tackles and completed seven of his eight (87%) attempted long balls. Klich boasts the ability to play in many midfield positions

His performance now puts him on two goals and three assists for the season so far (via Transfermarkt). The £7,700 per-week ace continues to show his impressive balance between attacking and defensive contributions. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by Bielsa either, who recently applauded him and said he “cannot do better” in his performances.

Arsenal await the Whites after international break, which will be a tough match to face at Elland Road. The manager may be ready to make some sacrifices and try a few wild cards, but Klich’s position in the team is all but nailed-on.

In other news, Stuart Dallas dropped clanger against Crystal Palace in another hefty Leeds loss…

This article forms part of our Total Duds feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how bad a deal the club got.

Connor Wickham came to Crystal Palace back in August 2015 from Sunderland for a fee of £9m, per Transfermarkt. The striker managed 15 goals in 91 appearances at the Black Cats and before that, he struck 11 goals in 30 games for Sheffield Wednesday.

It hasn’t gone exactly to plan at Selhurst Park but the forward showed promise before his move to the club as he had featured in the past for the England under-21 side, for whom he scored six goals in 17 appearances.

Wickham got injured early on in his time at Palace, missing eight out his first 11 games, and this would sum up his career at the south London side as he has missed 94 games in total due to injury, with a cruciate ligament rupture causing him to miss 470 days of football at one point, per Transfermarkt.

When he has been fit, the 27-year-old made 50 appearances  for Palace in all competitions, which is not a lot bearing in mind he has been at the club for five years. His scoring tally is not great either as he has only managed 11 goals for the Eagles, which equates to £818,182 per goal. It looks like Roy Hodgson sees Wickham’s Palace career coming to an end soon as he allowed the player to go out on loan to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday last season.

All in all, Wickham definitely looked to be a good signing at the time to bolster the attack at the club, but the Eagles’ £9m investment has since proven to be money poorly spent as he has struggled for form, fitness and game-time .The expensive transfer has sadly been a disaster for these reasons and hopefully Wickham can still somehow turn around his career at Selhurst Park.

Palace fans, what are your thoughts on Wickham? Comment below with your views!

Burnley are reportedly “very interested” in signing Huddersfield youngster Lewis O’Brien in the summer transfer window.

That is according to journalist Alan Nixon, who tweeted (via @reluctantnicko) that the 20-year-old is a “Dyche type” midfielder and the kind of player that the Clarets want considering their transfer budget.

However, as per the print edition of The Sun [via Sheffield United News], Sheffield United are also hoping to land the young Terriers talent before the start of the 2020/21 season.

O’Brien established himself in Huddersfield’s first team last season, making 39 appearances (including 36 league starts) and contributing two goals and four assists (as per TransferMarkt).

The 20-year-old has forged a reputation as a tough-tackling midfield enforcer, winning 3.2 tackles per game in the Championship last term along with making 1.2 interceptions per game (as per WhoScored). The former statistic seems even more remarkable when considering that he played mostly as an attacking midfielder rather than at the base of the midfield.

Sean Dyche does not have a huge overflow of central midfielders, with just Ashley Westwood, Jack Cork, Josh Brownhill and Mace Goodridge (who has yet to make his senior debut) vying for two places in the starting XI.  Aside from the relative sparsity of numbers making a case for O’Brien to be signed, the Huddersfield man’s statistics also make for favourable reading compared to the Clarets’ central midfielders.

When Danny Drinkwater’s two successful tackles in his one appearance last season are discounted, Westwood won the most tackles per game of any midfielder in Dyche’s squad with 1.5, less than half of O’Brien’s average. Also, of the Clarets’ midfield men, only Brownhill had a better interceptions per game average (1.4). [via WhoScored]

Perhaps the man most under threat from O’Brien’s possible arrival is Cork. The 31-year-old posted match averages of 1.2 tackles, 0.9 interceptions, 0.9 dribbles and 0.4 key passes per game last season (as per WhoScored) – lower than the Terriers man for each of those metrics.

Also, with Westwood starting more often than the ex-Southampton man (35 to 30) in 2019/20, he could be the one at greater risk of losing his place in the team.

With Cork approaching the latter stages of his career and O’Brien only starting out on his, it seems to make perfect sense for Burnley to target the Huddersfield youngster, particularly with his figures reading so impressively in comparison to the more experienced Clarets midfielder.

Burnley fans, do you think O’Brien would go straight into Dyche’s first XI if he ends up at Turf Moor? Comment below with your views!

Manchester City have reportedly made a move towards trying to sign Sergi Roberto from Barcelona, according to reports from Spain.

Mundo Deportivo claimed that director of football Txiki Begiristain has made enquiries to the La Liga club about the 28-year-old, with the approval of City manager Pep Guardiola, under whom the versatile Spain international has previously played at Camp Nou.

Roberto, who is valued at £36m by TransferMarkt and has won two Champions League titles with Barcelona, has the vast experience of playing 273 times for the La Liga champions, with 29 of those games coming this season as he has been a regular presence in their starting XI (as per TransferMarkt).

A midfielder by trade, the 28-year-old has been deployed mainly at right-back in recent months – coincidentally the position in which Nelson Semedo, who has also been linked with Manchester City (Sport,via Sport Witness), regularly features.

Roberto has an excellent passing success rate of 91.2%, which puts him ahead of Guardiola’s current right-backs Joao Cancelo (89.4%) and Kyle Walker (88.9%) in that regard. He also wins more tackles per game than the Englishman (1.2 to one), while they both average one interception per game.

However, Cancelo has a far better tackling average with 2.3 per game and also makes more interceptions per match with 1.4. Additionally, the Etihad Stadium duo have far greater attacking instincts than the Barcelona man. Roberto’s match averages of 0.2 shots and 0.5 successful dribbles pale in comparison with the respective figures put up by Cancelo (0.7 shots, 1.6 successful dribbles) and Walker (0.6 shots, 0.9 successful dribbles).

While Roberto would present Guardiola with a versatile option at right-back and central midfield, he does not seem an upgrade on the current right-sided defensive pair of Walker and Cancelo. Indeed, the latter has been reportedly considered as bait in a potential swap deal with Semedo (Mundo Deportivo, via Sport Witness), which seems difficult to comprehend given Cancelo’s more than respectable statistics from this season.

At £36m, 28 years of age and in a position where Manchester City are already well stocked, the Premier League champions ought to be looking elsewhere to bolster their squad over the summer.

Man City fans, are you surprised that the club are reportedly pursuing a move for Sergi Roberto? Comment below with your views!

Jermain Defoe has played in some massive derbies throughout his career.

The North London Derby and Tyne-Wear Derby are widely recognised as two of the biggest derbies in the UK and the striker has scored in both, but he’s also had a taste of the Old Firm Derby during his time at Rangers, and it’s this hotly contested rivalry that has impressed the 37-year-old the most.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Defoe said: “It’s the best. It’s unbelievable. I appreciate all the derbies I’ve played in but when I spoke to Graeme Souness before I signed for Rangers, he told me it’s the best football match in the world.

“But you have to experience what it’s like, it’s a special game. When we beat them 2-0 at home, the atmosphere was incredible. I was looking around, almost in a trance, looking at the crowd bouncing, it gave me goosebumps.

“It really was amazing.”

Rangers won the last Old Firm derby and while Defoe is yet to get himself on the scoresheet for Rangers against Celtic, with a one-year Ibrox contract agreed ahead of next season he’ll have a few more chances yet to add yet another derby goal to his impressive goalscoring record.

And it’s making his name at Rangers that is driving Defoe forward, with dreams of making history at the forefront of his focus once football restarts.

“When you walk down the tunnel and on to the pitch at Ibrox you can see the names of great players on a board and I say to the players, if we can be on that board one day then we’ve done something special,” Defoe added.

“I’m just focused on being a part of Rangers history.”

You can read the full interview with Jermain Defoe, in conjunction with On The Ball Global, here.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Lewie Coyle is having a fantastic loan spell at Fleetwood right under everybody’s nose.

We’ve covered his time in the north-west before here on FFC, but just for some context he’s won two Player of the Year awards during his time away from Elland Road, and this season he’s registered four assists in 15 games from right-back.

However, his good performances for Joey Barton’s side seemingly haven’t been enough to save his skin at Leeds United as the Yorkshire club are apparently looking to sell him in January.

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What’s the story?

Football Insider are reporting that Coyle could be moved on permanently once January rolls around, and his destination is an unsurprising one.

Indeed, it won’t be too shocking to hear that it’s Fleetwood Town who he’s apparently going to join once the winter transfer window opens.

The 24-year-old hasn’t really had a look in at Elland Road over these past few years, but selling him at this juncture of his career seems rather short-sighted.

Bad decision

Selling a 24-year-old who has spent the past three seasons out on loan seems like a no-brainer on paper, but Leeds could live to regret this decision.

Coyle has proven his class in League One, and there’s no reason why those performances can’t translate into the Championship.

He’s seemingly in the form of his life, and for Leeds to just disregard him is silly. Going forward, the number of assists he’s gained is impressive but he’s also adept defensively.

In 2019/20, the defender has won 1.6 tackles per game, as well as winning 1.5 aerial duels on average each outing.

Leeds aren’t exactly flooded with options on the right side of defence and if Luke Ayling continues to play in a back three, their only viable option is to field Stuart Dallas in that position.

Keeping Coyle as back up could be a smart decision. With that in mind, they must turn down any permanent advances from Fleetwood for his services.

It’s clear where Leeds are lacking this term – goals.

The Whites have scored just 23 times, eight fewer than Championship front runners West Brom. With that in mind, signing a forward would be a cunning idea in January.

Phil Hay has quashed the potential of a move for Dwight Gayle, suggesting he could be on his way to Nottingham Forest while there have also been rumours linking Matej Vydra with a permanent £7.5m switch to Elland Road (The Mirror, 22/11, pg. 74).

But there is a younger face who could walk through the doors. Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster is the player in question but Marcelo Bielsa’s men face stiff competition to land him on temporary terms.

Also in the market for the Premier League teenager are Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Swansea.

Leeds would presumably have to lose one of their loan players for this deal to go through. They’ve already got six at their disposal and are bound to rules from the EFL which restricts more than five appearing in a single matchday squad at a time.

But if he did arrive at Leeds, would he be a good signing? Football FanCast’s writers have provided their verdicts.

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Lewis Blain:

“Should Leeds be in the market for Rhian Brewster? Absolutely. Will it happen? I’m not so sure. Marcelo Bielsa has hardly covered himself in glory with how he utilised Eddie Nketiah this season. His stubborn ways could see him lose out to any one of the other clubs linked to the Liverpool starlet.

“Patrick Bamford may be rounding into some nice form with two goals in two, but the Championship season still has so much to play for and squad depth will need to be called upon. If anything, a player like Brewster would offer a different type of threat. At 5 foot 11, he is more nimble and agile, very similar to Nketiah, who is not only injured but may face a return to Arsenal in January.

“It would be a statement of intent, for sure. Although, its likeliness seems slim given Bielsa’s dogged commitment to his team selection and regular brand of football.”

Viji Jeevathayalan:

“Leeds have already seen one highly-rated loanee fall by the wayside in Eddie Nketiah, what would be the difference in bringing in Rhian Brewster? Despite firing in the goals whenever he has played for Marcelo Bielsa’s side (he has scored five times in 12 appearances), Nketiah has managed just 262 minutes of Championship football.

“Brewster is in a similar mould to the Arsenal prodigy, in that both are incredibly talented finishers. The 19-year-old has scored four goals in seven games at Premier League 2 level, but does he offer the same all-round game that someone like Patrick Bamford brings to the table? Bielsa is seemingly intent on having a number nine who is more than just a goal-scorer, and swooping for Brewster on loan just has another Nketiah disaster written all over it.”

Jon Radcliffe:

“With just two senior appearances to his name, Brewster is in desperate need of first-team football. However, Leeds’ interest in him beggars belief – why do they need a new on-loan striker when they already have Eddie Nketiah at their disposal? Even though he has started just two matches, he has five goals in all competitions. Yet, for some reason, Marcelo Bielsa insists on using him in a bit-part role.”

“Why would it be any different with Brewster, when he has even fewer appearances in the professional game? The Whites may need a new striker, but taking the 19-year-old makes no sense, even if Nketiah is recalled. An academy player could surely do a similar bench-warming job.”

Matt Dawson:

“This would be a strange signing and one that I’m not quite sure would be a good idea. Although there is no doubting Brewster’s talents, you can’t help but feel as though Leeds need someone with proven pedigree at this level.

“Vydra would provide them with that, having scored 65 goals in the Championship, but the 19-year-old would not. He’s only got two senior matches to his name and whether he’d be up the required standard remains to be seen.

“Once compared to a Leeds goalscoring hero of the past in Robbie Fowler, the potential is there, but with the Whites in need of a certified striker to boost their promotion hopes, they must look elsewhere. Bringing in Brewster on loan would be a gamble – one that isn’t really necessary when Patrick Bamford has been in the team ahead of a fellow loan signing, Eddie Nketiah.”

And in other news, Phil Hay has cast his view on whether Marcelo Bielsa will stay if QSI invests in Leeds…

In one of the longest running transfer sagas of this year, Paul Pogba’s future at Manchester United remains just as unclear as it did earlier in the summer.

The France World Cup winner seemed to make it clear he wanted out of Old Trafford by suggesting that he wanted a “new challenge”, before later admitting that a “question mark” still hung over his head in terms of his United career.

The 26-year-old has been out of action for the Red Devils for a number of games now after appearing to suffer an injury in the clash against Arsenal in the Premier League.

However, speaking to RMC Sport, Pogba delivered an update on when he could possibly make his return. He said (as quoted by Sky Sports): “I will still be under plaster for 10 days. After, I still have two weeks of rehabilitation.”

When asked how difficult it is to watch the team lose when he is injured, the Frenchman added: “It is the worst. After, it is not easy to see my team-mates go to training or on the field. You train inside, you want to return to help your team but when you are injured it is not easy (psychologically). The most important thing is to heal properly.”

After hearing the midfielder’s latest comments, United fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the situation.

Many supporters of the Manchester side urged him to return as soon as possible, and insisted they desperately need him to help turn things around for the club.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

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…

There’s damning with faint praise, but is there such a thing as praise with faint damning?

Because that’s the situation that the staff and players at Sheffield United might just find himself in after some rather weird remarks from former Blades boss Neil Warnock.

What’s he said?

Speaking to talkSPORT, Warnock praised Wilder for the work that he is doing at Bramall Lane right now even though the players he’s working work aren’t exactly of the highest quality:

“It’s an amazing system. I’m not being disrespectful, but he’s got bang average players playing top of the Premier League standards. That’s what you talk about man-management, these lads believe in what Chris is doing and good luck, the fans are loving it and I’m sure they’ll do well.”

Unleashing the beasts

Warnock has always been one that isn’t afraid to voice his opinion on all things football, but this might come back to bite him in the backside at the end of the season.

The praise for Wilder just seems to be never-ending, with ex-pros like Tony Cascarino saying that he should be considered for ‘bigger’ Premier League jobs further down the road, but a comment like this, is exactly what players like those in the Bramall Lane dressing room should be looking for, extra motivation.

Whilst Warnock might not exactly hold the highest esteem when it comes to the world of football, much in the same way John Terry made disparaging remarks about Robbie Savage a number of years ago, the chance to go and prove someone wrong should be a big motivator for the players as they go on this season.

Whilst some might write the Blades off, including to a certain extent us at FFC as well, they should take all these comments and use it as a way to prove everyone wrong.

They’ve already exceeded expectations by even getting into this division, and a quote like this might just be that little bit extra that they need to really kick on and make this season a memorable one.