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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Loan Watch series, which takes a closer look at those players who are aiming to galvanise their careers away from the spotlight of their parent club.

If Laurens De Bock had a difficult spell at Leeds, he’s now struggling again at Sunderland.

Perhaps he isn’t suited to English football or perhaps he just isn’t particularly good at the game. Either way, any chance of securing a second opportunity at Elland Road is very quickly flying past the Belgian.

Signed from Club Brugge after playing continental football, the left-back has rarely shown any signs of being the type of player to perform on that stage.

De Bock featured just seven times for Leeds before being sent on loan last term. He’s now at Sunderland for a temporary stay but isn’t exactly pulling up many trees.

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He made his debut against Sheffield United in the Carabao Cup last month but has failed to build on that.

The 26-year-old has since gone onto play two times in League One, quite the fall from grace from his time at Brugge.

It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if he continued to struggle for minutes though, particularly after his latest performance.

De Bock’s display in a defeat against Lincoln last Saturday was pretty woeful, picking up a 4/10 rating from Chronicle Live.

They claimed he had a torrid time defensively and it’s not hard to see why.

The left-sided man gave away a penalty for a foul on Bruno Andrade and made two fouls before he was substituted just after the hour mark.

He failed to complete a single tackle and was dribbled past on one occasion, via WhoScored. With showings like this, it’s really no surprise that he struggled to make the grade at Elland Road.

Defensively he is extremely suspect and if he’s finding life troublesome in League One, he’ll never have the capabilities to perform to a consistent level in the Championship.

Receiving a loan spell in England was arguably the last chance saloon for De Bock but to date, he’s failed to take it with open arms.

Giving away a penalty and being withdrawn early just about sums up his time on British shores. Unfortunately for the Belgian, things don’t look like improving.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

After the departure of Vincent Kompany in the summer, and the subsequent injury to Aymeric Laporte early in the Premier League campaign, Manchester City’s decision not to sign a new centre-back has come back to haunt them already.

Just eight games into the season, and the Citizens have already lost twice – both of them in shock fashion against newly-promoted Norwich and a struggling Wolves. The main concern? Their defensive fragility. Pep Guardiola’s men conceded a combined five goals across the two matches, and it was in no small part down to the City boss’ decision to play Nicolas Otamendi and Fernandinho as a centre-back partnership.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Reports in recent weeks have claimed the club are eyeing up defensive reinforcements, with Benfica’s Ruben Dias considered to be a target. But surely City would be wise to learn from their own mistakes. Jadon Sancho left the Etihad for Borussia Dortmund in search of more regular first-team opportunities, whilst Phil Foden may find himself in a similar position sooner rather than later.

And with that in mind, Guardiola simply has to give 17-year-old starlet Taylor Harwood-Bellis a chance to shine at centre-back. His record and performances at academy level are exemplary, and as well as saving the club a bucket load of money in the transfer window, they would be showing their young players that there really is clear route into the first-team.

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The 6 foot 2 teenager has captained England U17s at the European Championships, and was part of the City back-line that reached the FA Youth Cup final last season. The pedigree is there for all to see, but Guardiola seems oblivious to it all.

The City boss has made a big song and dance about how brilliant Foden is, and while that’s all well and good, he hasn’t really delivered on his words. The 18-year-old has barely featured this season, making just four appearances, and finds several big-money signings standing in his way.

Harwood-Bellis on the other hand, has no such competition. What must he be thinking when he sees his manager continue to place his trust in a blundering Nicolas Otamendi, or attempting to convert a 34-year-old midfielder into a centre-back? If he doesn’t get an opportunity to play in the midst of City’s defensive crisis, just when will he be given a genuine chance?

The club have already been burned by seeing Sancho go. Now, they simply cannot afford for the same to happen with Harwood-Bellis.

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…

It’s the problem that Nottingham Forest are struggling to find an answer for.

One former Forest man reckons he has the solution to that issue, and although it may sound simple, there are still a few risks attached to it.

What’s been said?

In his regular column for Nottinghamshire Live, Kenny Burns spoke about Nottingham Forest’s struggles in front of goal and how drastic they need to be as the January window approaches:

“Nottingham Forest need to sign a striker in January. If that wasn’t obvious before, it should be after Sunday. We could maybe even do with getting two. Either way, we need to sign a goalscorer. Goals win you games and that’s what puts you in the promotion mix. We need more goals in the team.”

He then went on to talk about the man who replaced Grabban against Wigan Athletic, Rafa Mir and was fairly brutal in his assessment:

“Rafa Mir had a few chances, but he couldn’t hit the target. And it was too easy for their defence. Mir didn’t cause them enough problems. They had an easy day of it. Mir can still make an impact as a substitute, but I’m not sure I’d have him in the starting XI. I can’t see him being the prolific goalscorer that we need.”

Something has got to give

The problem with what Burns is saying is that not everybody is going to be happy with the arrangement.

Given that Sabri Lamouchi currently operates in a 4-2-3-1 formation, if they do end up buying two people in the window, that leaves them with three men fighting it out for one spot in the team.

That’s assuming Rafa Mir is happy with his role off the bench like Burns suggests, if not then you’ve got four trying to go for one.

Whilst it is clear that Nottingham Forest need some help to take the burden off of Lewis Grabban’s shoulders every once in a while, they need to be 100% certain they are going down the right path with the type of target they pursue.

If they bring in someone that wants to be a first choice, they’re going to end up causing a bit of a stir among the ranks if he doesn’t get regular minutes.

They need to look for someone who is willing to be a backup to Grabban, but how many players out there are willing to sit back and not play regularly?

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Everton midfielder Fabian Delph withdrew from the England squad earlier this week having picked up an injury in the club’s defeat over Burnley, and it is the last thing manager Marco Silva needs.

The 29-year-old played the entire fixture at the weekend but has returned to Merseyside because of the hamstring injury which bothered him at Turf Moor. Delph earned his way back into the Three Lions squad having been one of the standout players for Everton during a torrid time for the club.

Since moving from Manchester City in the summer, the former Aston Villa man has slotted into the midfield in the absence of Andre Gomes and averaged 2.8 tackles per game and 59.8 passes per match at a success rate of 86.6% (as per WhoScored). He has remained relatively consistent and provided a bit more stability for the Toffees in defence so far, and was deserving of regaining his England spot.

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The extent of his injury, however, is yet unknown, but as he managed to play the full 90 minutes over the weekend, it should not be too much of a worry for the long term. However, for even just one match, Marco Silva cannot lose the midfielder, considering injuries already in the position and the poor form of Morgan Schneiderlin.

Before the trip to Burnley, the Frenchman scored a 4/10 rating from The Liverpool Echo in the defeat to Sheffield United, a 5/10 for his efforts against Manchester City and, at Turf Moor, Schneiderlin earned himself another shocking 4/10.

Furthermore, Gomes is only just returning to action after missing four games since injuring his rib against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The former Barcelona man came on in the 84th minute over the weekend, whilst Jean-Philippe Gbamin has still not played since injuring himself in the second game of the season, with no return date set.

If Delph is to have a spell on the sidelines, it will give Silva even less options in midfield, and most likely force in Tom Davies who has seen just 20 minutes of Premier League action so far.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

Wednesday night was a huge for both Eden Hazard and Real Madrid.

The former Chelsea man started his first Champions League game for Los Blancos following his summer switch from Stamford Bridge against PSG at Parc des Princes.

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However, it will be a game he’ll soon want to forget, given that the Galacticos were beaten 3-0 on the night by a superior side.

And Hazard was a major contributing factor to the defeat, turning in a rather underwhelming performance.

He had just one shot during the game, deployed one key pass and had four dribbles to his name. When we also factor in that he registered only 54 touches, 36 passes and just 80.6% passing accuracy, the picture becomes that much clearer.

Perhaps it’s not the worst performance of the Champions League proper’s opening round, but Real needed more from the Belgium international.

After all, if you pay £89m for a player, a Galactico, for that matter, he has to perform instantly and become the talisman.

Of course, he could take some time to get going, but his reputation has gone against him here – his display not befitting his price tag.

With Real slipping to a disappointing defeat, it has become clear that he will have to start delivering sooner rather than later.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

There were many positives to be taken away from Barcelona’s weekend clash against Valencia at the Camp Nou, not least the sight of Ernesto Valverde discovering his best midfield.

On the chalkboard

Even since Frenkie de Jong joined Barcelona this summer, supporters were very much waiting for him to come alive in Barca colours.

Valverde started off by experimenting with the young Dutchman, to the concern of fans.

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But now, it seems that not only has De Jong fully settled into the team but Valverde has also managed to find a solution to one of the key questions hanging over his head: the Blaugrana coach has finally found De Jong’s perfect midfield partners.

The perfect trident

In the game against Valencia, Valverde decided to start De Jong alongside Sergio Busquets and Arthur Melo for the very first time this season.

So far, only De Jong has played all four of the games of the new 2019/20 La Liga campaign while both the Spaniard and the Brazilian have been on and off, the former sitting out the curtain-raiser completely and the latter only making his first appearance on matchday three of the new campaign.

This suggested that Valverde was actually looking at different options, with other players like Sergi Roberto, Ivan Rakitic and Carles Alena all potential starters.

But now, the De Jong, Busquets, Melo trident has had its first real tango together and it ended in quite the rhapsody.

All three midfielders had a brilliant game against Valencia as De Jong racked up a goal and an assist, Arthur an assist and Busquets the second-highest touches in the game.

It also has to be pointed out that none of them had below 90% passing accuracy – De Jong had a sublime 100%, Arthur 95.7% and Busquets 91.7%. They also notched three, two and two key passes respectively.

Safe to say, Valverde has finally found his best midfield and if the early signs are any indication, this lineup in the middle of the park is here to stay.

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Andreas Pereira has had a pretty mixed career at Manchester United.

The 23-year-old midfielder has been one of the Red Devils throughout pretty much the entirety of his career as he played for their U18 squad and then advanced through the ranks to finally reach the senior team in 2015.

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But not everything was as rosy as it may sound at first.

He spent a lot of time away from Old Trafford, jumping from loan to loan and, for the most part, never being able to settle completely.

And now he has taken to

/B1eQfXFn2oo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram to share a brilliant throwback snap accompanied with the footage of his first-ever goal for Manchester United.

He called it a very special day and shared a snap in which he can be seen in Wayne Rooney’s embrace. That was followed by the footage itself.

Since his debut for the senior team, Pereira has played a total of 37 games for the Red Devils, scoring two goals and assisting further two in the process.

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RCB’s captain batted in the nets for close to 30 minutes without visible discomfort, and is “going well”, according to their team director

Ashish Pant16-May-20254:12

Bobat: Break was disruptive but afforded rest for players

With Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) enjoying one of their best seasons in recent times before IPL 2025’s week-long suspension, their overseas players were “adamant” to “come back and finish the job”, according to their team director Mo Bobat.RCB are currently second on the points table with eight wins and three losses. They have 16 points, the same as table-toppers Gujarat Titans, and one more win will guarantee a playoffs spot.Related

• Heavy rain forecast could ruin IPL restart in Bengaluru

• RCB and KKR kick off business end of league phase

• Shepherd and Livingstone rejoin RCB squad

• Tim David boost for RCB as they look to seal playoffs spot

• WTC final-bound South Africa players to miss IPL 2025 playoffs

“We spoke quite a lot with our overseas guys even before they went and most of them were pretty adamant that they were keen to come back and finish the job,” Bobat said ahead of Saturday’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). “We’ve had a good season so far, they want to come back and do that.”Like every other team, RCB have been scrambling to reassemble their squad ahead of the tournament’s resumption on Saturday, but they have managed to get all their overseas players back barring Josh Hazlewood, who is nursing a shoulder injury.Bobat did not divulge too many details about the availability of Hazlewood, who missed RCB’s last game before the suspension of the league. He confirmed that Rajat Patidar was recovering well from a finger injury in his right hand. Patidar, the RCB captain, batted in the nets for close to 30 minutes without any visible discomfort ahead of the KKR clash.3:14

Which overseas players are returning, and for how long?

“With Josh, as you’ll probably be aware, he’s our only player not here at the minute. He’s recovering from his shoulder niggle that he had,” Bobat said. “He’s doing that with Cricket Australia. Obviously, our medical team and their medical team have been liaising on what that detail looks like. He’s just taking that day by day and he’s trying to improve.”Patidar had an injury to his hand. He’s been building up ever so slowly. For him personally, probably the disruption gave him a few more days just to get through some of that early healing, for the swelling to go down and to get used to picking up [the bat] again. He’s practiced the last few days and he’s going well.”While RCB are likely to have a near full-strength squad for their first two league matches, they might need to bring in reinforcements once the playoffs arrive, should RCB make it. Jacob Bethell has been named in England’s squad for the West Indies ODIs and will fly back before RCB’s final group match in Lucknow. Lungi Ngidi is also only available until the end of the league stage, having been named in South Africa’s World Test Championship (WTC) final squad.”Obviously, we’ll lose Jacob Bethell and lose Lungi after a couple of games. So, there’s an obvious impact there,” Bobat said. “We’ve obviously got [Nuwan] Thushara in the squad, an international bowler chomping at the bit. Also, Rasikh Dar, a good bowler. So, we’ve got options in the squad, so certainly no concerns.”Over the next few days, we’ll think about potential replacements. There’s a bit of clamour for that at the minute and lots of teams are doing that. I prefer not to push these things, so we’ll just take our time and have a think about it.”

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Everton have started the new 2019/20 Premier League season quite well.

After the first two games the Toffees have four points, claiming a draw against Crystal Palace on the opening day of the campaign and then following it up with a narrow 1-0 victory over Watford at home.

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It’s going to be a long season but there are some early promising signs for Marco Silva to take confidence from.

Still, Tom Davies has been more active on social media as of late, posting different fashionable snaps on

/B1Wop5fnNuZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram.

His latest one was from Paris as the young 21-year-old midfielder took a trip to the City of Lights.

And it didn’t take long for his friends to take notice of the new snap as they quickly rushed to Instagram to leave their replies.

James Maddison and Reiss Nelson seemed particularly in awe of the fashionable picture.

But this is not really a surprise from Davies.

Looking at his social media account, it’s fairly easy to conclude he does this on a regular basis, sharing all kinds of fashionable snaps.

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Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren has stated to Croatia media outlet Sportske Nowotski, as translated by Sky Sports, that he is committed to fighting for his place in the team having admitted he did think about leaving this summer, and it is exactly what fans of the Merseyside outfit want to hear.

The Croatian international was linked with a move to Roma, having given his best for the Reds since joining in 2015.

Despite the interest, and the fact he has fallen down the pecking order with Joel Matip and Joe Gomez starting games alongside Virgil van Dijk this season, he doesn’t want to accept a place on the bench.

That attitude has earned him praise from some fans, with one also pleased that the defender staying at Anfield means his strong friendship with Mo Salah will continue.

The 30-year-old endured a frustrating campaign last time out, suffering from injuries which limited him to 18 appearances, but is happy to still a Red after the club stood by him through that period and over the summer.

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Jurgen Klopp told him how much he was valued and that encouraged Lovren to stay, and as shown in the responses below, some Liverpool fans are clearly impressed with his attitude.

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