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Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with pretty much every striker possible during this summer transfer window, though an interesting new name has emerged this week…

What’s the word?

According to Football.London reporter Alasdair Gold, Spurs have had a “strong, long-held, interest” in Southampton striker Danny Ings but the club has doubts over their chances of actually pulling off a deal.

It’s claimed that the 28-year-old would come with a hefty price tag, which Daniel Levy is unlikely to pay whilst the prospect of being second-fiddle to Harry Kane is also proving to be a stumbling block.

Ings is only valued at £18m by Transfermarkt and is thought to be the Saints’ highest earner on a reported £75k-per-week.

Kane foil

Whilst it’s undoubtedly an ambitious move, it’s one that Levy should actually consider given their lack of creativity in front of goal at the weekend – perhaps a change of system that could include both Ings and Kane would bring returns.

Last term, the Englishman netted 25 goals in 42 appearances and averaged 2.4 shots, 1.3 dribbles, 0.9 key passes per game, via WhoScored – often thriving in a system that has either Shane Long or Che Adams alongside him.

Kane’s more of a target man-like partner, so surely he could reap the rewards even more in north London.

Spurs know his exploits all too well after he picked apart Jose Mourinho’s men on New Year’s Day.

Per SofaScore, Ings bagged the winner and recorded four dribbles, six ground duels won and two shots at goal, bullying Toby Alderweireld, who had an off day with just one duel won from a total of six.

Former Gunners centre-back Martin Keown believes the Saints talisman is “outstanding” as he “presses really well” and is “hardworking,” which seemingly would make him a perfect profile for the sort of player Mourinho would ask for.

Whilst Clinton Morrison likened him to ex-Spurs man Robbie Keane, claiming “his movement is first class.”

Levy should splash the cash in order to help the squad get back on track as soon as possible.

AND in other news, Spurs given boost to sign one mooted summer target…

West Bromwich Albion have enjoyed a pretty busy summer of activity so far, but they are one striker short of making it a decent success, though they must steer clear of one mooted name…

What’s the word?

According to the Express & Star’s Joseph Masi, the Baggies have held talks with Watford over a potential loan move for Andre Gray but it depends on whether or not they can clinch top target Karlan Grant.

It’s claimed that negotiations are ongoing between Albion and Huddersfield over a permanent deal as Slaven Bilic looks to find the right forward to lead their attack in the Premier League.

But the Terriers’ £16m valuation is making an agreement hard to reach, so attentions could turn towards the Hornets outcast in due course.

Done at the top

If Bilic truly wants to find someone to provide the goals for them in their top-flight return, then they should probably avoid a swoop for Gray.

The 29-year-old has fallen down the pecking order at Watford and still wasn’t given a regular opportunity despite all of their struggles, which speaks volumes.

Last season, Gray bagged just two goals from 23 appearances and averaged only 0.8 shots and 0.3 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

In four seasons in the Premier League, he’s failed to get into double figures and with it getting worse and worse each season, it would be fair to suggest that he’s no longer cut out at this elite level.

Had the Baggies been in the Championship trying to make this signing, then it would be quite a coup but Luke Dowling could miss once more on the striking position after the lacklustre attempts from the likes of Kenneth Zohore and Charlie Austin.

Back in 2016 during Gray’s prolific 23-goal campaign, Burnley boss Sean Dyche lauded him as a “constant threat” whilst his former Watford manager Javi Gracia praised the striker for being a “very good professional who always fights a lot”.

Now valued at £6.3m, the misfiring forward really doesn’t seem like the ideal candidate to plug the goalscoring void at the Hawthorns – Grant at £16m would be the better choice despite lacking experience in the top-flight, at 22 he can be moulded into an elite talent.

AND in other news, Bilic targets PL colossus who would be an instant upgrade at West Brom…

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.

In August 1999, Sheffield Wednesday decided to shell out on a new striker. They paid £4.5 million – which was a pretty hefty fee at the time – to sign Belgian centre-forward Gilles De Bilde from Eredivisie outfit and Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.

He arrived at Hillsborough with a very good reputation on the pitch, having netted an impressive 32 goals and provided a further 10 assists in 67 appearances during his spell in the Netherlands, where he also won the Eredivisie title in 96/97 (Transfermarkt).

In his first season with the Owls, he managed to score 10 goals in 38 appearances which was not an awful return. Nevertheless, it was not enough to save the South Yorkshire outfit from relegation to the second tier.

As a result of their demotion, Wednesday opted to loan De Bilde back to the Premier League and he joined Aston Villa on a short-term deal in October 2000. His spell at Villa Park wasn’t a success though and he played just four games before returning to Hillsborough in January 2001, having failed to score a single goal.

After arriving back in South Yorkshire, the Belgian frontman spent the remainder of the season with the Owls in Division One (the name of the second tier at the time). His form wasn’t great though and he managed to bag just three times in 21 appearances as the club slumped to a disappointing 17th finish, just five points clear of a second successive relegation.

That proved to be his last campaign in England as he was allowed to return to his homeland to play for Anderlecht for a second time in his career. This was as a free transfer, meaning that after just 59 appearances and 13 goals, Wednesday lost the £4.5m they spent on him within two years.

Overall it was a costly mistake for the club. His arrival coincided with a bleak period in S6 which they have still yet to really recover from, indeed they have failed to return to the Premier League since that relegation in 2000, spending 20 years in either the Championship or League One.

Owls fans, was Gilles De Bilde a poor signing? Let us know your thoughts below…

Everton’s failure to offload Muhamed Besic and Jonas Lossl before Monday’s international transfer Deadline Day has left the Goodison Park outfit in desperate need of finding EFL suitors for the Carlo Ancelotti outcasts.

What’s the word?

According to the Liverpool Echo, Besic is striving to secure a late transfer to a Championship side before the domestic market between Premier League and EFL clubs closes at 17:00 on October 16.

Besic is in the final year of his £30,000-per-week contract and saw a potential move to Scottish Premiership giants Rangers collapse, leaving the Bosnia and Herzegovina international in need of another move that may re-start his career.

Ancelotti has had no use for Besic since the midfielder returned to Merseyside from a challenging loan spell with Sheffield United last term, for whom he played just 605 minutes for across 13 appearances in all competitions.

Besic will be allowed to continue training with the Everton first-team until a move away is secured, but risks being frozen out and omitted from the Blues’ 25-man Premier League squad if a transfer is not finalised in the coming week.

Lossl must follow Besic out

Like Besic, Lossl must also be considering his future with Everton despite no suggestion that the Danish shot-stopper is actively pushing for a transfer after reports earlier in the summer stated he would remain at Goodison Park to challenge Jordan Pickford for minutes.

That role has since been taken by Robin Olsen after the Swede completed a Deadline Day loan move from AS Roma, effectively making Lossl surplus to requirements despite never making a competitive appearance for Everton.

Ancelotti even saw fit to name 20-year-old prospect Joao Virginia on the bench for Everton’s first two Premier League games of the season, who will also not count as one of the Blues’ 25 registered players when the Merseyside club announces its squad for the season, unlike £28k-p/w Lossl.

With a squad brimming over the limit, Everton will have crucial decisions to make on who fails to make the 25-man list and Lossl and Besic are prime candidates for the chop if transfers are not secured in time.

AND in other news, a Premier League icon’s support of Everton’s £20m capture will come as good news for Carlo Ancelotti.

West Brom’s wait to pick up their first victory of the season rumbles on for another week after they were involved in the Premier League’s first 0-0 of the season on Monday night.

Slaven Bilic and his side couldn’t find a way past fellow strugglers Burnley despite notching more possession (56%) and shots (13) on the night.

Although the Albion boss will be buoyed by the fact that they finally secured a clean sheet having leaked a whopping 13 goals prior to kick-off, which before the international break was the joint-worst record across the top four divisions in England.

This will have undoubtedly come thanks to the introductions of Ahmed Hegazi and Branislav Ivanovic, who both were handed surprise starts above usual first-choice duo Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi.

But not everyone was on it, none more so than Grady Diangana who put in an uncharacteristically anonymous showing on the wing.

The 22-year-old, who signed in an £18m permanent deal this summer, somehow lasted the full 90 minutes on the pitch despite being largely ineffective.

Per SofaScore, Diangana won just 41% of a whopping 22 duels, lost possession 17 times, committed three fouls and could only muster up one shot, one key pass and one dribble all game.

Last season, the England U21 international was an integral part of the Baggies’ promotion-winning squad as he scored eight goals and provided six assists whilst he also averaged 2.4 dribbles, 1.6 shots and 1.4 key passes per game, via WhoScored.

Clearly, it was not his night at the Hawthorns earlier this week and it could soon be a worry for Bilic if his star man isn’t performing at the same heights.

BirminghamLive gave Diangana a 6/10 and added: “[he] was frustrated and blunted by Erik Pieters, who himself was playing out of position and ought to have been exploited more.”

He’ll need to do far better if West Brom are to pick up their first three points of the campaign anytime soon.

AND in other news, Baggies lightweight who lost possession THIRTY times badly let Bilic down…

Celtic’s strange and struggling season continues after they were handed a 4-1 defeat by Sparta Prague on Thursday evening. A defensive disaster proved to be their demise as the Czechs made easy work of breezing past Neil Lennon’s men.

The Hoops have only won half of their last ten games and have now slipped way out of favour in the Europa League. They are currently rock bottom of their group with just the one point on the board. In similar fashion, they have fallen behind rivals Rangers in the Premiership, with Steven Gerrard’s side now ahead by nine points.

Celtic have two games in-hand but will need to beat both Motherwell and Hibernian on the road next in order to close the gap. Otherwise, they risk handing this season’s title over the the Gers.

One man Lennon must put more faith in though is Leigh Griffiths, who was one of the only standout players against Prague.

Leigh Griffiths is the man Celtic need

The Scotsman recently delivered huge fighting talk that will have definitely pricked up the manager’s ears. Griffiths is keen to continue his goalscoring form and break into the club’s top 20 all-time scorers. The consolation goal he grabbed against Prague shows that his words weren’t empty and he is eager to go down as a club icon.

Star striker Odsonne Edouard recently returned from his spell on the sidelines, but has struggled to find his groove. The Frenchman hasn’t scored since rejoining the Hoops and could now be at risk of being dropped as Lennon desperately tries new, perhaps radical team formations.

Griffiths has scored three goals in his last six appearances, with all of them coming during substitute appearances. His performance in Europe on Thursday saw him complete 100% of his passes and notch a 100% shot to conversion rate (via Sofascore).

The £1.8million-rated striker’s impact is hard to ignore and his passion for reaching new highs with his club is something the fans will find comfort in during these strange times.

Celtic are on a seriously slippery slope and could continue to struggle unless Lennon puts his trust in players like Griffiths and claws the team out of this ever-growing hole.

In other news, Southampton must act fast or risk losing Mohamed Elyounoussi permanently…

Che Adams could be the man Ralph Hasenhuttl will turn to in the absence of Danny Ings. The in-form striker will be out of action for up to six weeks after picking up a knee injury against Aston Villa. The slim-margin victory will be a huge plus for Southampton, but the absence of their clinical forward will have hit them hard.

The Saints shift their attention to Newcastle, who are also having a strong start to their 2020/21 season. Hasenhuttl must make some important changes as he searches for another three points. Steve Bruce will not want to suffer defeat and could prove to be a very tricky opponent at the weekend.

Che Adams’ time to step up during Ings absence

Ings and Adams have already struck up a strong partnership in the heart of Southampton’s attack. The duo have a combined seven goals and four assists so far this season (via BBC Sport). Whilst the former Liverpool man is the more threatening player, Adams has his chance to impress the boss on Friday evening.

Alan Shearer has recently backed the 24-year-old, praising him for his goal against Manchester City at the end of last season.

“So many brilliant performances and what about Che Adams’ goal,” the former Southampton and Newcastle icon said. “He will never forget this and so he shouldn’t.”

Similarly, Hasenhuttl has applauded the Englishman “who works so hard for the team” (27:45) ahead of the clash against Newcastle. His belief in the striker will be a huge boost in motivation and could pave the way for a new, inspired starting lineup. The Austrian usually opts for a double strike force and two wide players, but a front three could be deployed in a set-up that may see Adams flourish and help fill Southampton’s Ings-shaped hole.

In other news, Kyle Walker-Peters could be given huge Southampton responsibility amid crisis…

Wolves were the comeback kings last season and manager, Nuno Santo, needed that magic to happen once again at Molineux on Monday evening as they snatched a late draw from Southampton’s grasp.

On-loan winger Theo Walcott netted his first goal for the Hampshire outfit in over 14 years and it looked to be the winner until an inspired substitution from the Portuguese boss clawed back some returns.

Within seven minutes of coming on, Pedro Neto fired home a rebounded Raul Jimenez strike.

Nuno was left without two key players in Conor Coady and Romain Saiss, and as a result, switched to a four-man defence for the first time in his Molineux career with Joao Moutinho returning in midfield.

As The Athletic’s Tim Spiers says, there has been chatter about the maestro’s demise this season, but his industrious showing in the heart of the pitch was anything but. Instead, one of his fellow teammates in the engine room looked particularly underwhelming.

It was perhaps a surprise to see Nuno tink his formation, especially as Leander Dendoncker covered for Willy Boly in central defence for large parts of last season and maybe that’s where he should have been played on the night as he was wasteful and lightweight alongside Moutinho and Ruben Neves.

The 25-year-old picked up an injury on international duty but was evidently fit to feature on Monday night.

Dendoncker recorded the lowest rating (6.0) of any player, both home and away. He won just three of 14 duels (21%), lost possession 11 times, made no tackles and missed one big – and crucial – chance, via SofaScore.

BirminghamLive’s Ben Husband believes Neves was the poorest of the three in midfield, grading him a measly 4/10 but forget him, it was the Belgian who underperformed compared to his usual combative output. He certainly let Nuno down here.

The €30m-rated (£26m) midfielder averages the third-most tackles per game (1.9) in the Old Gold squad, so to not record one is certainly disappointing on all accounts.

Indeed it is just the second time in the Premier League this season that he has failed to do so, the other coming against Manchester City, a team he could be forgiven for not dominating defensively.

As Wolves’ third-highest earner on £90k-per-week, Dendoncker cannot afford to be inconsistent and whilst it could be attributed to the niggle picked up in midweek, he’ll have to do better come the weekend.

AND in other news, Nuno should’ve listen to Thelwell over impressive January target ripping it up elsewhere…

Whilst Marc Albrighton may never have been the most high-profile of players in his time at Aston Villa, the club’s academy product did end up making over 100 appearances for them.

The winger notched nine goals and provided a further 19 assists, including scoring the Premier League’s 20,000th goal when he netted against Arsenal in 2011.

And whilst he was never the star of the show at Villa Park, it was still somewhat of a surprise when the club opted to release him in the summer of 2014 back when Paul Lambert was still in charge.

Since then, Albrighton has opened up on how his departure came about, and it’s clear there’s still a strong level of disbelief and disappointment at the way things turned out.

He said: “Two days after the season finished, my agent phoned me and said ‘There’s nothing on the table from Villa’. So I said, ‘What do you mean there’s nothing?’

“He was like ‘There’s literally not an offer, there’s not an offer there. You’ve got to go to another club. In my head, definitely naively, I trusted everything that they said. I don’t know whose decision it was, I still don’t know now.

“In my head it was, ‘Yeah my contract’s sorted, he said it would be sorted towards the end of the season, keep playing your football, keep doing what you’re doing, keep doing well’.

“So that’s what I was doing and I just expected a contract. I didn’t expect anything massive because I hadn’t been playing every game, I’d only played bit parts. But whatever was on the table for me I would have accepted. 100 per cent. I didn’t even think in my head that I would leave Villa.”

And whilst being released by his boyhood club may have come as a shock, there’s no doubt that since his exit, he’s continued to prove his former side wrong.

Hailed as an “underrated” player by ex-Liverpool ace Danny Murphy, Albrighton of course played a key role in Leicester’s miraculous Premier League title triumph in 2016 – that season saw him pick up an impressive seven assists in just the top-flight.

And even now at 31, the winger is still producing the goods for Leicester, delivering the assist for Jamie Vardy’s late equaliser in the Foxes’ 3-3 draw against Braga in the Europa League on Thursday.

He’s taken his experience with Villa and let it motivate him, and that’s full credit to him.

After bringing him in from French side Angers in the summer, it’s been a rather mixed start for Rayan Ait-Nouri.

The full-back has started a couple of games here and there in the Premier League and shown flashes of the immense potential he has – you only have to look at his well-taken goal against Crystal Palace to see that.

And Ligue 1 commentator Eric Krakauer has made it clear just how much of a coup the Molineux side pulled off in the summer.

He said: “Wolves are getting an exceptional player with a very high ceiling. He still has a lot of bulking up to do. When a player has as much skill as he does, you don’t want them to get too big because there’s the fear he might lose some agility, but he does need to get stronger. He will have to fine-tune his defensive efforts.

“There’s a tendency for a lot of Premier League supporters to wonder whether a player can come in and do a job in the league, but he’s got exceptional skill. With a few weeks of practice and an understanding of what’s expected of him by (new manager) Nuno Espirito Santo, this is a guy who can hit the ground running.

At only 19, it’s been no surprise that Nuno has looked to protect Ait-Nouri from over exposure, and Krakauer added that fans will have to be patient with the young full-back as he develops.

“Considering his age, it’s important that if he does make mistakes, supporters don’t think he’s not good enough to play in this league. Confidence will be important, he’s moving to a new culture and team with a very different style of play. There’s going to need to be patience but he’s a guy who can put in a shift right away.”

One thing is clear though. The teenager is a highly-rated young talent, and Nuno could be pleasantly surprised if he gives him a consistent run of games over the next few weeks and months.

Meanwhile, Wolves could land a superb bargain in this global star.