Wolverhampton Wanderers will likely be active in the transfer market this winter as they look to strengthen their squad and build on their impressive start.

The Molineux outfit, who are on a slump of three consecutive defeats at the moment, started their Premier League campaign well, but Nuno Espirito Santo will have been able to identify a number of areas that he wants to improve.

However, it seems he is ready to offload one of his players as well and has been preparing him for a switch away from the club.

According to a report by the Birmingham Mail, Dominic Iorfa is expected to be leaving Wolves in the near future.

The 23-year-old has been cast aside by Nuno this season despite having racked over 90 appearances for the club.

The former England Under-21 international has been allowed to train and play for the developmental side in a bid to get ready for a January transfer, with Rob Edwards stating Iorfa knows what the plans are for him this season.

“Dom has been really mature about his situation. He knows what he has to do. He knows what the plan will be for him this season,” he said.

“Dom knows no other way than giving 100 percent. He’s in every single day talking to the lads, working with them and leading them.

“It’s probably a difficult period for him at the moment but I’ve been so happy and so pleased with him.”

The Verdict:

It would come as no surprise that Wolves are looking to try and shift Iorfa on this winter, as he has completely fallen out of favour since the arrival of Nuno.

The centre-back is considered to be heavily down the pecking order and is yet to have been named in a matchday squad for the club in the Premier League this season.

The professionalism mentioned by Edwards could certainly go in Iorfa’s favour in trying to find a new club, as he continues to give it his all, despite the situation for him being so bleak at Molineux.

Wolves fans – thoughts?

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Republic of Ireland captain Seamus Coleman is the latest Premier League name to give money to the Sean Cox fundraiser, per reports in The Independent.

Cox was attacked ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final with Roma in April and the 53-year-old remains in hospital as he continues his recovery.

The Irishman was left in a coma when the visiting fan set upon him outside Anfield, leaving his victim with potentially life-changing injuries.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp recently donated €5,000 to an online fundraiser set up to aid the Reds fan’s recovery, something Coleman was keen to follow.

According to The Independent’s report, Coleman insisted: “We have to be together, I think football is great for sticking together. Rivalries go out the window with stuff like that. You don’t see a crest or a jersey, you see a man who came to support his team and unfortunately it didn’t end too well for him.

“I saw on social media the Liverpool manager had donated some money and saw there was a link to a GoFundMe page. I wanted to put my name to it because sometimes that raises more publicity.”

Since being created on October 4, the GoFundMe page has toppled €222,000 with more than 4,500 donations made.

Coleman has put rivalries aside in an incredibly honourable gesture but will need to rediscover his lack of fondness for Liverpool when his Everton team travel to Anfield for the first Merseyside derby of the season at the start of December.

DW Kick off reporter Dave Branneck lives and works in Berlin but has been a fan of the New York Metrostars for most of his life.

Regrettably for Branneck though, in 2006 the Metrostars were bought by Austrian energy drink conglomerate Red Bull and have since been known as the New York Red Bulls, just a year after Austria Salzburg had also undergone a similar transformation.

In his most recent video, Branneck explores what it’s like when your club is owned by one of the world’s most marketable corporations. To do this, he travels to the energy drink company’s most successful club, Leipzig.

After buying the playing rights of fifth-tier side SSV Markranstädt in 2009, Red Bull ploughed in the money and within eight years the club were promoted to the Bundesliga.

The success in Germany though meant that funds were diverted from the other clubs and focused on Leipzig, meaning New York suffered.

“That sweet, sweet soda money brought in star players like Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel, Tim Cahill and Rafa Marquez. Red Bull were one of the league’s biggest spenders, and fans certainly took notice,” Branneck says of the first few years of corporation ownership.

However, Branneck later goes on to comment: “With Leipzig’s rise, New York went from a star-studded side to a farm team for the German branch.”

His personal opinion after the journey? A football club owned by and named after a corporation isn’t normal. And it shouldn’t be.

“I’ll hold onto my old jerseys and keep calling them Metro, but as much as I hate modern football and what it’s done to my club, I just can’t give it up,” he says.

Like the video? If you want to see more football stories great and small, as well as interviews with Bundesliga and international football stars, subscribe to the DW Kick off! YouTube channel.

Man City have started the season incredibly well and look like they’ll once again be the leading contender for the title this season. 

Over the summer, Pep added another star to his attacking arsenal as he brought in Leicester City’s mercurial winger, Riyad Mahrez for £60 million in what was the club’s lone marquee signing of the summer.

One area that the club failed to strengthen in the transfer window was in midfield, and aside from Fernandinho, Pep doesn’t really have any other midfielder whom he can call upon to do the Brazilian’s job.

With City looking to find a long-term replacement for the Brazilian, there have been plenty of rumours linking them with a move for Ajax sensation Frenkie De Jong and according to Spanish website, Sport via Sport Witness, Man City’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain has met with the player and Ajax several times to discuss a move.

The Breakdown

The 21-year-old is yet another player to come out of the famed Ajax academy and in tandem with Matthijs de Ligt, he has been the club’s best player this season.

Capable of playing in defence and midfield, De Jong has already shown that he has the technical ability needed to play at the highest level. He can take the ball under pressure and is a terrific passer.

The only question mark concerning his game is if he has the defensive awareness to play at the base of Pep’s midfield.

Last night against Germany, he showed that he could do the job as he helped Holland come back to draw against Germany. If City can sign the midfielder, they may just have found Fernandinho’s long-term successor.

Thoughts City fans?  

Claudio Ranieri will hope to kick off his reign as Fulham manager with a win against Southampton at the weekend.

The Cottagers are bottom of the Premier League following a slow start under Slavisa Jokanovic, and Ranieri is the man the Fulham board believe can steer them to safety. Fulham have been conceding goals at an alarming rate and solving their defensive issues will definitely be a priority for the former Leicester boss. Given the quality of Fulham’s squad, fans will be hopeful of improved performances under the Premier League winner.

The January transfer window is less than two months away, and Ranieri will be given his first opportunity to tailor the squad to his needs. In order to stop leaking goals, the ex-Chelsea boss should be targeting defensive reinforcements.

One man who he could lure to Craven Cottage is Manchester United veteran – Antonio Valencia. Valued at £7.2m by Transfermarkt, the Ecuador international has been a key player for the Red Devils for a number of years after finding a home at right-back. However, the ex-Wigan man has made just four appearances in the Premier League so far and has less than one year remaining on his contract. The defender has also stated his intention to stay in England if United aren’t willing to extend his stay at the club.

Valencia has bags of Premier League and European experience which would prove vital in the long-term as Fulham bid for survival. His time with Wigan will also help the defender settle into life under Ranieri as fast as possible. The 33-year-old may be approaching the end of his career, but he still has a few years left at the highest level and bringing him to London wouldn’t break the bank.

Landing Valencia in January could prove to be a masterstroke from the former Inter Milan boss.

Fulham fans, thoughts?

It’s been an up and down season for West Ham so far this year. At times it looks as though they could push towards the top eight but at others, it looks as though they may also slide towards the bottom end of the table. 

Yesterday, Man City destroyed Manuel Pellegrini’s side 4-0 in a game where The Hammers didn’t really have a chance. West Ham currently sit 13th in the table, three points ahead of Newcastle in 14th – the two face each other next weekend.

Over the summer, West Ham were active in the transfer market and broke the club transfer record fee twice on Issa Diop and Felipe Anderson.

Anderson has been one of the best players at the club so far this season and in tandem with Marko Arnautovic, Pellegrini has a duo that can trouble any team.

According to The Sun, Man U are ready to bid £50 million for Arnautovic and if that is the case, Pellegrini must push through the deal as quickly as possible.

The Breakdown

On his day, Arnautovic is one of the best strikers in the league and has so far scored five goals in the league this season.

Losing him would be a huge blow for the side but it may also avoid some unneeded upheaval during the season. At this point in time, West Ham can ill afford to have a huge transfer saga derail their club and if Pellegrini is wise, he will sell the at times troublesome striker and reinvest it in a new signing in January.

Thoughts West Ham fans? 

According to a recent report from The Daily Mirror, Everton are interested in a move for midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure. The Frenchman currently plays his football at fellow Premier League outfit Watford and has done so since leaving Rennes in 2016, with his masterful efforts in the heart of the Hornets midfield attracting interest around the English top-flight.

And Marco Silva’s Everton are the latest side to reportedly seek to sign the £13.5 million-rated star (as per Transfermarkt), and while a deal for the 25-year-old would likely delight many Evertonians, it could spell seriously bad news for current Toffees star Tom Davies.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, Watford’s Doucoure has proven to be one of the most effective central midfielders in the Premier League in the last two seasons, with the 25-year-old combining brilliance on the ball with tenacity off it to prove himself as a seriously good top-flight midfielder.

And with four assists already this time round for Javi Gracia’s men, adding to the seven goals and four assists he contributed last term, Doucoure is continuing to prove his worth and deliver the goods for the Hertfordshire-based outfit – it’s no surprise that Everton are reportedly keen on his services.

And that’s because there does appear to be something of an issue in the centre midfield ranks at Goodison Park, as although Andre Gomes appears to have made that spot his own alongside Idrissa Gueye, the other options at Silva’s disposal haven’t been inspiring confidence.

And one of those is 20-year-old Davies, who has come up through the youth ranks at Goodison Park and already has 78 first team appearances to his name, with some mightily impressive displays sandwiched among them to suggest that he is the future of the Merseyside club.

However, while he appeared 43 times in all competitions last season, he has seriously struggled for game time under Silva this time round with just six Premier League appearances to his name, none of which have come in their last five league matches.

Yes, he was indeed made captain by Silva for matches against Arsenal, Fulham, and Leicester City, but he has on the whole failed to prove his worth in that central midfield position – Gomes and Gueye look an infinitely better partnership.

Thus, Davies appears to be out of the first team picture even now let alone were Doucoure to make the move to Goodison Park – and while Gomes’ deal is only temporary until the end of the season, it’s still difficult to see Davies usurping the Watford man in the pecking order.

As such, while Everton fans will surely be thrilled were their side to land Doucoure, it could spell seriously bad news for current Toffees ace Davies and his future prospects at Goodison Park.

Everton fans… what do you think? Let us know!

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Rangers boss Steven Gerrard will have some tough selection decisions to make as the Scottish side come up against Rapid Vienna in their final group game of the Europa League, knowing that a win will put them through to the knockout stages.

One player who should be dropped from the weekend’s draw with Dundee though is Jordan Rossiter, after the 21-year-old struggled on his return to the starting XI.

Rossiter only managed 57 minutes before being hooked by Gerrard on Sunday and replaced by Borna Barisic, as the Gers struggled to break down the ten men in front of them. The former Liverpool academy star has only made four appearances in all competitions so far this season having come back from a long-term calf injury.

Gerrard’s side travel to Austria for their game on Thursday sitting one point below their upcoming opposition in third place in group G, and Rossiter should be sacrificed for a more creative midfielder in order to give the Gers more of an attacking threat.

So, Rangers fans, should Jordan Rossiter be handed another chance to impress with a place in the starting lineup? Have your say by voting in the poll below.

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Crystal Palace’s goalscoring woes appear to be the crux of their struggles in the Premier League – they sit just three points above the drop zone – so surely a clinical striker will be the priority for Roy Hodgson and co come January. However, there is one other area in the Eagles squad that could do with an upgrade and that would be provided by the signing of Hertha Berlin’s Valentino Lazaro. Maybe this signing would mean millions don’t have to be spent on a new hitman.

Tiresome Townsend

While risking the outrage of the masses of Palace fans who are still raving about his wonder-strike against Burnley, it must be said that an alternative to Andros Townsend should be brought in as soon as possible in a bid to boost the Eagles’ creative potential.

The journeyman, now playing for his 12th career club, appears to have finally settled down and found a home at Selhurst Park but his predictability in cutting in and onto his left-foot suffocates the Palace attack and makes defending against them so much easier.

While he is capable of producing a moment of brilliance, as he did against the Clarets, more times than not that same strike hits Row Z and a winger who can offer another dimension could make the difference in Palace’s bid for survival.

What can Lazaro offer?

Lazaro’s direct approach and pin-point crossing should make him an extremely attractive prospect to the big heads at Selhurst, who have surely been trying to figure out a way to get the best out of their misfiring strikers – the current solution being to leave them out entirely and play Townsend and Wilfried Zaha up top.

Christian Benteke scored 17 goals in his debut season in red and blue but has bagged just three in 35 appearances since then and is now out of action until 2019 with a knee injury – bringing in Lazaro could be just the move Hodgson needs to make to get the big Belgian firing again when he returns to fitness.

The Austrian has chalked up two goals and three assists in the Bundesliga this season – impressive when you consider that he has not been given a regular position and has been deployed all across the midfield and at right-back in his 25 appearances in all competitions.

WhoScored lists both the 22-year-old’s crossing and key passes as ‘Very Strong’ – with the latter of which being 2.1 per game – and this should make great reading for header-merchant Benteke, who would surely love to see a creator of this ilk be brought in.

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West Ham made some huge signings over the summer, meaning that some get more attention than others. 

High profile transfers such as Felipe Anderson, Andriy Yarmalenko, Issa Diop and Fabián Balbuena have stolen the headlines so far amongst others.

However, one player that has perhaps not received as much praise as players such as Anderson is goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański. The Pole has been imperious this season between the sticks, and deserves a huge amount of credit.

He had just been voted the Swansea City Player of the Season before joining The Hammers in the summer, and carried this good form to the London Stadium. He has kept three clean sheets so far this season, and has made the second most saves in the league to date.

It is not very often that a goalkeeper receives the plaudits for a team’s success, but Fabiański is proving to be the rock at the back for West Ham that has carried them through some tough periods throughout this season. The club made a poor start to their Premier League campaign, losing their first four matches, but the Pole still made a good account of himself throughout that spell.

As West Ham worked through their rough patch, perhaps Fabiański ensured the got more points than they should have at times. Now that West Ham have climbed up the table to ninth place in the Premier League, the fans and players owe a huge amount to Fabiański and the effort that he has put in this season. He may have crept under the radar to an extent, but he has been wonderful this season.