Two Premier League teams namely Leeds United and Manchester United have been beaten to the signing of teenage midfielder Kouadio Kone who plays his club football for Toulouse in the second tier of French football (Ligue II).

The English duo of Manchester United and Leeds United have missed out on the 19-year-old player to German Bundesliga outfit Borussia Moenchengladbach. Transfer news guru Fabrizio Romano disclosed that KouadioKone is closing in on a move to Gladbach. Borussia Moenchengladbach offered €9m for the teenage midfielder and it was accepted by his French club, while agreement on personal terms has also been reached paving the way for the player to move to Germany. Kone will sign a five-and-a-half year deal with Gladbach until the summer of 2026.

Goal.com’s Arsenal correspondent Charles Watts believes the pressure is mounting on Gunners boss Mikel Arteta after he took the decision to drop Mesut Ozil from the Premier League squad altogether. The German fell out-of-favour for the Gunners during the backend of the campaign and the trend has continued this term where he has not been registered to play for them in any competition.

Arteta emphasised that the decision was taken by him without any influence and that has come on to haunt him with the Gunners lacking the creativity in the final third of the pitch. The north London side have managed to score just 10 goals in 11 league games and their scoring form has been dreadful over the past seven matches where they have failed to score on five occasions.

Following the season-ending injury sustained by Liverpool captain and defensive marshall Virgil van Dijk, the Reds have not been able to cope well in the defensive department and have been using make-shift options in recent games.

Van Dijk's defensive partner Joe Gomez is also out with injury, leaving Jurgen Klopp's men prone to defensive frailties from the opening stages of the season. The Reds have identified Roma defender Roger Ibanez and have added him to the list of possible transfer candidates when the January transfer window opens for business.
The defender is also wanted by Premier League outfits Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur as they lock horns and remain in the battle to land the defender in the next transfer window.

Jose Mourinho has done such a fantastic job no one would have believed he would do after being announced as the new Tottenham boss last season.

Jose Mourinho has done such a fantastic job no one would have believed he would do after being announced as the new Tottenham boss last season.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United manager has transformed attackers Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son into world-class players and the pair are currently tearing the league apart in terms of their goal contributions.
In their most recent clash, which was against Arsenal in the north London derby, Kane supplied his South Korean teammate with a sublime pass which he slotted home calmly to give Spurs the lead.

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard will have to be without first choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy for some weeks in what's a big blow to the Blues boss. This is because Mendy will be away on international duty with his country Senegal between January and February 2022. The Chelsea shot stopper will miss several games within this period after he helped the Teranga Lions to qualify for the 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Senegal have joined both holders Algeria and hosts Cameroon in securing a spot at the AFCON tournament. The tournament was initially billed for next year before the Confederation of African Football (CAF) made the decision to push the tournament back until the opening weeks of 2022.