Birmingham City have signed Leeds United's England Under-21 defender Cody Drameh on a season-long loan.

Drameh spent the second half of last season on loan at Luton, helping the Hatters go up to the Premier League.

A product of the Fulham youth system, Drameh joined Leeds in 2021 and has also spent time on loan at Cardiff.

"It is a project. It is very exciting right now with the new owners and everything. Everybody has a good buzz around them, it seems like a family sort of vibe - that made me want to come here," Drameh said.

As the footballing world is ensnared in the enthralling drama of the transfer window’s last breaths, Tottenham’s ambitions pierce through.

Johnson: A Star in the Making

Tucked away in Nottingham Forest, Brennan Johnson, with fire in his eyes and ambition pulsating through his veins, visualises himself donning the famous white of Spurs. “I expect to be a Tottenham player by the end of deadline day”, a sentiment echoed by insiders at Football Insider.

Johnson’s affinity for the City Ground is undeniable. But the pull of the London giants is palpable, pushing him to put Spurs atop the pedestal, overlooking other admirers.

Haggling Over the Forest Gem

The intrigue deepens. Spurs’ liaison with Forest revolves around the deal’s blueprint and the down payment’s magnitude. The numbers tossed around? A hefty £45-50 million, potentially an unprecedented exit sum for the stalwarts of the Midlands. And while the two sides wrestle over terms, optimism brews over an impending agreement.

Postecoglou’s Vision

Anchoring Johnson’s lean towards Spurs is Ange Postecoglou’s blueprint for the youngster. Immersed in the Australian’s doctrine, Johnson sees a pathway to metamorphose into a footballing colossus. Although this season witnesses a goal and assist drought in his four games, the previous term’s 10 goals and three assists in 44 appearances for Forest, tell a different tale.

Johnson’s ties to Forest are robust, his contract stretching till June 2026. But could the allure of Tottenham, still licking their wounds from Harry Kane’s departure and a mixed summer performance, sway the decision?

Verdict

As the clock dwindles and fans wait with bated breath, Johnson’s potential move could be the storyline that dominates the headlines. Only time will unveil where this tale leads.

[eplindex]

Nuno Tavares has joined Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan from Arsenal, with an option to buy.

Forest revived talks after the deal stalled last week and Aston Villa had considered the deal.

Tavares arrived at The Emirates in 2021, but has failed to establish himself in the Gunners first team and spent last season on-loan at Marseille. 

He is yet to feature for Mikel Arteta's side so far this season, and looks to have no future under the Spanish boss. 

The 23-year-old played 39 times for Marseille last season, scoring six goals, and now looks set for another loan move as he heads for the City Ground. 

Tavares is expected to be one of a number of arrivals at the City Ground on Friday, with Bologna midfielder Nicolas Dominguez and Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, while Callum Hudson-Odoi is another expected to arrive should Brennan Johnson join Tottenham as expected.

The big one to watch is PSV midfielder Ibrahim Sangare. Forest have followed him all summer for the defensive midfield role and if they can do a deal, it is likely to break their transfer record.

[dailymail]

•  Enzo Maresca's Manchester City connections allowed him to bring defender Callum Doyle to Leicester City on loan.
•  James McAtee, who impressed on loan at Sheffield United, was a potential signing target for Leicester, but he is set to rejoin Sheffield United on loan amid strong interest.
•  McAtee's creative abilities and goal-scoring record would have been a valuable addition to Leicester's midfield, although they have performed well with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in that role.

When Enzo Maresca was appointed as Leicester City manager in the wake of their demoralising relegation back to the Championship, evident perks were attached.

 

One of those, of course, is his Manchester City connections.

The Italian operated as second-in-command to Pep Guardiola prior to trading the Etihad Stadium for the East Midlands over the summer, and also spent time coaching the club's Elite Development Squad, overseeing the nurturing and progression of some of the country's best young talent.

Unsurprisingly, he sought to tap into those relations and brought defender Callum Doyle to the club on a season-long loan, after he starred in Coventry City's ascent to the play-off final last term.

But there was an overarching feeling that Maresca was going to continue to optimise his credit in the bank at City and bring even more prospects to the King Power Stadium across the summer.

A player that seemed destined to potentially make the switch was James McAtee, who had been subjected to extensive interest after impressing on loan during Sheffield United's promotion campaign last time out.

Indeed, Leicester had wanted to add McAtee to their already-strong attacking ranks, but the hopes of that have now been ruled out completely.

 

Leicester City miss out on Man City's James McAtee

This is according to talkSPORT's Alex Crook, who has claimed that McAtee is set to rejoin Sheffield United in the Premier League on another season-long loan amid "strong" interest from the Foxes.

The McAtee development was then followed up by a report from Football Insider that detailed the additional interest displayed from top-flight duo Wolves and Nottingham Forest, meaning that a deal for Leicester will have likely been hard to secure in spite of Maresca's links.

It was previously reported via Alan Nixon's Patreon report that Guardiola had been running the rule over McAtee and was set to decide who would stay at the club this season out of him and fellow homegrown prodigy Cole Palmer, who has now completed oan eye-catching transfer to rivals Chelsea.

Would Man City's James McAtee have been a good signing for Leicester City?

For the Foxes faithful, this one will certainly sting.

McAtee was simply remarkable at times across his stay at Brammall Lane, with his balance and ball control allowing him to evade opposition defenders with ease and travel with possession into dangerous areas of the pitch, which subsequently yielded the nine goals he tallied up amid 21 starts in red and white.

A creative midfielder, the 20-year-old plays beyond his age with intelligence, vision and the inventive ability to break lines and carve out crucial chances, something that would not go amiss at Leicester.

Sure enough, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has occupied that more advanced creative role in Leicester's midfield today, and has done a mightily impressive job at that, but the strength in depth that they would have had with McAtee would really have been something to behold.

It is not necessarily a make or break not getting him, but he undoubtedly would have been a more-than-welcome addition to the side.

[footballleagueworld]

 

September 1 is the transfer deadline day for most clubs in Europe’s top leagues.

The Premier League window closes at 11pm tonight, which means Deadline Day will run late into the evening.

It is similar in Scotland where the window closes at midnight, while LaLiga clubs have until 11pm to do their business.

France’s window shuts at 10pm but clubs in Italy will have to get their business done by 7pm, whereas the Bundesliga window closes at 5pm.

However, the Saudi Arabian window is open until September 7.

This means clubs still run the risk of losing players to the free-spending league once their windows have closed.

[DailyPost]

As the transfer deadline approaches, Liverpool is in talks with Bayern Munich over a possible deal for central midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.

The two parties are working towards an agreement for Gravenberch, as per Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, and the player has 'made clear' that he wants out before the end of the transfer window. He's simply waiting for the green light.

In terms of a transfer fee, Plettenberg reports that Bayern has laid out an asking price of $33m (£26m/€30m), which would represent a sizeable profit on the $21m (£16m/€19m) it paid to sign him from Ajax last summer.

Crucially, though, Bayern was only able to pick him up for a relatively cheap fee because he was into the final year of his contract with Ajax. With the protection of a long-term deal, he likely would have been a lot more expensive given that he'd emerged as one of the most exciting young players on the continent.

He was named the Eredivisie Talent of the Year in 2020/21, his penultimate year in Amsterdam, and made the top 20 for the prestigious Golden Boy award (given to the best under-21 player in a top-flight European league) the same year.

Bayern's then-sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić hailed him as 'one of the biggest talents in Europe' on his arrival (via the official club website) and expressed confidence that the club would 'enjoy lots of success with him'. The plan was to make Gravenberch the centerpiece of an imperious Bayern side for years to come.

However, the first year of the Dutchman's five-year contract proved to be a disappointment all round. He would play a mere 576 minutes in the Bundesliga, the equivalent of just 6.4 full matches, and his stocks have consequently fallen to the extent that he's now available for $33m, with Bayern already prepared to cut its losses rather than persevering.#

That doesn't necessarily mean that Gravenberch is a $33m player — instead, his value is simply at a $33m ebb. If Jürgen Klopp can unlock the potential he displayed at Ajax, this has the potential to be one of the great bargains of his tenure.

It also represents an excellent fee in the current central midfield market, especially so late in the transfer window. You need only look to two of Liverpool's closest rivals for favorable comparisons. Manchester United is reportedly demanding $57m (£45m/€52m) for Scott McTominay (via The Telegraph), a somewhat one-dimensional midfielder who's down the pecking order at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, Manchester City is about to pay Wolves $67m (£53m/€62m) for Matheus Nunes even after his underwhelming start to life at Molineux, which has prompted his managers to shuffle him around the team in search of his best position. Gravenberch could join for half the price of the former Liverpool target, and potentially make a similar impact.

It's fair to say that the 21-year-old may not be exactly what Liverpool needs right now — a specialist number six and an elite left-footed talent in central defense looked like bigger priorities — but for the fee being talked about, you can certainly see why the club is ready to take the risk.

[liverpool]

Novak Djokovic has praised Coco Gauff, saying that she should be aiming high at the 2023 US Open.

Sixth seed Gauff has made a strong start at the last Grand Slam of the season in New York. In the first round, she overcame a dramatic match in which her opponent Laura Siegemund received a time violation to win the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

The 19-year-old then locked horns with 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the second round. The clash was a battle of the teens but it was the more experienced Gauff who prevailed, taking a commanding straight-sets victory over the Russian, 6-3, 6-2.

Djokovic predicts great things for Gauff

Gauff's success at Flushing Meadows comes off the back of two victories on the North American swing, winning both the WTA 500 DC Open and the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open earlier this month.

Now, 23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has praised the rising tennis star, talking highly of her ability while also suggesting the American's coach Brad Gilbert, who she started working with in July, has been helping her to improve exponentially.

"Coco is on the rise. She’s yet to win a Grand Slam, but played in a final. She’s still young, but now with Brad Gilbert on her side with the experience of coaching some of the greats, things are coming together for her... she’s got the home support. Physically she’s very fit, striking the ball very well," Djokovic said.

The Serb added that while Gauff broke onto the scene at a very young age, she is now coming close to the level where she can win Grand Slams.

"She broke to the top of the women’s game quite early, but it still takes a few years to come together where you feel you’re complete as a player, ready to win Slams, and dominate the game.

"I think she’s coming very close to that stage and level. I’m sure she has high hopes for US Open, and she should. Because she’s playing really well," he added.

In the third round of the US Open, both players will face the 32nd seeds in their respective disciplines. Gauff will play Elise Mertens, while Djokovic is set to go up against his compatriot Laslo Djere as he continues his bid to win his fourth US Open title.

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is just under two weeks away from his next title defense against Sean Strickland at UFC 293.

But the often-boisterous champ isn’t focused on Strickland. Instead, it seems he still has his sights set on potential future opponent Dricus Du Plessis.

Du Plessis, who is fresh off a win over former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in June, was expected to be the next challenger for Adesanya’s title.

The reigning champ even entered the cage to confront him following the victory and the two exchanged words in the days after.

“Even after [UFC 290], he’s like, ‘Oh, bro, all you had to do was put some gloves on, we could have got it on right there.’ B——- f—. You wouldn’t have,” Adesanya said.  ‘Cause guess what? He didn’t want it…People were like, ‘Oh, he’s so classy walking away. He’s so [classy].’ I’m like, ‘Bro, he didn’t even walk away. He felt me.’ He didn’t wanna feel me.”

But the fight never came to fruition due to a lingering foot issue for Du Plessis, who turned down the fight at UFC 293.

Now Adesanya says he may have missed a big opportunity

“I’m not mad, I’m disappointed,” Adesanya told MMA Fighting. “He missed out on his opportunity. That would have been [huge], but again, I think it’s for the greater good. That’s OK. When it happens, it will be one the biggest fights in sporting history. All in due time.”

Though the champion says he has other plans in mind for Du Plessis.

“It could happen in South Africa,” Adesanya said. “It could happen somewhere on the great continent of Africa. (Or) it could happen in Nigeria, Morocco, even South Africa — it would be better if we had it in South Africa. I’d like to whoop his a– in his own home country.”

One thing is certain, when the fight does happen (if it does happen), it’ll be must-see TV.

[brobible]