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Everton might have struggled on Saturday as they ran out a bore draw on the road against Fulham, but the game will have ended leaving Evertonians in a positive mood.

Not because of the scoreline, or even the performance, but the return of Nathan Patterson on the 64-minute mark.

The Scotsman had been injured since the back end of September, with an initial five-week outlay predicted. However, just ahead of schedule, the 21-year-old made his triumphant return.

Although many fans might be calling to see James Garner handed a start, in an attempt to recapture that spark that saw them go six unbeaten earlier in the season, it might just be the return of the youth, speed and directness that Patterson brings that could instead achieve this.

It is no surprise that their three losses on the bounce all came in his absence.

For his debut season in the Premier League, his average SofaScore rating of 6.97 is certainly impressive. He boasts a physicality that far belies his youth, and despite joining the Toffees full of fine recommendations regarding his attacking play, he has been rock solid thus far.

However, journalist Joe Thomas actually claimed that: “Nathan Patterson is Everton’s best attacking outlet”, with Frank Lampard expecting a “strong” future for him at the club.

Averaging 3.5 tackles and 2.5 clearances, Patterson has been a huge part of the defensive turnaround made at Goodison Park. To go from a side that last season shipped 66 to the third-best defence in the division is no small feat.

Although he might be yet to contribute offensively, the fact that he has missed one big chance and created one himself suggests that he is slowly acclimatising, getting in the right positions to become more of a threat.

The all-around game of someone so young makes him an underrated commodity for this level.

The defensive “diamond” – as dubbed Danny Murphy – certainly offers more than the ageing Seamus Coleman, and his inclusion over him is far more important to the team than if Lampard was to drop Idrissa Gueye for Garner.

Although the former Manchester United man might promise much, with his limited cameos from the bench offering glimpses of his quality, it is the return of Patterson that will surely stir fans on Merseyside.

His inclusion in the run-up to the World Cup could be instrumental in reigniting Everton and finishing this portion of the season with a bang.

Leeds United are interested in signing Austin FC forward Sebastian Driussi, according to Nico Cantor.

The Lowdown: Driussi profiled

Driussi is 26 years of age and is primarily a second striker who can also turn out as a centre-forward or a left-winger.

The Argentine began his career with River Plate and has also turned out for Zenit St. Petersburg before moving to the MLS. Driussi has scored 30 goals in 55 games for his current employers, and it looks as if Leeds are keen on a possible move.

The Latest: Leeds links

Cantor took to Twitter on Tuesday evening to share a transfer update on Driussi.

The reporter revealed that Leeds are one of three Premier League sides ‘interested’ in the forward, describing him as a ‘highly sought after’ player.

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The Verdict: Interesting

Leeds could do with additions in the New Year, and a move for Driussi could make sense at Elland Road. Patrick Bamford has once again struggled for form and to stay fit, leaving Jesse Marsch with limited central options.

Driussi can seemingly play as a number nine or number 10 and appears to be in the form of his life with 25 MLS goals in 2022, so this may be one to watch closely.

Despite their disappointing collapse against Tottenham Hotspur, their 4-3 defeat still marked yet another spirited display from Leeds United and an impressive brace from Rodrigo.

It marked his eighth and ninth goals of the Premier League season and fourth straight game with a goal, having already surpassed his tally from the previous two campaigns.

Finally, the Whites are receiving some kind of return on their £26m expenditure, as he has admittedly disappointed since moving to Elland Road.

It marks an especially big improvement on last season, where he averaged a miserable 6.80 SofaScore rating throughout a season when they needed him most.

Perhaps this abandonment could be what is leading Jesse Marsch to dip into the transfer market this January for an eerily similar player to the 31-year-old.

As per TyC Sports, the Yorkshire outfit could be preparing a move to sign FC Austin striker Sebastian Driussi, who has been in blistering goalscoring form.

With interest also coming from German clubs, it led journalist Manuel Veth to Tweet about the attacker, revealing a price tag of €15m (£13m).

His recent record makes Rodrigo’s resurgence seem like a drop in the ocean as last campaign saw him notch up 25 goals and provide a further six assists for his side.

Whilst the 26-year-old can play up front, he too has his position listed as a ‘second striker’ just like Leeds’ Spanish forward.

It does mark a true breakout year for the Argentine, although he has been a relatively consistent goalscorer throughout his career. He boasts 29 goals for River Plate, and 25 for Zenit St. Petersburg too, but only recently has he announced himself as someone truly worth taking note of.

It is these displays that led his head coach Josh Wolff to shower him with praise, stating: “I think he’s quite a valuable player for us.”

He continued:

“He’s a beautiful player, and he’s extremely talented, and again, his ability to make other players around him better is incredible. And then, his work rate again is tremendous.”

These qualities would outline him as a fine fit for Marsch’s unrelenting system, and with Rodrigo’s career potentially coming to a twilight, it seems Driussi has only just really begun.

This deal would mark a huge upgrade, injecting a vast amount of goals into a side that of late seems to have finally found their lethal touch.

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly close to securing a permanent transfer for Dejan Kulusevski. 

The Lowdown: Spurs’ swoop for Kulusevski

The north London club signed the winger back in the previous January transfer window from Juventus on an 18-month loan deal that costs Spurs £8.3m with an obligation to buy the player for £29.2m if certain sporting criteria are met.

Since then, the 22-year-old has made 32 appearances for the Lilywhites across all competitions, scoring six goals and delivering 13 assists along the way.

Now that domestic football has taken a break as a result of there being a winter World Cup taking place in Qatar, it appears that some behind-the-scenes rumblings have been going on at Spurs regarding Kulusevski.

The Latest: Spurs close to permanent Kulusevski deal

According to a recent report from Football Insider, Tottenham have everything in place to sign Kulusevski permanently regardless of whether he activates the reported clauses in his contract.

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The report also adds that with the club apparently obliged to pay £30m to Juventus if he plays 20 Premier League games this season and they finish in the top four, Spurs will push ahead with the permanent signing in 2023 even if those objectives aren’t met.

The Verdict: A no-brainer for Spurs

After joining in January, the winger managed to end the previous league campaign with the third-highest rate of shot-creating actions (3.64), which was more than Harry Kane (3.54) managed to pick up.

Across the nine league games he’s made this season, Kulusevski, who has been hailed as an “outstanding” player by journalist Charlie Eccleshare, has delivered more assists (5) than any other player in Antonio Conte’s squad.

This further highlights how much of a useful and effective attacking figure the £110k-per-week star is for Tottenham and why securing him on a permanent deal should be a no-brainer for the club.

Moving forward, if Spurs can get this deal confirmed at the end of the season, this will undoubtedly be a massive boost for the club, Conte and the supporters.

Everton will have to act quickly if they are to secure a solution to one of their big problems…

What’s the latest?

As per Tutto Salernitana, the Toffees are looking to battle with West Ham United for the signature of Boulaye Dia.

Having starred on loan at Salernitana, the Villarreal striker has since impressed for his nation at the World Cup.

With a €12m (£10m) price tag touted, it is said that what separates the sides in their pursuit is that the Hammers already have an offer tabled. This could push Frank Lampard to act sooner to remain in the race.

Lampard could ditch Maupay

With the 44-year-old clearly struggling up front, bringing in a striker in January will likely be his priority.

Especially given how disappointing summer signing Neal Maupay has been in front of goal this season, with his diminutive physical presence offering little to offset the continued absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

The Frenchman boasts just one Premier League goal so far and an average SofaScore rating of 6.59.

Meanwhile, his Senegalese counterpart could not be in more blistering form.

Before travelling to Qatar the 26-year-old had scored six and assisted twice in just 14 Serie A matches, helping a side that last season narrowly avoided relegation to a comfortable mid-table finish after 15 games.

Capping off his remarkable season, he even opened the goalscoring in their 3-1 win over hosts Qatar.

It has been a meteoric rise for the marksman, who last season had impressed for his parent club too with a seven-goal and six-assist haul.

Marlon Harewood even spoke to Football FanCast about how delighted he would be should he make the move to the London Stadium, which could bode similarly well for Everton. 

“It seems like he’s got goals, and he’s got a good ratio at the moment,” he said, before adding: “Hopefully he’s another [Michail] Antonio because he’s been absolutely fantastic.”

In terms of form, swapping Maupay for Dia seems a no-brainer.

It is clear there is a gulf in goalscoring class between them, and not to mention these comparisons to Michail Antonio suggest he could offer far more physicality up top.

Should they manage to sneak in to snatch this deal from the east London outfit, it would mark a huge coup for Lampard and finally allow him to ditch his summer flop.

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Marcus Thuram to the Premier League in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Ignazio Genuardi, with the French journalist revealing in a recent post on Twitter that, despite the Borussia Mönchengladbach centre-forward believed to be willing to wait until the end of the current campaign before securing a move away from the Bundesliga side, Fabio Paratici could launch a surprise move for the 25-year-old in January.

The reporter went on to state in a further post that Gladbach would command a €20m (£17m) fee in order to sanction the striker’s sale this winter, while the player himself is said to be demanding a salary of €10m (£8.5m) – roughly £163k-per-week – from a potential new suitor – with Aston Villa, Arsenal and Newcastle United also said to be keen on the France international.

Regarding Thuram’s future, Genuardi said:

“Courted by a slew of European teams, Thuram could wait until next summer to pack his bags, but a surprise cannot be ruled out this winter. According to some indiscretions, Tottenham could give it a try in January.

“At the end of his contract with Gladbach, [Thuram] is also courted by Aston Villa, Arsenal and Newcastle on the English market. While the Germans could claim up to €20m this winter, the player expects a salary of around €10m (excluding bonuses).”

Absolute steal

Considering just how impressive Thuram has been for Borussia Mönchengladbach so far this season, should Paratici manage to land the centre-forward ahead of the likes of Arsenal, Villa and Newcastle in a £17m deal this winter, it would undoubtedly represent both a massive coup and an absolute steal for the Italian sporting director.

Indeed, over his 15 Bundesliga appearances in the current campaign, the £26m-rated talent has been in red-hot form going forwards, having already scored 10 goals, registered three assists and created three big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 3.7 shots – 2.0 of which have hit the target – making 0.9 key passes and completing 1.5 dribbles per game.

These returns have seen the £54k-per-week forward who Denis Zakaria dubbed “crazy” average a rather remarkable Sofascore match rating of 7.19, not only ranking him as Daniel Farke’s fourth-best performer in the league but also as the joint 23rd-best player in the top flight of German football as a whole.

The 25-year-old has also caught the eye over his two outings in the DFB-Pokal this term, bagging three goals and providing his teammates with one assist, as well as taking an average of 3.0 shots – 2.5 of which have been on target – making 1.5 key passes and completing 2.5 dribbles – at a success rate of 83% – per match.

These metrics have seen the Frenchman average a simply breathtaking Sofascore match rating of 8.35, not only ranking him as Gladbach’s joint-best performer in the competition but also as the joint 19th-best player in the tournament in its entirety.

Furthermore, with Thuram also more than capable of operating from the left or right wing – having played a total of 98 games from the flanks – it would very much appear as if the six-cap star would be a perfect fit for either of Antonio Conte’s 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formations at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – as either a partner for Harry Kane up top or on the left of a front three.

As such, with the former Guingamp star clearly being a player who is incredibly deadly in the final third, able to progress the ball extremely efficiently and versatile enough to feature anywhere across a front three, landing such a talent for a fee as little as £17m would indeed look to be something of a steal for Paratici in the January transfer window.

Glasgow Rangers supporters of a certain vintage will remember the glory days of the 1990s when the late great Walter Smith led the Ibrox side to nine in a row Premiership titles and countless domestic trophies.

During the final few seasons of this extraordinary run, Smith relied on the wonderful duo of Ally McCoist and Paul Gascoigne to get an ageing Rangers side over the line and match Celtic’s record.

The mercurial Englishman scored 39 goals for Rangers, while McCoist is the Light Blues’ all-time leading goal scorer and the two clicked straight away. Their most memorable moment came in the 1996 League Cup final, as the pair scored twice each in an enthralling 4-3 victory over Hearts.

Michael Beale would certainly love a duo like that in his current Rangers side, and with starlets Alex Lowry and Zak Lovelace thriving at youth level, he may just have the next Gazza and McCoist waiting in the wings.

Lowry made his first team debut in last season’s Scottish Cup win over Stirling Albion, even scoring shortly after he entered the game from the bench and his qualities are similar to that of Gascoigne.

He is very attack-minded and extremely comfortable on the ball, not shy about getting stuck in when the going gets tough either and he can become a mainstay in the Gers midfield for years to come.

Journalist Joshua Barrie described him as a “step above everyone else” during a Lowland League tie and he could form an excellent duo with Lovelace in the future.

The Englishman is three years younger than Lowry, however, his potential is limitless. He made his first team debut for Millwall at just 15 and joined the Ibrox side in the summer, going straight into the B team.

He certainly shares McCoist’s keen eye for goal, scoring 11 goals in 26 matches for the B team this term, while also chipping in with eight assists and he even made his senior bow against Queen of the South in the League Cup back in August.

Beale is expected to give youth players a chance in his Rangers team, and with Lowry and Lovelace raring to go, the future is bright.

Liverpool have had their worst start to a Premier League season in a decade and with the transfer market opening up again next month, the club have been linked with a new potential target.

What’s the latest?

According to reports coming out of Spain, Liverpool are interested in signing Villarreal star Alex Baena.

As per the report, the young forward has become one of the hottest prospects in La Liga and has started to attract attention from Premier League clubs with the Reds named alongside Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal as interested parties.

It is reported further that Baena has a €35m (£30m) release clause that Villarreal are desperate to increase by tying the player into a long-term contract in an effort to deter interest.

Imagine him & Nunez

It is no secret that Liverpool are prioritising their midfield rebuild during the upcoming transfer windows ahead, however, there is no doubt that strengthening the forward line would only improve the quality of the team’s already-formidable attacking threat.

The Reds let go of Divock Origi, Sadio Mane and Takumi Minamino over the summer and only added Darwin Nunez to bolster their attack following the departures so there is definitely room to add depth in the forward positions, especially considering that Liverpool tend to compete ruthlessly in all competitions.

As a result, the signing of Baena would be a huge coup for Liverpool and could give them more options when dealing with congested fixtures, to allow them to maintain the high quality expected on all fronts in all competitions.

The 21-year-old rising star – who was hailed “spectacular” by writer Pablo Benitez – ranks in the top 5% of his positional peers across the top five European leagues for non-penalty goals, shots on goal, progressive passes received and touches, proving that he is a phenomenal attacking presence in his team.

Over 13 LaLiga appearances this season, Baena has scored four goals, created two big chances and completed 64% of his dribbles, as well as averaging 1.4 shots on goal, 24.6 touches and 2.6 duels won per game.

One of the most fitting attributes that the talented player possesses is his versatility in positioning something that would be highly valued by Klopp as he likes his players to be capable of moving around the pitch to pose unpredictability on opponents, especially in the forward line.

Baena is predominantly a left winger but has a lot of experience in the attacking midfield and right winger roles too, making him the perfect partner to work with Nunez by playing alongside the Uruguayan striker to strengthen attacking opportunities delivered to Nunez from different positions on the pitch.

With that being said, the signing of Baena would be a great piece of business for the powers at Anfield, however, they will need to produce a very tempting offer to fend off their Premier League rivals also in pursuit of his signature.

Journalist Dean Jones has said that it would be ‘really interesting’ if Wolves manage to sign Atletico Madrid’s Matheus Cunha.

The Lowdown: Offer being prepared

The Old Gold are keen on making up to six January signings and are believed to be in discussions with up to 15 players ahead of the winter market officially opening in two weeks’ time.

Cunha seems to be a top target at Molineux, with recent reports suggesting that Wolves are preparing an offer for the 23-year-old and have been in contact with the player’s representatives.

Hailed as a “magician” by his former club RB Leipzig, Cunha is also wanted by Midlands rivals Aston Villa despite netting just seven times in 54 games for Atletico.

The Latest: Jones’ comments

Jones was speaking to GiveMeSport regarding the rumours on Wolves and Cunha. He said a transfer to Molineux would be ‘really interesting’ and added that Julen Lopetegui may think that the Brazilian could raise the standards of the other players at Molineux.

The journalist said in relation to this transfer rumour: “Maybe Lopetegui feels that it’s something that can improve the level of the players around him. So, this would be a really interesting signing.”

The Verdict: Fingers crossed

Cunha has shown his quality in the past despite struggling in La Liga, contributing to 23 goals in 40 games for Hertha Berlin.

Adding to Wolves’ attacking ranks should be a top priority for Lopetegui next month, as they have netted just eight times in 15 Premier League games so far this season, the lowest tally in the division.

Cunha can also play on either wing, which could come in handy when summer signing Sasa Kalajdzic returns from injury next year, so fingers crossed that it is Wolves who win the race for the Brazilian’s services.

BBC radio pundit Alan Hutton has shared his verdict on Manchester United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka amid rumours linking the player with a January move away from Old Trafford. 

The Lowdown: Wan-Bissaka linked with United exit

Since joining the Red Devils from Crystal Palace in 2019 for £50m, the Englishman has gone on to make 128 appearances for United across all competitions.

However, the defender has recently found himself linked with a move away from Old Trafford in January, with the likes of Wolves, West Ham United and Palace reportedly interested in him.

With the winter market set to open in a few days’ time, one pundit has hinted that Erik ten Hag could dispense with the 25-year-old next month if the opportunity comes up.

The Latest: Hutton’s Wan-Bissaka verdict

Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton praised Wan-Bissaka’s defensive acumen but feels that the player does not offer enough attacking-wise and, having failed to ‘fit into’ the plans of Ten Hag and previous managers, the Scotsman believes that the right-back’s time at Old Trafford could soon be up.

The 37-year-old said in reaction to the recent exit links surrounding the United defender: “I think they did spend a lot of money on him. He has played quite a number of games but he just does not fit into the way of thinking at this moment in time, or under previous managers.

“He is very defensive. He is probably the best 1v1 defender that England have got out of all the right-backs, it is just the other side that he does not really give you.”

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The Verdict: A decision for Ten Hag

Despite only making two appearances for the Red Devils this season, Wan-Bissaka’s performance in the 2-0 win over Burnley in the Carabao Cup in midweek showed what he can offer when called upon.

In addition to providing the assist for United’s first goal of that game, the right-back also made two tackles and one interception and won eight of his nine duels, as per Sofascore.

He also completed two of the three dribbles that he attempted, which suggests that despite Hutton’s concern over the 25-year-old’s attacking abilities, the full-back has shown that he can be quite a capable player in that regard.

Taking all of that into account, it feels that Ten Hag has a big decision to make as to whether moving Wan-Bissaka out of the club in January would be a good move for all parties.