Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Leeds United

• So Leeds have apparently made a £22 million bid for Strasbourg’s Habib Diarra, but here comes Atletico Madrid which, honestly, is probably not a good sign for Leeds United. Better for Habib Diarra, though. Diarra could go to Atletico and play in the Champions League, or he could stay at Strasbourg and play in the Europa Conference League, or he could go to Leeds United and watch us all celebrate wildly if we finish 17th.

• This report, however, says that Diarra’s agents are pushing for a move to the Premier League and not Atletico Madrid, and that Brighton and Everton are also interested in Diarra.

• As Newcastle close in on Burnley GK James Trafford, Newcastle is apparently letting teams know that 33-year old GK Nick Pope is available.

• Leeds at one point were seemingly interested in 25-year old Krasnodar midfielder Eduard Spertsyan, but have chilled out on that.

Elsewhere

• In an effort to keep striker Alexander Isak at Newcastle, the club is prepared to make him the highest-paid player in club history.

• USMNT/AC Milan’s Yunus Musah is for sale after new manager Max Allegri can’t find a spot for him in his tactical set-up.

• Arsenal have made a bid for Brentford captain Christian Norgaard, which is pretty much the end of the Arsenal story for Thomas Partey.

• Luka Modric is headed to AC Milan after the Club World Cup.

• French giants Lyon have been relegated due to financial improprieties (which are like NFL refs calling holding - you can do it to anyone at any time). Part-owner John Textor’s plan to take money from one of his other clubs, in this case Botafogo, to cover losses at Lyon was rejected. It’s a massive blow for Lyon, who have not been in Ligue 2 since 1989 and won seven straight Ligue 1 titles between 2002-2008, and were in the Champions League as recently as 2020.

• Gareth Southgate was knighted.

What To Watch: Wednesday

• 11am (Central): European Under-21 Championships: England v Netherlands. There’s probably an illegal stream somewhere…

• 8pm: Club World Cup: Inter Milan v River Plate. TruTV/TNT.