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Short, but sweet. Henderson’s return to first-team training will no doubt boost his teammates, with an important game tomorrow lunchtime away to Brighton, to who well-respected journalist Henry Winter described him as the club’s “beacon of hope” (via the club’s official website).

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This will delight Liverpool fans. He is a player that they could have done with on Wednesday and will be welcomed back with open arms.

With Thiago Alcantara still not fully match fit and Fabinho looking like he will drop back to centre-back, Henderson will be key in the midfield.

Despite the quick turnaround, Liverpool will be wanting to right the wrong from their midweek woes and get back to winning ways in the Premier League.

And in other news, Liverpool fans react jubilantly to official statement concerning Jurgen Klopp’s key assets.

With hundreds of million enthusiastic football fans worldwide, brands are very eager to become visible in the football world. Brand sponsorships of football teams is a symbiotic partnership that has worked well for many years. The entrance of gambling companies into football sponsorship raised the stakes. It is not uncommon to hear nowadays of a gambling brand sponsoring a football for tens of millions of dollars.

Shirt Sponsorships

Football teams have the most loyal fans in sports. Even local small-town teams trigger fervent support in their home fans when playing. Brands stand to gain a lot by associating with a football team and building brand loyalty and trust.

A shirt sponsorship will have a football team wearing football shirts decorated with a brand’s logos and trademarks. It is an endorsement of the brand by the team.  The team’s message to the team’s fans is that the brand is to be trusted.

Gambling Company Sponsorships

The trend for big gambling companies getting into team sponsorships started in the 2000s. The laws had been changed in the UK to allow betting companies to operate more freely. There was a big rush by gambling companies to get more customers. The most direct and effective way was to get into sponsorships with the big EPL teams.

The trend spread to other big football leagues. Nowadays, almost half the teams in major leagues wear logos of big gambling companies and online casinos. It has been a win-win arrangement. Customer numbers for gambling companies have risen, while football teams get much-needed cash for their operations.

For gambling companies and sportsbooks, the hope is that they can convince a team’s fans that this is the right betting platform. It is a way to gain trust. As a fan, you can judge this by looking at how the sponsor treats the team. You can also see what different pundits are saying. For example, read Aldo McNeal’s review of SkyCity Online Casino.

It is not hard to see that gambling companies have much to gain from football sponsorships. A report by Global Betting and Gaming Consultants showed huge revenue growth in the UK. The gross gambling yield for gambling companies operating in the UK grew from £908.5m in 2016 to £1.4bn in 2019.

Big online casinos have started offering sports betting markets.  For them, the logic is simple. If you can get football fans to use your betting platform, you can then lure them into making other bets. A football fan making a bet on his favourite team on the weekend will see an attractive promotion on the slots and decide to spin a few times.

Football Teams Gains

Big football teams are some of the most profitable entities in the world. But they also have huge expenditures.  Manchester United’s payroll in 2020 is $206 million. There are huge expenses in training, medical, nutrition, logistics, and the transfer market. Man Utd spent $79.7 million in 2020.

These huge costs must be offset somehow.  Gate tickets and merchandise sales cannot meet these expenses. It is where sponsorship deals come in. Man Utd received $223 million in sponsorships deals in 2020. The sponsorship is a huge cash inflow for a team.

While the top teams may not need gambling sponsorship that much, smaller teams without expanded revenue streams need it.  About half the teams in the EPL have gambling sponsorships. 17 out of 24 English Championship teams depend on shirt sponsorship deals with gambling companies.

Even the top six EPL teams that do not have shirt sponsorship deals have partnered with gambling companies in one way or another. The money is too much to ignore.  Shirt sponsorship deals in the EPL will be worth $349 million in the 2020/2021 season.

Apart from gambling companies logos appearing on team shirts, they will also be visible in playing venues.

Gambling companies are also targeting teams in Asia and Africa. These are the fastest-growing betting markets in the world. Big betting companies in these countries will sponsor multiple teams in the same league.

League sponsorships

Gambling companies have gone on to sponsor entire leagues in some countries. In Kenya, the national football federation is sponsored by a gambling company.  The gambling company gets visibility in all events organized by the federation.  League sponsorship is becoming more common outside Europe and the US.

Gambling sponsorships have become essential support for the football world. The importance of this support has been seen in 2020 when gate tickets dried up due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.  This win-win arrangement will likely become the dominant form of sponsorship in football for years to come.

Wolves’ midfield is a fine engine room indeed – you’ve got the brawn of Leander Dendoncker, the control of Ruben Neves and some finesse from Joao Mourinho, though it is still lacking in one department.

Creativity.

And it appears that they missed the perfect solution this summer.

What was the word?

According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon last January, the Midlands outfit were “desperate” to sign then-Birmingham City wonderkid Jude Bellingham, but they faced competition from Manchester United as well as teams from within Europe’s top divisions.

The 17-year-old eventually opted for Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund in July, joining them in a record-breaking £25m deal and following in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho.

Speaking about the move, BVB sporting director, Michael Zorc, said: “He has enormous potential that we want to develop with him in the coming years. He already has a surprising amount of quality in his own possession as well as against the ball, and on top of that, the player also has a strong mentality.”

One that got away?

The decision to not push for a player that Nuno Santo seemingly was keen to sign has already proven to be a costly mistake.

This week, Bellingham was called up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for games against Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Iceland. He’s still only 17.

Bukayo Saka claimed that his new Three Lions teammate was “doing amazing things” whilst Tyrone Mings believes he looks like a “fantastic talent” from training alone.

It’s no wonder that this amount of faith has been put in him, as he’s been performing substantially well in Germany since his mega-money switch.

The Dortmund sensation has scored one goal and provided two assists in all competitions whilst also averaging a passing success rate of 88.3%.

In the Bundesliga alone, Bellingham has averaged two tackles, 1.2 shots, 1.2 dribbles and one key pass per game, via WhoScored.

By comparison, none of the aforementioned Old Gold trio have contributed to a goal in the Premier League this season and only Neves surpasses the young England teen for key passes per game.

Bellingham has even been compared to Steven Gerrard in the past – Jermaine Pennant told talkSPORT (via Bundesliga.com): “He reminds me of a young Steven Gerrard. He throws himself about, he can get up and down the pitch, he can score goals and assist goals, he’s got trickery. He’s a fantastic young player.”

You can’t help but feel that Jeff Shi has missed out big time here, especially when one of his key philosophies revolves around bringing such fantastic potential to Molineux.

AND in other news, Shi dodged a huge £23.5m bullet in “fearless” Wolves target once dubbed a “nightmare”…

Leeds United put in an impressive performance, keeping their first clean sheet since returning to the Premier League, as they went on to beat Sheffield United 1-0.

Patrick Bamford and Jack Harrison will understandably take a lot of the plaudits, due to their respective involvements in the only goal of the game.

However, plenty of other players are deserving of praise for their individual contributions to the cause and Luke Ayling is certainly one of those.

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He epitomised what Marcelo Bielsa demands his players bring to the team, as he was relentless, played with conviction and showed the quality in his game.

The mix of these qualities can be seen in the 29-year-old’s defensive statistics from the match, as he completed all four of his attempted tackles, while also making two clearances – Enda Stevens was the only player on the pitch to make more tackles.

He also battled for the ball well in the air, winning two of the three aerial duels that he competed in throughout the 90 minutes.

The right-back also showed attacking intent, completing all of the four dribbles he attempted, which is more than any other player on the pitch managed.

In addition, he completed 75% of his passes, one of which was a key pass, and also got two shots off.

It was an all-action performance from the Leeds man, who has shown, alongside his teammates, that he can take the step up from Championship level, translating Bielsa’s philosophy in a higher division.

Ayling’s overall performance, as well as those from various others in the team, is likely to leave the Argentinian feeling very satisfied.

This article forms part of our Profit Players feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how well a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how good of a deal the club managed to achieve.

Kyle Walker took to social media to post a heartfelt farewell to Tottenham Hotspur when he moved to Manchester City in 2017.

He even dropped former boss Mauricio Pochettino a message on WhatsApp to try to repair their relationship.

But those cracks have never fully healed as the pair have continued to take potshots at each other in public interviews ever since they left north London.

The then-Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp bought Walker and Kyle Naughton from Sheffield United for an undisclosed fee in 2009, believed to be a combined total of £10m for both defenders, back when the Blades were still in the Championship.

Walker returned to Bramall Lane for the duration of the 2009/10 season as part of the deal, until the right-back was recalled by his parent club to provide cover for Vedran Corluka after Alan Hutton left on loan.

He earned his first start for the Lilywhites during the 2-0 win over Portsmouth in 2010.

After successive stints at Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa, he indicated he would be open to a return to Villa Park, but Redknapp refused to sell him.

He subsequently started the opening fixture against Manchester United in 2011 before scoring a sensational screamer to give Spurs the victory in the north London derby against Arsenal.

Walker was rewarded for his efforts the following year after he beat his teammate Gareth Bale to the PFA Young Player of the Year award. He was also included in the PFA Team of the Year and signed a new five-year deal keeping him at the club until at least 2017.

Lest we forget, he formed a formidable partnership with Danny Rose, with the two full-backs bombing down the flanks on multiple occasions.

As is often the case, all good things come to an end, and his nose was turned almost as soon as Manchester City came calling.

City signed Walker for £45m plus add-ons, bringing the total amount to £50m, making him one of the most expensive English players at the time.

Although there is no love lost between them, he started 31 games for Pochettino’s side as they finished Premier League runners-up, tied with his teammate Kieran Trippier and Bournemouth’s Adam Smith on five assists apiece.

And Spurs have never really recovered in that position ever since his acrimonious departure.

Trippier failed to fill the void left by his international teammate as his final season in north London saw him struggle for form, while Kyle Walker-Peters was sent to Southampton on loan before being sold to the Saints this summer.

Step forward Serge Aurier. Or on second thoughts, the least said about that one, the better.

Meanwhile Walker has gone from strength to strength, winning the top flight title twice, as well as the FA Cup and EFL Cup.

In contrast Spurs have suffered from inconsistency since they came so close to winning the league.

A memorable Champions League run merely papered over the cracks which ultimately led to Pochettino’s downfall.

Levy should have signed a striker capable of challenging and providing cover for Harry Kane rather than selling a player who is arguably the club’s best right-back of the Premier League era.

He could have saved himself so much hassle by selling either Trippier or Walker-Peters to create some space in the squad.

Instead the Tottenham chairman caused his club a lot of problems as he sold the 49-cap England international for a tidy profit and failed to find a suitable replacement.

Even former Spurs man Jamie Redknapp insisted the decision to sell the defender reeked of “small club mentality” and strengthened a rival at the same time.

Without wanting to rub salt in the wound Walker’s market value continued to rise right after he left to further add fuel to the fire.

Whether the Lilywhites would have been able to get the same amount for him the following summer, who knows, though it is worth remembering he still had two years remaining on his contract at the time he left north London.

Diving deeper into the statistics, Walker registered five league assists for Spurs in the same season.

Was £50m worth it all in the end? When you consider what has come afterwards, no, not really. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Tottenham fans, do you think Daniel Levy made a big mistake by allowing Kyle Walker to leave White Hart Lane? Let us know in the comments below! 

Despite his good showing against both the likes of Manchester City and even against Chelsea in the FA Cup victory, a new report from The Sun claims Arsenal have put Ainsley Maitland-Niles on the transfer list. And if that wasn’t shocking enough, they go on to state the 22-year-old could indeed stay in London and move to Tottenham Hotspur instead as Jose Mourinho’s men have shown some interest in the youngster.

Needless to say, this is quite the claim from the papers but the Gunners are in dire need of raising some funds and that could well include selling their talent to the highest bidder. In fact, The Sun state they are hoping to get around £30m for the England U21 star but may also have to settle for £20m due to the outside circumstances and the financial struggles of most teams out there.

And since Mourinho is planning a rebuild of his own in the ongoing summer transfer window, Maitland-Niles could be a welcoming addition to the team. Of course, Spurs are not nearly the only ones registering their interest as the same outlet mentions ‘every Premier League club in London except Chelsea’ might go in for the 22-year-old.

Mikel Arteta, on the other hand, likes him a lot and if Arsenal were not in this financial hole, in all likelihood he would’ve liked to keep him. But this sale is more of a necessity than anything else. At least if the Gunners want to go shopping themselves.

Verdict

Buying a player from your city rivals is always a slightly controversial thing, especially when you’re trying to snatch away their talented academy product. But Mourinho’s interest in Maitland-Niles is not that surprising.

The 22-year-old is quite versatile and despite not getting a big chance throughout 2019/20, he can still perform on a high level across multiple positions both in midfield and in the backline. This kind of adaptability and potential is something Spurs could definitely use in their squad.

Chelsea have been named amongst the clubs interested in acquiring the services of England international Declan Rice this summer.

According to Bleacher Report, Frank Lampard has been monitoring the West Ham star and is keen on bringing him to Stamford Bridge.

The Hammers are currently locked in a tough relegation battle, and the chances of them facing the drop are worryingly high.

Rice has established himself as one of the most sought after young talents in the Premier League. After showcasing his versatility by integrating from a central defender to a defensive midfielder, the 21-year-old has turned a lot of heads.

The England international, who has seven caps so far, made his Hammers debut in 2017, at just 18 years of age. Since then he hasn’t looked back. This season especially, Rice has been an integral part of West Ham’s set up as an ever-present figure. He also sported the captain’s armband against Leicester in December (via Transfermarkt).

As it stands, David Moyes’ side are 16th in the table on 27 points, but only out of the drop-zone on goal difference. If the Irons slip up once the season resumes, they could be in serious trouble.

Chelsea are steadily making their way to a place in the Champions League next season and the team morale under Lampard seems to be at an all time high. The Blues are currently fourth in the table after taking on a positive run of form.

Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham have particularly impressed, notching 19 Premier League goals between them this season (as per Transfermarkt). But if they want to ensure squad depth is healthy and their chances of bagging some silverware are high, the club will need to invest.

Chelsea’s latest signing has shown they mean business going into the next campaign. The addition of Timo Werner will likely be their marquee signing and poaching Rice would be another great addition.

If West Ham are relegated, they will likely offer up a friendly asking price for the Republic of Ireland turned England international, as they’ll need all the funds they can get to bounce back next season.

Do you think Chelsea should sign Declan Rice this summer, Blues? Have your say in the comments below…

Liverpool have reportedly opened up negotiations with a new forward, but sorry to disappoint, it’s not Timo Werner.

According to Le 10 Sport, the Reds are laying the foundations to clinch Lille striker Victor Osimhen this summer with talks beginning with his representatives over a potential switch to the Premier League.

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The Ligue 1 outfit’s president, Gerard Lopez, has even confirmed that he’s already received offers for the 21-year-old with Manchester United and Chelsea reportedly also keen.

Osimhen has been in fine form this campaign, finding the net no fewer than 18 times in 38 appearances, including strikes in the Champions League with one coming against Chelsea.

The Nigerian, however, has split opinion amongst the Anfield faithful as many seem to have their sights set on RB Leipzig’s talisman instead.

He could cost the Merseyside club between €70m (£61m) and €80m (£70m) whilst currently Transfermarkt value him at £24.3m.

And they’ve been letting their feelings known on Twitter, replying to LFC Transfer Room with their thoughts.

Here’s what has been said so far…

AND in other news, Liverpool fans react to Timo Werner transfer update…

Newcastle United’s takeover is still not complete, but as ever, it nears completion.

And it appears as if former Magpies boss Rafa Benitez has caught wind of the situation and is said to be interested in an emotional return to St James’ Park.

The Telegraph claim that the Spaniard, who is now in charge of Chinese Super League outfit Dalian Yifang, is keen on returning to the northeast side under new Saudi Arabian-backed ownership and already has an idea of the sort of players he could sign.

Premier League duo Ross Barkley and John Stones are two signings mentioned as United will have a new wealth of riches at their disposal.

Chelsea’s Barkley is valued at just £19.35m by Transfermarkt and has featured just 20 times this campaign, providing three goals and four assists.

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Whilst Man City’s Stones is worth approximately £32.4m and has also been restricted in his game time, playing in just 12 Premier League games this term.

The Telegraph also state that Steve Bruce is likely to be given a chance to stay on as Newcastle boss, so Benitez may need to be patient if he truly wants to swap China for a return to Tyneside.

WHILE in other news, Lee Ryder delivers promising verdict on Mike Ashley at Newcastle…

Tottenham Hotspur are keen to sign Lille goalkeeper Mike Maignan, according to La Voix du Nord via @TranSPURS.Â

The French outlet reports Tottenham are the front-runners to land the 24-year-old, as he is close with his old goalkeeping coach Nuno Santos, who left the Stade Pierre Mauroy to link up with Jose Mourinho in North London.

Premier League rivals Chelsea are also reportedly interested in making a move for the Frenchman, but it appears Mourinho has the upper hand over Frank Lampard in the transfer market.

Ever since he joined the Mastiffs from Paris Saint-Germain, Maignan has emerged as one of Europe’s hottest talents, playing in 28 games in Ligue 1 for Christophe Galtier’s side, conceding 1 goal per game, keeping 12 clean sheets, and making 2.1 saves on average. He has earned himself an average statistical rating of 6.81 per SofaScore.

His current market value is priced at £15.75m and Lille have made preparations for his eventual departure by signing Leo Jardim in anticipation.

Naturally, loads of Spurs fans reacted to the club’s link to Maignan, with one supporter branding him “dreadful,” and another tweeting he looks “flappy.”

Take a look at some of the mixed reactions down below…

Spurs fans, what are your thoughts on this potential transfer?