Leicester City were linked with Algerian international winger Anis Hadj Moussa this month, but if he continues at his current goalscoring rate, he’s going to be well out of their league.
The 22-year-old is on a sharp upward trajectory. This time last year he was playing in the Belgian second division, but a loan move to Dutch side Vitesse for the second half of last term earned him a summer switch to Feyenoord.
In Rotterdam, he’s blossomed, and is in some electric form. On Wednesday night, he scored and assisted in Feyenoord’s 4-2 Champions League win over Sparta Prague, meaning he now has six goals and an assist in his last seven outings in all competitions. That run includes Champions League goals against Manchester City and RB Salzburg as well.
The Sun reported earlier this month that City and Tottenham were among the clubs looking at a £10m deal for Moussa. But that figure may be on the rise. Plus, Feyenoord may be reluctant to sell when they’re well-placed to reach the Champions League knockout stages.
A left-footed right-sided winger who grew up in Paris but plays for Algeria, the comparisons with Riyad Mahrez are evident. And Moussa seems to have the full package – goals, progressive passing, great dribbling. He’s one to watch, even if he doesn’t end up at City.
City investments yield loss
Statisticians at the CIES Football Observatory have done some calculations over transfers and they show that, over the past decade, City have made the 20th biggest net loss on investments. CIES havve taken the payments for and fees received for all players bought since 2015 who have since been sold (so not including academy players or those still at the club) and in that time, City have made a €102m (£84m) loss.
It’s maybe a surprise given the big returns they got on players like Harry Maguire and Wesley Fofana, but City have also seen a lot of expensive signings leave for nothing, including Youri Tielemans, Caglar Soyuncu and Kelechi Iheanacho. Also, investment losses are not necessarily bad if a club can afford them, albeit the close shave City had with PSR suggests they needed to have done better in the transfer market.
Still they’re far from the worst. Despite sitting 20th for biggest net losses, they’re 10th in England, with less successful sides like Everton and Stoke worse off. In terms of profit, it won’t be a surprise to hear Brighton are England’s most successful club, with a net €191m (£157m) made on their investments. That only puts the Seagulls seventh in the world over the past 10 years though. French side Lille are number one, with a net profit of €384m (£317m).
Clean sheet for Souttar but no recall
After a 1-0 win over Millwall on Wednesday night, that’s now 12 clean sheets in 17 Championship starts for Harry Souttar at Sheffield United. It’s fair to say the City loanee is getting on well at Bramall Lane.
But he’s not one City can think about recalling in January, even if Ruud van Nistelrooy wants to take a closer look at him. He’s played enough fixtures in the first half of the season that a clause in his loan deal means he’s now with the Blades for the full campaign.
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