Paul Heckingbottom says Anis Ben Slimane missed Friday’s match with Nottingham Forest due to a hamstring injury, while a risk factor came into play with George Baldock. The Greek international was among a number of players missing from the trip to the City Ground.
He appeared to have suffered a problem towards the end of the opening day match at home to Crystal Palace and took no part in the 2-1 defeat to Steve Cooper’s side. He had picked up a calf strain and Heckingbottom was keen not to risk further damage
With Jayden Bogle not yet ready to return to the fold after missing the majority of pre-season with a knee problem, Heckingbottom could have been tempted to ask Baldock to play on, but the consequences were more than it was worth.
In the end, Ben Osborn came in on the right side as Heckingbottom took no chances. He explained: “He has a slight problem with his calf, which we didn’t want to risk. Jayden has missed all of pre-season but should be back in training next week
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“But with Jayden not ready to play, I didn’t want to take a risk with George and then put him out until after the international break.”.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
New signing Slimane also missed Friday’s match after coming on in the second half for his debut against Palace. He has picked up a hamstring issue, which Heckingbottom does not believe is too serious.
He added: “He has a slight problem with his hamstring. Nothing serious, just probably something we are going to have to manage until it settles down.
With Sheffield United short on firepower at the moment, the Blades boss was hoping Oli McBurnie would be fit enough to return to the action. He’s back in training following a foot injury sustained at the summer camp in Portugal but feels the game came too soon for him to come back.
“He trained but is another one who has missed pre-season. As you normally get, a bit of stiffness, soreness. I’ve waited this long, I’ll wait another game.”
Vinicius Souza and Benie Traore both came off in the second half of Friday’s match but they were fatigue-related and both suffering from cramp.
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It’s hard to go a day without an update on speculation linking Willy Gnonto with an exit from Leeds, for good reason too after it was confirmed that he’d refused to play last week against Shrewsbury and Birmingham City.
Where he goes doesn’t seem to be clear-cut at the moment, with Leeds’ statement reiterating that he is not for sale
Italian outlet LaRoma24 are claiming that Jose Mourinho’s side are interested in signing the forward this summer, as he continues to train away from the rest of the Leeds squad.
It is reported that Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto has been in touch with Gnonto’s entourage regarding a potential move to the Italian capital:
“Just in the last few hours there have been some contacts between the player’s entourage and Tiago Pinto to understand the feasibility of the operation, which at the moment does not seem very simple.”
At present, the most likely destination for Gnonto appears to be Everton, who have already brought in Jack Harrison loan recently.
Sky Sports (live blog, 16/8, 3.38pm) reported this week that a fourth bid had been tabled for the winger, amounting to £25million in total with add-ons included, and a sell-on fee on top of that.
The issue with a move to the Serie A is that they are a nation of clubs notoriously known for not having a great deal of money right now.
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If Roma are keen on Gnonto, they’re going to have to outspend an established Premier League club to do so, which isn’t easy, even if the Toffees aren’t loaded themselves.
This sort of link does seem to be a lot of agent work rather than anything else, given that it’s a sporting director in direct contact with the player.
