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Former Hull City and Leeds United midfielder Jake Livermore is among the free agent market’s most seasoned veterans.

He is four short of 200 Premier League appearances, and six outings short of hitting 250 in the Championship. However, his wealth of experience has not yet landed him a fresh challenge for the 2024/25 campaign.

A product of Tottenham Hotspur’s academy, Livermore was a bit-part player for Spurs before finding regular football during a four-year stay at Hull City.

His move to Hull was not his first Yorkshire venture, as he had spent time on loan at Leeds while developing at Tottenham.

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The Tigers pocketed a reported £10m when they sold Livermore to West Bromwich Albion in 2017, with the investment being returned with over 200 appearances in six years.

Watford took him on last year, but opted to release the midfielder after his maiden Hornets campaign. At 34, Livermore is now at a crossroads.

He arguably still has years left on his career clock, therefore it appears to be a case of deciding how he spends his final seasons. Many players of his calibre would opt to go abroad and this could prove appealing to a player who has never plied his trade outside England.

However, another challenge in the EFL may also prove tempting. It is at this stage of the season clubs tend to raid the free agent market to soften injury blows and Livermore could prove an attractive option.

His days as an England international may be behind him, but Livermore could still have a lot to offer. With his free agency ensuring he is eligible for an out-of-window move, there is a clear opportunity for a club to add experience and steel to their midfield.

Tottenham Hotspur have handed a new contract to former Leeds United and Middlesbrough defender Djed Spence.

It appeared as if the defender’s career was veering off course earlier this year, when his loan spell at Leeds was abruptly cancelled in January.

He spent the final months of the 2023/24 campaign with Italian outfit Genoa, who were reportedly keen on striking a permanent deal for the attack-minded full-back.

However, he was instead reintegrated at Tottenham by Ange Postecoglou, who has kept Spence in his plans. This season, he has not missed a single Premier League matchday squad and has made three appearances from the bench.

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In a statement, Tottenham said: “We are delighted to announce that Djed Spence has signed a new contract with the club, which will run until 2028.

“Having joined the club in July, 2022, from Middlesbrough, Djed has made 10 appearances in our colours to date and registered his first competitive goal for us last month in our victory against Coventry City in the Carabao Cup.

“The 24-year-old has previously spent time on loan with Stade Rennais, Leeds United and most recently with Serie A side Genoa for the second half of the 2023/24 campaign.

“On the international stage, Djed has featured for England at under-21 level on six occasions after making his debut for the Young Lions in March, 2022.”

Spence started his professional career at Middlesbrough, although it was a loan spell at Nottingham Forest that sent his stock soaring.

He moved to Tottenham in 2022, signing for the Premier League club in a deal reported to be worth up to £20m.

Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are reportedly interested in prising former Doncaster Rovers playmaker Jacob Ramsey from Aston Villa.

The 23-year-old is a product of Villa’s youth system and has spent the entirety of his career on the club’s books.

However, in 2020, he enjoyed a productive loan spell in South Yorkshire. Doncaster recruited Ramsey during the reign of Darren Moore and he scored three goals in seven appearances.

The Covid-19 pandemic cut Ramsey’s loan short, although he soon found himself in the first-team picture at Villa Park anyway.

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There has been speculation regarding his future in recent months, with Italian giants Inter Milan among those linked with the attack-minded midfielder.

According to Give Me Sport, North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham are both keen on securing his services, as are Newcastle.

He is under contract at Villa until 2027, although next summer may be the ideal time to sell if maximising profit is the goal. Once he enters the final year of his deal, his value will drop considerably.

There remains the possibility that Ramsey could sign a new deal, although it appears he may have option should he wish to seek pastures new.

Since making his senior breakthrough, Ramsey has amassed 131 appearances for Villa and scored 14 goals.

Former Hull City and Doncaster Rovers midfielder Ryan Mason is reportedly in line to become Anderlecht’s new manager.

The 33-year-old’s playing career was curtailed by a head injury sustained while on Hull’s books in January 2017. During a game against Chelsea, he suffered a fractured skull and needed 14 metal plates in his skull.

He moved into coaching and has had two spells as Tottenham’s interim head coach. The former England youth international is currently part of Ange Postecoglou’s coaching team, although could potentially be set for a departure.

According to talkSPORT, Mason is in line to take the reins at Anderlecht. The Belgian side have been on the hunt for a new boss since last month, when they parted company with former Brentford coach Brian Riemer.

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If Mason does indeed land the job, it would be his first permanent managerial role. He would also be reunited with his former Tottenham teammate Jan Vertonghen, who has represented Anderlecht since 2022.

A product of Tottenham’s academy, Mason made 70 appearances for the club before joining Hull in a deal reported to be worth £13m. While cutting his teeth as a Spurs prospect, he had three loan spells at Doncaster.

Anderlecht sit fourth in the Belgian Pro League table, five points adrift of table-toppers KRC Genk.

Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly eyeing former Leeds United transfer target Viktor Gyokeres.

Leeds were heavily linked with Gyokeres during the 2022/23 season, when he was lighting up the Championship with Coventry City. An array of clubs were believed to be on his trail, with Everton and West Ham United among them.

However, the Sweden international instead moved overseas in the summer of 2023 to seal a switch to Sporting Lisbon.

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Sporting paid a club-record transfer fee to prise the forward from Coventry, although it has proven to have been money well-spent.

The 26-year-old has blossomed into one of Europe’s most lethal marksmen, scoring 52 goals in 58 appearances for the Portuguese giants.

According to CaughtOffside, Chelsea are keeping Gyokeres open as an option to bolster their attack. Tottenham, meanwhile, are believed to be the Premier League club showing the strongest interest.

Gyokeres has an €100m (£84m) release clause, therefore any club keen to prise him from Sporting would most likely need to commit to a significant investment. French side Paris Saint-Germain are also admirers of the 26-year-old, it has been suggested, and he was linked with Premier League title hopefuls Arsenal earlier this year.

Leeds did invest heavily in their attack in 2023, despite not landing Gyokeres. They paid a club-record £35m to sign Georginio Rutter from Hoffenheim, later selling him to Brighton & Hove Albion for £40m.

Following the club’s relegation to the Championship, a deal to sign Joel Piroe from Swansea City for a reported £12m was struck.

Former Hull City midfielder Tom Huddlestone has swapped a coaching role at Wigan Athletic for one at Birmingham City.

The 37-year-old only joined Wigan in July, reuniting with his former Hull teammate Shaun Maloney. However, despite Wigan’s desire to retain his services, he has sought pastures new.

He has been added to Chris Davies’ team at Birmingham, taking on a first-team coaching role. Davies said: “Tom is an excellent coach and a great addition to our first-team staff as we look to build on our start to the 2024/25 season.

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“He has vast playing experience, which has been added to by coaching roles he has held with both club and international teams.

“This will provide a different dynamic to the group and I expect the squad to feed off his knowledge of the game. We are all looking forward to working with him and wish him every success at Birmingham City.”

Huddlestone started his transition from playing to coaching with a dual role at Manchester United, which saw him combine playing for the club’s under-21s with coaching.

He departed Old Trafford earlier this year before being recruited by Wigan. Huddlestone was also recently unveiled as a member of Ben Fulcher’s interim England under-21s backroom staff.

In a statement, Wigan said: “While the football club was keen to retain the services of Huddlestone, fellow League One side Birmingham presented the former Midlands-born midfielder with an offer he simply could not refuse.

“We would like to thank Tom for his efforts whilst at Wigan Athletic and wish him well for the future.

Leeds United’s chief executive officer Angus Kinnear has outlined how Joe Rodon showed his commitment to the club months before his £10m move from Tottenham Hotspur.

Rodon arrived at Elland Road on loan last year and was a commanding presence at centre-back throughout the 2023/24 season.

However, when the Whites missed out on promotion to the Premier League, many fans feared they had seen the last of the Wales international in a Leeds shirt.

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He was linked with the likes of Southampton and Leicester City over the summer and reports suggested a move to a Premier League club was likely. He instead sealed a permanent switch to West Yorkshire and Kinnear has highlighted how keen Rodon was on a second move to LS11.

Speaking on The Square Ball’s podcast, Kinnear explained: "When you get a player like Joe Rodon, who after Christmas last year or in the spring when we were doing our kit shoots, insisted on being in the kit shoots for the following season's kit, which is obviously a disaster for the retail team because if we hadn't signed him, all the imagery would've been dead.

“Joe was desperate to be here and before we had any discussions with Tottenham Hotspur or his agent, he was six months out, showing his desire to be at the club and that's really important."

Rodon shone in the Championship with his boyhood club Swansea City before being prised from Wales by Tottenham in 2020. He was loaned to French side Rennes amid stiff competition at Spurs, before a move to Leeds was green-lit.

The 26-year-old formed an effective partnership with Pascal Struijk in Daniel Farke’s Leeds side, later impressing alongside Ethan Ampadu when Struijk was sidelined by injury.

Former Leeds United, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur winger Andros Townsend has finally completed his move away from Luton Town.

Townsend committed to Antalyaspor last month, but his move could not be completed due to a transfer registration embargo imposed by FIFA.

He was allowed to train with the club but the embargo prevented Antalyaspor officially unveiling him or using him in fixtures.

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After a period of limbo, the 33-year-old has now sealed his move the Turkish top flight. He has put pen to paper on a two-year deal.

In a farewell message, Luton boss Rob Edwards said: “It’s a big thank you and good luck to Andros and we wish him well. This move is the right fit for Andros at this stage of his career and is in the best interests of all parties.

“Andros’ professionalism since he set foot inside The Brache has been exemplary – his discipline and attention to detail is something I hope has rubbed off on our young players.

“I’d like to thank him for his hard work and commitment to the cause while he was a Luton Town player, and wish him and his family well in Turkey.”

A former England international, Townsend has spent the bulk of his career in the Premier League. He cut his teeth at Tottenham Hotspur, who loaned the winger out to an array of EFL clubs early in his career.

Among those to take Townsend on a temporary deal were Leeds, who recruited the winger in 2012. His potential during his Elland Road stint was evident but he opted to cut his loan spell short after just seven appearances.

Neil Warnock was in charge of Leeds at the time of the exit and claimed he had been told by Townsend’s agent that the winger had not settled.

Speaking when Townsend departed, Warnock said: "His agent told me he didn't like here, he wasn't happy and he hadn't settled. I've heard that Birmingham [City] want to sign him, I don't know if that's got anything to do with it.

“I'm disappointed because we've lost a player, but I don't want people who don't want to be here so good riddance I say if it's what he wants to do."

Leeds United’s chief executive officer Angus Kinnear has insisted the club did not have to sell Archie Gray to Tottenham Hotspur.

Among the most controversial aspects of the summer transfer window at Elland Road was the sale of homegrown hero Gray. He sealed a move to Tottenham for a reported £40m after a spectacular breakthrough season in West Yorkshire.

The club attracted criticism in the aftermath of sale, with frustration intensified by the rather messy way in which he left. Gray had initially appeared Brentford-bound, before it quickly transpired he was in fact heading for Tottenham.

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Speaking to The Square Ball, Kinnear conceded Leeds needed to generate money through player sales but that Gray did not necessarily have to be the sacrificial lamb.

He said “If you look at our overall PSR [profit and sustainability] picture, we did need to make sales across the window. Archie is very valuable from a PSR perspective because he’s an academy product, so there is no amortisation, there’s no book value to him at all. So all of the revenue generated from the sale goes to hit the PSR target.

"The PSR targets are really cruel. To come down from a world were you have a gap from one three-year rolling number to another three-year rolling number, plus the fact you lose all your TV revenue makes it really challenging to stay within those limits, which we have done, but the only way is to sell players.

"It could have been Pascal [Struijk], Willy [Gnonto], Max Wober, but the reality is when you get relegated, every single club has to sell players. We didn't need cash, but there was a PSR gap and we had the issue of players wanting to leave.

"Two key sales would have done it, it didn't need to be before June 30. We didn't have to sell Archie Gray.”

Gray, who at 18 is already part of the first-team picture at Tottenham, was a regular fixture at right-back throughout the 2023/24 campaign.

The teenager and his father, former Leeds forward Andy Gray, have been hailed by Kinnear for the way in which they handled the departure.

Kinnear said: “Leeds United didn't approach any club to sell Archie Gray. Normally you offer a player around or speak to the agent, we could have kept Archie Gray.

"The deal is life-changing and Archie and his dad handled the situation impeccably. He wasn't forced out and we said if it doesn't feel right come back and train, but we don't begrudge him that move."

Leeds have plugged the right-back gap with the signing of Jayden Bogle, who was prised from Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United.

Kinnear said: “We think we’ve been able to get a right-back that will be able to perform this season at the same level as Archie Gray for an eighth of the value that we generated for Archie.”

Leyton Orient have snapped up former Rotherham United midfielder Dominic Ball on a free transfer.

The 29-year-old became a free agent at the end of the 2023/24 season, when he was released by Ipswich Town. He had played a bit-part role in their promotion-winning Championship campaign, having also helped the club escape League One a year earlier.

Despite failing to find a new club during the summer window, Ball has now secured a deal at Brisbane Road that runs until the end of the current season.

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He said: "I'm delighted to get this over the line and join a great club like Leyton Orient. I'm still only 29 and I'm lucky to have played so many games in my career at some great clubs, and I'm desperate to continue improving and developing as a player.

"I enjoy the competition and playing with a team that is trying to do something special. That's why I have come here, and I'm really looking forward to it.”

Ball was nurtured within the youth systems of Watford and Tottenham Hotspur and represented both Northern Ireland and England at youth level.

He left Tottenham in 2016 to seal a move to Yorkshire, joining Rotherham on a three-year deal. The defensive midfielder appeared to be a coup for the Millers but spent the bulk of his three years at the club out on loan. He left for Queens Park Rangers in 2019, later linking up with Ipswich in 2022.

Ball said: "I look at the squad here, and it's full of really talented, young players, but you also need those older heads who have played at all different types of levels.

“In my last two seasons at Ipswich, we achieved back-to-back promotions, which was achieved by working hard individually and collectively. I'm hopeful that I can bring some of my experience from my career to help this team."

Orient boss Richie Wellens added: "We’re delighted to welcome Dom here to Leyton Orient, with him adding both real quality and depth to our squad.

“He has played the majority of his career in the Championship to date, and not only does he add some more experience to our midfield, he is a real leader, and someone Kieran McKenna has given great credit to regarding the excellent team spirit which saw Ipswich gain back-to-back promotions in recent years.”