All posts by z3u9t.icu

Aston Villa could be ready to get rid of some deadwood in their squad as Steven Gerrard approaches his first summer transfer window with the Premier League side.

What’s the word?

That’s according to journalist Pete O’Rourke who claimed to GIVEMESPORT that Steven Gerrard will be “looking to strengthen” his options out wide ahead of his first full season in charge of Villa.

He said: “Villa are probably going to lose a couple of wingers in the summer with El Ghazi out on loan at Everton and Trezeguet out on loan in Turkey.

“So, that’s two wingers who the club will most likely look to move on. So, it’s going to be an area that Steven Gerrard will be looking to strengthen as well.”

Gerrard needs to bolster attacking options

El Ghazi and Trezeguet have both been out on loan at Everton and Istanbul Basaksehir FK respectively for the second half of the campaign with contrasting success.

Trezeguet has scored five times in just nine appearances for the Turkish side whilst El Ghazi has only played twice for Everton in what is an underwhelming loan spell, to say the least.

With both players making a combined three appearances under Steven Gerrard, then fans will be ecstatic to hear of the news that they could both depart at the end of the campaign.

Gerrard will undeniably want to bring in his own players, with Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne arriving in January, he is stamping his authority on this Villa squad.

Results have been mixed, however, with some bright periods intersected by poor spells and this has largely been the nature of their season.

Villa have been linked to attacking options such as Ryan Kent, via the Daily Mail and Foot Mercato reported on their interest in Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby last summer, then there seem to be plenty of options out there for Gerrard to ponder.

The summer transfer window will be a key one for Villa, and if they have a bad start next season, then Gerrard will surely be feeling the pressure so recruitment must be excellent.

AND in other news, Gerrard now plotting AVFC bid for £46k-p/w “phenomenon”, he’s better than Phillips

Leeds United correspondent Adam Pope has been left thrilled by the news that Jamie Shackleton started for the U23s in their 1-1 draw away at Arsenal.

The Lowdown: Injury return

Shackleton played the full 90 minutes in what was his first game for the U23s since March, when he picked up an injury, while he has not featured for the senior side since February (Transfermarkt).

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-updates-2/” title=”Latest Leeds United updates!” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-03-10T184055Z_1834933207_UP1EI3A1FW561_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-AVA-REPORT-1-scaled-1.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

He is yet to play under Jesse Marsch, but given the injuries that they have to some key members of the squad, Shackleton may well get a call-up to the first team very soon if he can prove his form and fitness.

The Latest: Pope reacts

Taking to Twitter, Pope gave his reaction to the news that Shackleton started, claiming that it was ‘great to see’, in what he claimed was a ‘big’ match for the U23s given their position in the league table:

“Great to see Jamie Shackleton involved again in what is a big game for the U23s.”

The Verdict: Boost

It certainly is a boost to have Shackleton out on the pitch again, albeit for the U23s.

Marsch has not been able to use him yet, and the American no doubt will want to try him out in the first team to see how he does.

The 22-year-old ranks highly among his teammates in terms of average tackles, blocks and dribbles per game in the Premier League, while he also boasts the highest pass success rate out of any Whites played to have made five or more appearances (WhoScored).

Nonetheless, it is good to have him back as another handy squad option from now until the end of the campaign.

In other news, find out what ‘phenomenal’ LUFC injury update has wowed this injury expert here!

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has described the Hoops’ transformation under Ange Postecoglou as ‘remarkable’, as the Premiership title edges closer.

The Lowdown: One step closer to glory

Celtic faced their Glasgow arch-rivals in another huge league clash on Sunday afternoon, with avoiding defeat the primary objective for Postecoglou’s men.

They did just that, taking the lead through Jota and being pegged back by Fashion Sakala’s second-half strike as the match ended 1-1 at Parkhead.

It means that Celtic remain six points clear of Rangers with just three matches left to play, with title glory so close that they can almost taste it.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/key-latest-celtic-updates-4/” title=”Key latest Celtic updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=“none”]

The Latest: Sutton hails Postecoglou

Taking to Twitter on Monday morning, Sutton hailed the job that Postecoglou is doing following an amazing turnaround after being a mammoth 25 points off the summit last season.

Sharing his corresponding column from the Daily Record, the 49-year-old gushed:

“A remarkable revolution with Celtic needing one more step to take what was an impossible title at the start of the season …then Ange Postecoglou came in.”

The Verdict: What a turnaround

What Postecoglou has done in his first season at Parkhead is worthy of high praise, having taken over from Neil Lennon’s doomed second spell in charge.

It’s easy to forget now that the Bhoys were languishing in sixth place in mid-September after defeat at Livingston as they went seven months without a domestic away win, which shows how remarkable the turnaround has been in a short space of time.

Celtic were second favourites for the title going into 2021/22 following Rangers’ emphatic triumph last season, but the Hoops have roared back and now lie on the cusp of reclaiming domestic supremacy.

The hope is that this is only the start under Postecoglou, with Champions League football set to return to the club and many more trophies potentially coming their way under the 56-year-old.

In other news, Celtic are looking to sell one player this summer. Find out who it is here.

Journalist Toby Cudworth, sharing news on Twitter and writing for 90min, has an interesting West Ham United transfer update involving Sparta Prague sensation Adam Hlozek.

The Lowdown: Kretinsky connection…

Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, completing his purchase of a 27 per cent minority stake in West Ham late last year, has serious connections to Sparta as their co-owner and club president.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-newest-updates/” title=”West Ham newest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

This has lead to links to some of their key players, including Hlozek, with Kretisnky’s presence said to be a major factor in any potential Hammers deal to sign the exciting striker.

The Latest: Hlozek ‘offered’

Journalist Cudworth, sharing an update, now say that West Ham ‘must act fast’ as they’re now ‘offered’ a chance to bring in Hlozek by Kretinsky ahead of this window.

However, in the 90 min report, it is claimed that both manager David Moyes and head of recruitment Rob Newman ‘do not want to sign off’ on the move – opening the door for other interested clubs.

The Verdict: Interesting update…

The fact both Moyes and Newman are standing in the way of this move indicates that Hlozek isn’t particularly rated at Rush Green.

Given how threatening the 19-year-old has been in the last two years, combined with glowing plaudits, we find this quite interesting.

The Czech starlet has racked up 23 goals and 21 assists in the Fortuna Liga alone since the beginning of 2020/2021, pretty impressive numbers for such a young forward.

His manager Pavel Vrba has also called Hlozek an ‘exceptional striker’ with the likes of Juventus, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Premier League title-chasers Liverpool all credited with interest (90min).

The sky appears to be the limit for Sparta’s exciting ace with news of both Moyes’ and Newman’s disinterest coming as a surprise.

In other news: ‘Something special’ – Journalist says ‘massive player’ could be tempted to join West Ham, find out more here.

After equalising early on, Wolverhampton Wanderers would have been thinking that today was the day to beat Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side having not done so since 2019.

The first half was promising for Lage’s side, despite going into half time 3-1 down, but ultimately they were defeated brutally 5-1.

Their attacking transitions at times were flawless and were demonstrative of Wolves’ slightly tweaked direct playing style in the 3-5-2 system.

There was a clear identity to their play and it hurt Guardiola’s side at times.

Though City, like true champions, felt their way back into the game whenever it looked as though the Old Gold were coming into their own, and nullified their opponents, restricting them to just seven shots in the entire game with 0 big chances.

The inclusion of Chiquinho was a positive surprise, and his directness was Wolves’ biggest threat at times. Though his involvement in the starting XI meant that he took Jonny’s spot as a right wing-back, with the Spaniard shifting into right centre-back.

At 5 foot 9, it was always a risk from Wolves to deploy Jonny as a centre-back, and although they conceded five, you can understand the thinking – with Manchester City happy to keep the ball on the ground, rather than through high crosses into the box for a target man (until next season at least with Haaland).

Although it was most certainly a Kevin De Bruyne masterclass, having scored his first hat-trick with an additional goal to follow, two players stood out for all the wrong reasons for Wolves.

Those players were Jose Sá and Willy Boly, with the latter having been described as “terrible” for his defensive performances previous.

With a FotMob rating of 4.4, courtesy of his 0/5 long accurate long balls, 0/1 tackles won, 1 clearance, 1 interception, 1/3 ground duels won and 0/1 aerial duels won – it’s safe to say that Boly had a defensive disasterclass against City – who ran absolute riot at Molineux.

In the second half, the majority of City’s overloads came down their right hand side, with Boly clearly targeted as a weak point of the Wolves defence.

Being a natural right footer, the Frenchman looked awkward at left centre-back in the Old Gold back-three and lost the ball every 4.9 touches, to the point where the question must be posed as to why Boly was deployed on the left over Toti Gomes – who is a natural left-footer and could be a viable replacement for the potentially departing Romain Saiss for next season.

In other news: Lage can unearth Wolves’ new Jota in “magic” £2m-rated talent who has “explosiveness” 

When Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy spent £22m on the signing of Son Heung-min back in the summer of 2015, Spurs fans would have been forgiven for not being overly aware of the talent the then-23-year-old forward possessed.

The South Korea international had shown flashes of brilliance during his time in Germany – scoring 20 goals and registering three assists over 78 appearances for Hamburger SV, as well as bagging 29 goals and providing 11 assists over 87 outings for Bayer Leverkusen – although few would have predicted the winger would go on to become the player he is today.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/tottenham-hotspur-latest-news-updates-transfer-rumours-gossip-spurs-thfc-conte-paratici” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more!”]

Indeed, since his move to north London, the now-29-year-old has developed into one of the most efficient and effective wide attackers in world football, scoring an enormous 129 goals and registering an incredible 74 assists over 324 fixtures for the Lilywhites – boasting a record of one direct goal contribution every 109 minutes of football played for Spurs.

The £72m-rated talent has particularly impressed over the last 12 months, with FBref ranking the forward in the top 3% of wingers and attacking midfielders in Europe’s big five leagues for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes, as well as the top 5% for npxG, the top 20% for xA, the top 7% for npxG+xA and the top 24% for shot-creating actions over the last 365 days.

Son has also been in breathtaking form in Antonio Conte’s attacking trio over his 34 Premier League outings this season, scoring 21 goals, registering seven assists and creating ten big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.3 shots, making 2.1 key passes and completing 1.5 dribbles per fixture.

These returns have seen the £140k-per-week sensation average a quite remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.49, not only ranking him as Tottenham’s best performer in the top flight but also as the third-best player in the league as a whole – behind only Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.

As such, when taking into account the returns of the player who Adam Smithy dubbed “one of the most underrated players in world football” and an “unreal” talent, in addition to the fact he is now worth £50m more – a 227% increase – than the £22m Levy coughed up for his signing, it is clear to see that the Spurs chairman very much hit the jackpot when bringing Son to north London almost seven years ago.

AND in other news: Fabrizio Romano relays major Spurs update that will leave supporters buzzing

A worrying Newcastle United injury setback has emerged on central midfielder Joelinton…

What’s the latest?

Eddie Howe has revealed the gruesome extent of the Brazilian’s blow and has been unable to rule it out being a major issue heading into the summer.

He suffered a laceration in the 11th minute of the 2-1 win over Burnley on Sunday in the final Premier League match of the campaign and it now remains to be seen how it will impact him ahead of 2022/23.

Injury expert Ben Dinnery quoted Howe as saying: “It didn’t look good. I thought ‘this could be serious’. I think the doctor, initially when he saw him, could see part of his bone, so I think it was quite deep. We knew immediately we had to withdraw him, but he’s in good spirits.”

Supporters will be gutted

This blow will surely leave the fans gutted heading into the summer as it could be a big setback for Joelinton heading into next season.

Hopefully, the injury does not disrupt the start of his pre-season or rule him out of any matches next term, but it remains unclear as to the extent of the damage at this moment in time.

Losing him for any period of time would be frustrating for the supporters as he has been a revelation in the middle of the park. He started the campaign playing out wide for Steve Bruce and was then converted into a combative midfielder by Howe and that decision has been a masterstroke by the head coach.

The ex-Hoffenheim man was recently named Newcastle’s Player of the Season and this illustrates how highly he is rated by those at the club and in the stands.

In the Premier League, Joelinton averaged an impressive 3.1 tackles and interceptions per game as he won an outstanding 6.9 duels per match. He has shown that he can win the ball back for his side on a consistent basis as he has dominated the midfield for large parts of the campaign.

The 25-year-old has also chipped in with four goals and one assist. Whilst this return may have been an unimpressive one based on where he was previously playing for Newcastle, this is a solid contribution from the machine as he has spent the majority of his time trying to win possession instead of being in the final third.

This is why fans will be gutted by this injury blow as Joelinton is a crucial player for Howe and one they will want to see in action again as soon as possible.

AND in other news, Newcastle now “interested” in signing £42m star, he could be Howe’s next “hero”…

Manchester United have had their hopes of signing Juventus defender Merih Demiral boosted.

What’s the word?

That is according to a report from Italian outlet Tutto Atalanta, via Sport Witness, who claim that the Turkish defender could be “sacrificed” from a Juventus perspective in other to bolster their transfer kitty from what would be an immediate sale.

In a report that mentions both Manchester United and Real Madrid among top European destinations, it is said that the Red Devils are “above all” in the list of European outfits who are ready to move for the defender – this despite the fact that Los Blancos “moved first” for the transfer of the 24-year-old.

In the same report, it is stated that two clubs may “already have an agreement in principle”, with United anticipated to be one of those clubs, particularly with the Premier League side now in pole position for the signature.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-man-united-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-more-nunez-ten-hag-nkunku-richarlison” title=”Read the latest Man United news!”]

In order for the transfer to work, it would copy the model that saw Spurs sign Christian Romero from Atalanta, in which they bought Romero and immediately sold him.

With Atalanta intending to trigger the buy-option to sign the £27m-rated Turkish defender from Juventus, they could immediately sell him to the likes of United in a replica model to that used in the case of Romero.

Better than Varane

In Demiral, we are talking about a player who has been more defensively sound than Raphael Varane across the last 365 days, as per FBref.

After spending this season on loan at Atalanta, Demiral has been able to demonstrate his acumen in six apiece in the Champions League and Europa League, respectively.

His ability to pressure the opposition has been his biggest asset this year, putting up an astonishing average of 14.93 pressures per 90, with 7.35 occurring in the defensive third and 7.03 in the middle third also. With that in mind, it’s hardly a surprise to see him described as an “absolute beast” by talent scout Jacek Kulig.

In comparison, Varane’s numbers falter, with his average of 8.08 pressures almost not worth comparing.

It’s the same for the majority of defensive metrics, with Demiral topping the Frenchman for tackles, interceptions and blocks per 90 minutes. Though it is worth noting that the World Cup winner is more accomplished in possession.

That said, they are two players with different defensive approaches. Demiral can play the Vidic role for Ten Hag in United’s back-line with his ball-winning ability.

In other news: Ten Hag can find his own “Ibrahimovic” for MUFC in deal for “lanky” £21m “machine”