All posts by z3u9t.icu

Liverpool could finally replace departed winger Xherdan Shaqiri after being linked with a move for Porto ace Luis Diaz.

What’s the story?

According to Spanish outlet TodoFichajes (as relayed by CaughtOffside), the Reds are one of several sides interested in securing the highly-rated 24-year-old’s services.

The report also lists Bayern Munich, Barcelona and AS Roma as potential suitors for Diaz, while his current club are thought to value their prized asset at a minimum of £43m.

Edwards must sanction Liverpool move

Colombia international Diaz arrived at the Estadio do Dragao from his homeland back in 2019 and quickly established himself as a key player for the Dragons. In 106 appearances for Sergio Conceicao’s charges, he has bagged 30 goals and provided a further 14 assists for his teammates, playing a pivotal part in their domestic double in 2019/20.

He then featured heavily for his nation last summer in the Copa America, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with four strikes.

Diaz scored the winning goal for Colombia as they won 3-2 in their third-place play-off with Peru, earning the praise of teammate Juan Cuadrado, with the former Chelsea man insisting that Los Cafeteros wouldn’t have won without the skillful forward.

“We won because of Lucho, he has an excellent level, and he will achieve great things,” Cuadrado said after the game.

With former Liverpool attacker Shaqiri departing for Lazio in the previous window, manger Jurgen Klopp is currently light on options in the final third of the pitch.

Therefore, director of football Michael Edwards must sanction a swoop for Diaz, providing the German with a plethora of options across the front three, allowing him to rest and rotate his star performers.

Although Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have started the new campaign in impressive fashion, the pair are approaching their 30th birthdays and Diaz’s arrival at Anfield could ensure Liverpool remain a potent attacking force for years to come.

In other news… Report reveals exciting Liverpool transfer update, fans will be absolutely buzzing 

West Ham United could discover another Jarrod Bowen this winter.

The Irons may be set to raid his former club, Championship outfit Hull City, for a second time in January after a very reliable source revealed interest in one of their emerging talents.

Speaking on this week’s edition of ‘The West Ham Way’ podcast, Hammers insider ExWHUemployee claimed that Keane Lewis-Potter was an attacker that David Moyes could take a look at next month.

“A player in the Championship who West Ham could look at in January is a forward for Hull called Keane Lewis-Potter,” he said.

“The Hull fans talk of him in the same breath as they do Jarrod Bowen. He’s got the same work ethic, the same potential. He has shown similarities to Bowen and if that’s the case, he might be worth a more serious look at.”

Indeed, there are plenty of comparisons to be made between the current Tigers star and the man he has seemingly replaced at the MKM Stadium.

Both are capable of playing anywhere along the frontline and that is something which has proven to be increasingly valuable to Moyes in east London, as Bowen has often been deployed up front in a bid to rest Michail Antonio or whenever the Jamaica forward is absent through injury or suspension.

Lewis-Potter is yet to prove himself outside League One or the Championship, very much like Bowen prior to his £22m move on deadline day in January 2020.

So far this term, the 20-year-old gem has provided Grant McCann – who was in charge when Bowen was still at Hull – and the Tigers with five goals and four assists in 22 appearances across all competitions, building on last season’s tally of 15 goals and six assists, per Transfermarkt.

He has done so primarily at left-wing but he has also featured as a striker, in the no.10 role and on the other flank too.

The 5 foot 7 dynamo has been dubbed a “special talent” by his boss at Hull, with McCann telling the club’s official website last year:

“Keano will play a huge role this season. The kid’s a special talent. Wherever we play him across that frontline, he’ll create and score goals.

“He can be anything he wants to be. He’s quick, he’s getting stronger. If you see him physically now compared to where he was this time last year, he’s head and shoulders above in terms of his physique. He’s got all the tools to be anything he wants.”

Valued at around £12m according to The Sun, Irons recruitment chief Rob Newman could well secure Moyes his next Bowen with a January swoop for Lewis-Potter.

AND in other news, Fewer touches than Areola: West Ham flop who made only 9 passes badly betrayed Moyes on Thursday night…

Alan Hutton thinks James Forrest will travel with the Celtic squad for Sunday’s Scottish League Cup final against Hibernian. 

The lowdown

Celtic travel to Hampden Park to battle Shaun Maloney’s Hibs for the first silverware of the season.

Forrest secured their place in the final with a 73rd-minute strike against St Johnstone in the last four, having come off the bench.

Now he’s one of a trio of Hoops players hoping to prove their fitness in time to feature in the showpiece, along with Kyogo Furuhashi and Mikey Johnston.

Ange Postecoglou said in his pre-match press conference that he would use Saturday’s training session at Lennoxtown to make an assessment.

The latest

BBC Sport pundit Hutton thinks that, regardless of the results of that fitness test, Forrest will be part of the group that heads to Edinburgh.

Even if he can’t contribute on the pitch, he says, his presence will still be valuable.

“Forrest has been there, done it, bought the t-shirt,” he told Football Insider. “He’s got a pocket full of medals.

“You do need that big-game experience. He’ll be there, he will probably travel with the squad and he can keep the squad going.”

The verdict

Hutton is certainly right about Forrest’s track record: the winger has won a whopping 20 trophies at Celtic. Nine of those are league titles, but 11 are cups, indicating that he knows what it takes to prevail in an one-off, winner-takes-all contest.

And beyond that, former team-mate Mohamed Elyounoussi says the ‘amazing’ Forrest is ‘a brilliant boy off the pitch as well’.

It would be a blow if he couldn’t play, but in Liel Abada, who has notched a respectable 11 goal contributions in his first season at Celtic, Postecoglou can call upon an able replacement, and having Forrest around the squad could certainly help the likes of the Israel international shine.

In other news, Hutton also dropped this intriguing claim on Albian Ajeti. 

Aston Villa forward Keinan Davis is set to join Nottingham Forest on loan in the New Year.

That’s according to The Express & Star’s Matt Maher, which, as to be expected, has had plenty of Villa fans talking on social media.

Davis saw a temporary move to Stoke City fall through in the summer due to injury and has hardly featured in 2021/22.

The 23-year-old, who Steven Gerrard is thought to be a big fan of, has played just 11 Premier League minutes in what was Dean Smith’s final game in charge.

It now seems as if the forward, who has scored just six times in 86 appearances, will join Steve Cooper’s Forest side for the second half of the season as they look to break into the Championship playoff places.

Villa fans react

Well-known page @villareport shared Maher’s claim regarding Davis on Twitter. This is what these Villa supporters had to say, with many feeling it is the right decision and one even labelling it as ‘fantastic’.

“If this is true, it is fantastic news! Keinan needs regular football to be able to develop further. He can not do that at Villa.”

Credit: @GMP4AVFC

“Great Move For Him I hope it works and he is successful and stays injury free. Good Luck Keinan”

Credit: @AvfcRegan

“I’m a big big fan of his. Very strong and bullies defenders very easily. With frequent chances and regular playing time he’ll be a monster”

Credit: @avbiIly

“Please god let this boy become the player I know he can be”

Credit: @Stokesey84

“good move”

Credit: @catrinavfc

“He needs this so badly! He will get the games and some confidence. I still think he will be a big player for us”

Credit: @AvfcGards

In other news: ‘Sounds crazy’ – Many Villa fans react as Gerrard plots move for beast who’d fit ‘top-six’ side. 

Since Bruno Lage was appointed as Wolves manager back in June and the Midlands club have brought in players such as Jose Sa, Francisco Trincao, Yerson Mosquera and Hwang Hee-chan as well as January signings Hayao Kawabe and Chiquinho, showing that club are not shy in backing their manager and giving him players to build his squad with.

One player that has been linked with a move to Molineux in recent times is Lille midfielder Renato Sanches, who it seems could still eventually join Wolves at some point soon.

What’s the latest?

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist Alex Crook had this to say on Wolves’ reported interest in Sanches and the possibility of the club making a future attempt to sign him again.

He said: “He’s definitely someone who’s on their radar. But I think this is where, if they can sell someone like Adama Traore, then it gives them some funds for Bruno Lage to be able to bring in his own players because he hasn’t really done that.”

Lage’s biggest swoop?

Since joining Lille back in 2019 from German club Bayern Munich, the 24-year-old has made 77 appearances for the French side across all competitions, scoring six goals and providing seven assists along the way, showing the attacking and creative skills he has on the pitch.

Looking at the players that Wolves have signed under Lage so far and taking into account Crook’s claim that the Old Gold boss hasn’t been able to bring his own targets to the club yet, a permanent move for Sanches could not only arguably be seen to be a massive coup for Wolves as a whole but as Lage’s biggest transfer deal yet.

After all, the midfielder has tremendous pedigree of playing for a trio of big clubs in three of Europe’s top leagues as well as being a fully-fledged Portugal international with 32 senior caps under his belt.

When you consider his tender age too, there is not only a high degree of potential in his bones but also a significant amount of re-sale value in him, particularly if he thrives in the Premier League.

As a result, this move makes sense for plenty of reasons and should be wrapped up swiftly if Jeff Shi has any sense.

With Crook also mentioning a potential sale of current Wolves winger Adama Traore, if the Midlands club sold the winger either this month or most likely in the next summer transfer window, they should definitely use the money to launch a move for the £27m-rated Sanches if Lille would be willing to shift the midfielder on a permanent basis.

They may not play in the same position but signing somebody as good as the Portugal international in return would be an impressive piece of business.

In other news: Forget Trincao: Wolves plotting swoop for “the new Iniesta,” he’d be a big upgrade – opinion

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According to Sky Sports, Arsenal attacker Emile Smith-Rowe is reportedly set to join Bundesliga side RB Leipzig on loan until the end of the season, and that deal could boost Southampton’s chances of bringing Jean-Kevin Augustin, whom they are keen on according to a report in The Sun earlier this month, to St Mary’s before Thursday’s transfer deadline.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Sky Sports report that the 18-year-old flew out to Germany on Wednesday night and is expected to undergo a medical with the top-flight outfit on Thursday morning, with a move expected to go through.

The exit of Smith-Rowe, who has made six senior appearances for the north London outfit this term according to Transfermarkt, has been sanctioned amid Denis Suarez’s likely arrival at the Emirates, as per Sky Sports, and he will join Gunners teammate Reiss Nelson in the Bundesliga.

Meanwhile, The Sun reported earlier this month that Saints were keen to bring Augustin to the Premier League, although the £38m price tag on his head suggest a deal would not be possible.

Have their chances been boosted late on?

Potentially, as long as Leipzig aren’t demanding a permanent deal now.

The addition of an attack-minded player who can play through the middle or out wide may well impact Augustin’s first-team chances at Leipzig, where he has only played 355 minutes of Bundesliga football this season following the departure of Ralph Hasenhuttl at the end of the 2017/18 campaign, as per Transfermarkt.

The 21-year-old netted 12 goals and provided a further six assists in 37 appearances in all competitions under the Austrian manager last term, once again according to Transfermarkt, and would fit the high-pressing style the 51-year-old wants to implement at St Mary’s.

While his reported value in The Sun is clearly an issue given Southampton’s record signing will be Danny Ings when they pay £20m for him in the summer, as per The Telegraph, it could potentially be possible that similarly to the Liverpool man, they agree a loan deal with a view to a permanent move at the end of the season.

Let’s see what develops across the next few hours…

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

With Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side now on a run of four consecutive wins in all competitions, things very much appear to be looking on the up for the 56-year-old at Parkhead.

As well as the positive results, the Hoops manager has also seen a number of key players make returns from injury. Josip Juranovic, James McCarthy and Mikey Johnston have all featured in recent matchday squads after spending varying lengths on the sidelines, while both James Forrest and Christopher Jullien look set to make a return to first team action in the not-too-distant future.

In yet more good news, summer signing Georgios Giakoumakis also scored his first goal on his full debut for the club in Saturday’s 2-0 win over St Johnstone, with the centre-forward’s impressive performance showing Celtic fans a glimpse of what could be to come over the course of the remainder of the season.

With a trip to high-flying Hibernian up next for the Bhoys tonight, Postecoglou must ensure that he sticks with Giakoumakis if the striker is to go on and replicate the extraordinary form he showed at VVV-Venlo last season.

Indeed, despite his team’s eventual relegation, the £2.25m-rated marksman bagged 26 goals, registered one assist and created three big chances over his 30 Eredivisie appearances, as well as taking 3.2 shots and making 0.5 key passes per game.

These metrics saw the player who journalist Jeroen Kapteijns dubbed a “phenomenon” earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.35, ranking him not only as his club’s best performer in the league but also as the joint sixth-best in the entire division.

As such, with Postecoglou undoubtedly hoping that the 26-year-old can hit similar heights at Parkhead this season, the Bhoys boss must stick with the Greece international tonight in order to give Giakoumakis the best possible chance of building up a similar run of form goalscoring form in the green and white of Celtic.

In other news: Ange confirms Nicholson negotiations with “huge” talent, Celtic fans will be buzzing

Everton took a huge win from their clash against Manchester United at Goodison Park yesterday, with the side embroiled in a difficult relegation battle this season the three points couldn’t have been more crucial for Frank Lampard.

With reports that sources from Everton had claimed the Toffees boss would be sacked if he didn’t take points from Ralf Rangnick’s side on Saturday, Lampard definitely put up a fight to prove the doubters wrong in his pursuit to lead Everton to safety this season.

Although the manager can’t take all the credit, the team performance from Everton was outstanding in a rarely-seen impressive defensive display from the whole team who put in a shift to hold onto a clean sheet following Anthony Gordon’s 27th-minute goal.

Despite having less possession than the visitors, the Toffees made more tackles (18) and over twice as many clearances (35) throughout the game, with Jordan Pickford a clear contender for man of the match after making four saves and two clearances in a fantastic performance.

There was one player who did make an important return and huge impact on the team following his selection in the starting line-up alongside Alex Iwobi and Allan, with Fabian Delph proving that the side desperately missed his experience in the centre of the pitch.

According to SofaScore, the 32-year-old midfielder won 100% of his duels, made six clearances, three tackles and two interceptions, as well as offering up a pass completion rate of 80% (24/30) before he was taken off in the 84th minute to be replaced by Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Delph who was hailed a “leader” by Gerard Houllier, recently returned to full fitness following a number of injury issues this season including a hamstring injury that has seen him unavailable for selection for the entirety of 2022 so far, and he surely made up for it in his seventh appearance this season against Man United.

Lampard was full of praise for the £92k-per-week midfielder following the victory, claiming that they “missed him” in his post-match interview;

“Yeah we’ve missed him.

“Delph gave us a sense of calm, his positional behaviours — like when a centre-back is out of position he falls into the backline.”

Everton may have found the key to unlocking survival in the Premier League this season by unleashing Delph in midfield and Lampard will be hoping the former Man City star can continue to lead and dominate in midfield ahead of the remaining fixtures this season to give the side their best chance of staying up.

In other news: Fewer touches than Pickford: Everton’s 9-pass flop was “wasteful” once again vs United

West Ham United have opened negotiations with Angelo Ogbonna, Ben Johnson and Lukasz Fabianski in order to extend their stays at the London Stadium.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by ExWHUemployee, who revealed in a recent The West Ham Way podcast that David Moyes’ side have opened contract talks with all three players, each of whom are currently on deals that expire at the end of the current campaign. An announcement regarding their respective extensions is expected to be made by the club in the near future.

In his post, the West Ham insider said: “Contract news should come soon. Negotiations have been ongoing for Fabianski, Ogbonna and Johnson.”

Fans will be buzzing

Considering just how impressive Fabianski, Ogbonna and Johnson have been for West Ham so far this season, the news that the club are working towards extending all three of their contracts beyond the end of the season is sure to have left the London Stadium faithful buzzing.

Indeed, over Johnson’s 11 Premier League appearances this term, the £2.7m-rated full-back has helped his side to keep two clean sheets and scored one goal, as well as making 1.3 interceptions, 2.2 tackles and 2.6 clearances per game and winning 54% of his duels.

These returns have seen the 21-year-old defender average an impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.00, ranking him as the Hammers’ fifth-best performer in the league.

Meanwhile, over Fabianski’s 20 league outings in the current campaign, the £900k-rated goalkeeper has kept four clean sheets and made 3.3 saves per match, with these metrics seeing the 36-year-old shot-stopper average a SofaScore match rating of 6.88.

Finally, over Ogbonna’s 11 Premier League outings prior to suffering a cruciate ligament injury back in November, the £1.8m-rated centre-back had helped the Irons to keep three clean sheets and scored one goal. These returns saw the 33-year-old average a SofaScore match rating of 6.71.

As such, considering just how important they are to the West Ham cause, the news that all three players look set to extend their respective stays in east London beyond the end of the current campaign is undoubtedly fantastic for everyone involved with the club.

In other news: Moyes can finally axe £10m dud as West Ham plot January bid for “determined” £21m colossus

Paulo Fonseca’s representatives have contacted Aston Villa over the vacant managerial position, according to The Daily Record.

The Lowdown: Villa’s Fonseca contact

Villa officially parted ways with Dean Smith on Sunday following a fifth successive defeat in the Premier League. However, a few days before the 1-0 loss to Southampton, the 50-year-old already appeared to be on borrowed time, with Villa making initial contact with Fonseca.

The 48-year-old, who was described as ‘very intelligent’ by Claudio Ranieri, has been out of work since the summer after he left AS Roma.

The Latest: Fonseca’s agent makes move…

The Daily Record’s Keith Jackson shared a story late on Monday night regarding Rangers’ 48-hour wait to see if Aston Villa will make a formal approach for Steven Gerrard.

Within their report, they suggested that Fonseca’s agents, who were involved in talks with Newcastle, have also contacted Villa to throw the Portuguese’s name into the hat for the vacancy in the Midlands.

The Verdict: Shrewd Gerrard alternative?

Ashley Preece believes that all signs are pointing towards Gerrard taking over from Smith at this moment in time, but should the club fail to bring the Rangers man to Villa Park, then Fonseca could be a good alternative.

He has a clear playing style with a preferred 3-4-2-1 system and has won nine honours as a manager in two different countries.

He has also been hailed by the likes of Ranieri and Antonio Conte, two Premier League-winning managers, so the Villa hierarchy could be clever to keep one eye on Fonseca while they pursue Gerrard.

In other news: ‘Thank god’ – Lots of Villa fans buzz as more exit news emerges.