All posts by z3u9t.icu

[ad_pod ]

It is funny how quickly things can change.

When Fernando Llorente missed an incredible chance to register against Watford on Wednesday night, the Tottenham Hotspur fans may have thought it was going to be another one of those nights for the Spaniard.

The 33-year-old is currently being tasked with leading the line in the absence of Harry Kane, which is not exactly the easiest thing in the world.

Overall, Llorente had a difficult night against Watford, but there proved to be a fairytale ending for the former Athletic Bilbao man as he netted an 87th-minute winner in Spurs’ 2-1 victory.

As expected, there were wild celebrations when Llorente registered and it could well be a turning point for the Spaniard, who was linked with an exit this month by The Daily Mail in December.

The Tottenham fans did a flip when Llorente – earning £75,000 a week according to Spotrac – scored the winner, with a large number taking to social media to lavish praise on the centre-forward.

A selection of the reaction from the club’s supporters can be seen below:

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas which Arsenal players would get into the Tottenham team ahead of the North London Derby – Check out the video below…

Leeds United may have been boosted in their efforts to sign Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino, following Luis Diaz’s expected move to Anfield.

The Lowdown: Leeds linked with Minamino move

The Whites were linked (Sky Sports) with a move for the Japanese attacker earlier in the week, as Marcelo Bielsa potentially looks to do some late business in January.

Minamino has been a peripheral figure for Liverpool this season, making zero starts in the Premier League and playing second fiddle to more illustrious names.

It could be that he now departs in the coming days after some significant moves from the Reds, and Leeds may have been boosted in that respect.

[freshpress-quiz id=“383507″]

The Latest: Diaz transfer could aid Whites

On Friday, journalist Graeme Bailey claimed Liverpool’s expected signing of Porto star Diaz this weekend could mean Minamino leaves Anfield:

“The arrival of Diaz could see Liverpool allow departures with Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino both the subject of offers this month.”

Whether or not Leeds were one of the teams to actually make an offer is unclear.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-33/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Shrewd last-minute addition

Minamino has struggled to excel at Liverpool but it may simply be a matter of the sheer number of quality additions at Jurgen Klopp’s disposal – the signing of Diaz exemplifies exactly that.

Leeds meanwhile are struggling for depth, and they don’t even actually have an attacking midfielder in the squad, per Transfermarkt, so this feels like a wise move.

The 27-year-old has still chipped in with six goals and an assist this season despite his limited chances, not to mention netting 16 times in 36 caps for Japan.

Minamino can play up front, out wide or as a No.10, too, so his versatility could be ideal for Bielsa, who could do with an extra injection of class between now and Monday’s deadline.

In other news, Phil Hay claims there is ‘European interest’ in one Leeds player. Find out who it is here.

Everton have been one of the most active Premier League clubs in the transfer window so far, and for good reason when you take a look at the poor performances Rafa Benitez’s side have put on this season.

However, they have now been linked with a third signing but it is predicted not to be one that the fans would welcome.

What’s the word?

Journalist, Paul Brown, has given his perspective on the rumour that Everton are interested in bringing Ross Barkley back to Goodison Park during the January transfer window.

Brown told GIVEMESPORT:

“It’s very strange they’ve been linked with Barkley at all because there’s been so much animosity with the fans, I think it would be a disaster if they tried to re-sign him.”

Everton have been speculated to be interested in signing the attacking midfielder this month, as he struggles to gain a starting position at Chelsea with just 12 appearances across all competitions this season.

Fans will be fuming

The 28-year-old left his boyhood club to make a shock move to Chelsea in the January of 2018, after making 179 appearances for the club scoring 27 goals and bagging 28 assists, with the transfer causing uproar in the Everton fanbase, who saw him as one of their own.

Benitez is already in a vulnerable position at the club, with fans planning protests against him, booing, leaving the ground early during matchday and even flying banners criticising the Spaniard but bringing Barkley back to the club could only further his fractured relationship with the fans and Brown’s warning speaks volumes.

The Everton manager and owners will need to do everything they can to regain the trust and support of the fans over the rest of the season by climbing the table into a much better position, and they will need to identify how to do that without causing further damage.

It would be interesting to see how fans react to a return for Barkley this January, but it could also be an opportunity for the midfielder to rebuild a relationship with the fans of the club he supports.

In other news: Myers reveals details in Lucas Digne move

Flocking to Twitter, many Manchester City fans have erupted over the latest transfer update out of their club following on from their alleged agreement to sell Ferran Torres to Barcelona.

The Spaniard, as per very reliable reports, will return to Spain as the Catalans and City shake hands on a £46.7m (€55m) initial fee plus a further £8.5m (€10m) in add-ons (Sky Sports).

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/man-city-latest-updates-2/” title=”Man City latest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Torres came to Eastlands with bags of potential and impressed on more than one occasion, but a move to Barcelona is seemingly too good to turn down for the player with City now cashing in after just one full season.

As the Sky Blues and sporting director Txiki Begiristain look set for a cash injection, an update has emerged on City’s transfer plans courtesy of reliable reporter James Ducker of The Telegraph.

According to his information, the money raised by Torres’ sale will likely be put towards the signing of a star striker for next year with Pep Guardiola’s side still firmly in the race to sign Borussia Dortmund superstar Erling Braut Haaland.

Man City fans erupt…

Flocking to this transfer claim, which one fan called ‘massive’, many City supporters have erupted on Twitter given their club’s failure to sign a world-class forward in the summer.

It is arguably the only gaping hole in Guardiola’s squad after the departure of club legend Sergio Aguero with the City coach yet again improvising with makeshift options this campaign.

Hearing the fee for Torres could be reinvested to back City with a star forward, as a result, has come as music to the ears of supporters – especially with Haaland as a target.

Find all of their best reactions down below after @CityXtra shared The Telegraph’s update:

“YESSSSS”

Credit: @BernardoTouch

“I’m on my knees for this to happen.”

Credit: @Zhubbie2

“It’s time.”

Credit: @MCFC_67

“YESSSSS SSIRRRRRRRRRRR”

Credit: @thaworldzyours

“Please please please”

Credit: @fidels782

“DO NOT GASS MEEEEEE”

Credit: @izmcfc

“Massive W”

Credit: @MNCTed

In other news:  ‘Wow’, ‘Yessss’, ‘Get it done’…Man City fans beg for ‘no brainer’ as ‘great news’ emerges, find out more here.

Tottenham Hotspur remain interested in Weston McKennie and manager Antonio Conte is said to be a huge fan…

What’s the word?

According to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), the 52-year-old is pushing sporting director Fabio Paratici to sign the American midfielder this month.

It’s thought that Juventus would be open to selling him but will only listen to ‘suitable’ offers. He is currently valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt.

Although the 23-year-old has emerged as a regular since the Old Lady changed manager and reappointed Massimiliano Allegri, so that makes any move a little harder.

Give Conte what he wants

With the futures of Tanguy Ndombele and Dele Alli in doubt, it’s no wonder Conte wants a new central midfielder and he could stumble upon his dream profile in McKennie.

The 28-cap USMNT international is capable of playing in a variety of roles in the engine room, as revealed by former Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner, who managed him at Schalke 04.

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

“He’s an outstanding talent. In the No.6 or No.8 position he has the mentality, a real working mentality that you need. And he’s brave on the ball as well. He can be one of the best midfielders in the Bundesliga,” he said via the league’s official website.

Indeed, the box-to-box beast is among Allegri’s top-four best-performing players in the Serie A this season – on top of providing three goals in 16 appearances, he has averaged a squad-high 1.4 interceptions, 1.3 shots and 1.1 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

This suggests that Wagner’s words do ring true – not only can he thwart an attack but he is more than capable of driving the ball forward into the final third and his goal record further proves this, too.

It also shows his impressive work rate, another factor that will surely be behind Conte’s admiration for him. McKennie has also been likened to Arturo Vidal in terms of playing style and the Chilean beast played a big role in Inter Milan’s title triumph under the Spurs boss last season.

As such, it’s on Paratici and co to land the impressive 6-foot powerhouse as his first signing this month. He’d be a fantastic and necessary addition to the Italian’s central midfield armoury.

AND in other news, Paratici can seal biggest Spurs signing since Son in £45m-rated “extraordinary talent”…

Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Glasgow Rangers head into Thursday evening’s Europa League tie safe in the knowledge that they have already secured a place for the Ibrox side in the knockout stages of the competition.

As such, with nothing at stake aside from pride, the fixture against Olympique Lyonnais presents the 46-year-old Gers manager with a perfect opportunity to heavily rotate his side, allowing a number of his peripheral squad members some much-needed game time.

Subsequently, this means that a plethora of Rangers’ regular starters must make way, with centre-forward Alfredo Morelos appearing to be a prime candidate for the chop on Thursday evening.

Van Bronckhorst must axe Morelos

Since making the move to Ibrox back in 2017, Morelos has gone on to become an incredibly important part of the Rangers first-team setup, scoring a highly impressive 104 goals and registering 46 assists over his 207 appearances for the club.

This season has been no different, with the £10.8m-rated striker having already bagged five goals, provided three assists and created two big chances over his 14 Premiership appearances, as well as taking an average of 4.1 shots – the highest number of any player in the top flight – and making 1.6 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the 25-year-old who Willy Irwin dubbed an “incredible” talent average a SofaScore match rating of 7.14, ranking him as Gers’ sixth-best performer in the league.

It has been a similar case over the Colombia international’s five outings in the Europa League this term, with the £33k-per-week hitman notching two goals and averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.16, ranking him as his side’s second-best player in Europe.

However, it is exactly because of Morelos’ fine form that Van Bronckhorst must ruthlessly axe the centre-forward against Lyon.

With the striker being just one yellow card away from suspension in the Europa League, it is not worth running the risk of fielding the player who the Dutch manager claimed can always “create danger” in the dead rubber on Thursday, as he could subsequently miss the much more important first-leg of Rangers’ knockout tie next February.

In other news: GVB must unleash Rangers’ “powerful” £17k-p/w “big talent” v Lyon, he’s a game-changer

Newcastle United are plotting a move to bring Donny van de Beek to St. James’ Park in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Spanish publication Marca, who claim that the Magpies’ have included the Manchester United attacking midfielder on their shortlist of transfer targets ahead of the upcoming winter market.

The report goes on to state that the 24-year-old has instructed his agent to secure him a move away from Old Trafford in January, and, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side would likely command a similar fee to the €40m (£34m) they paid for the midfielder in 2020, Marca suggest that Newcastle could be one of the few clubs able to meet United’s asking price for the Netherlands international.

Howe must move

Considering just how much talent Van de Beek quite clearly possesses, something that is currently being rather criminally wasted by Manchester United, should Newcastle indeed have an opportunity to sign the midfielder this winter, it would appear highly advisable for Eddie Howe to do all he can to secure a deal for the Dutchman.

Despite the 24-year-old being awarded just one start by Solskjaer this season, Van de Beek has nevertheless proven in previous campaigns that he would make a fantastic addition to Howe’s options in the middle of the pitch at St. James’ Park.

Indeed, over his 23 Eredivisie appearances during his final season at Ajax in 2019/20, the £22.5m-rated man scored eight goals, registered five assists and created six big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.9 shots and making 1.8 key passes per game.

These returns saw the player who Owen Hargreaves dubbed a “perfect” midfielder earn a seasonal SofaScore rating of 7.32, ranking him as the joint 12th-best performer in the top flight of Dutch football.

And, while a move for such a talented player by a side who are occupying 19th place in the Premier League standings would usually seem rather unrealistic, considering Van de Beek’s well-documented issues at United, the 24-year-old would more than likely jump at the chance to play in front of an adoring St. James’ Park crowd on a regular basis.

As such, with Newcastle being a team who are heavily reliant on the goals of Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin – with the duo having scored 50% of the Magpies’ Premier League goals this season – coupled with the Dutchman’s desire to secure a move away from United, the signing of the forward-thinking £120k-per-week midfielder would make a great deal of sense for the Magpies.

In other news: Forget Shelvey: Howe must seal NUFC swoop for £27m-rated gem who “nobody plays like”

Leeds United’s Crysencio Summerville is the subject of a transfer battle between Rangers and Hamburg, according to Frankfurter Rundschau (via Sport Witness).

The lowdown

Right-winger Summerville joined Leeds from Feyenoord’s academy in September 2020. He’s gone on to make eight appearances for the Whites’ senior side, including five in the Premier League this season.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-41/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-04-02T155252Z_391313781_UP1EI421841M9_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-SOU-REPORT.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

But the 20-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of next season, hasn’t featured in the top-flight since the 4-1 defeat against Arsenal on 18 December.

Hamburg’s directors apparently tried to sign the Dutchman in January but Leeds refused to let him move.

New Leeds boss Jesse Marsch has spoken to the player about the importance of his ‘professional behaviour, work ethic and his mentality’.

The latest

Rangers hold an interest in Summerville and ‘have more money’ to spend on the deal than fellow suitors Hamburg, per SW.

The Bundesliga 2 side were left feeling ‘bitter’ after their January move failed, but they are willing to ‘make another attempt for him’ in the summer.

The verdict

If Leeds do let Summerville go, it ought to be on loan. He’s shown his promise at Under-23 level for The Whites, scoring 13 goals and providing eight assists in 27 appearances.

Journalist Beren Cross says the ‘runaway train’ has been ‘catching the eye’, while U23 boss Andrew Taylor has even dubbed him ‘sensational’.

They could come to regret letting him go permanently after handing him only limited opportunities.

A loan move would offer him the opportunity to gain valuable experience of playing regular men’s football and, if Leeds do later decide to sell, it could well increase his value.

They may be a little hesitant to send him to Rangers, however, on the back of fellow youngster Amad Diallo’s unsuccessful loan switch from Manchester United.

The Gers reportedly intend to send Diallo back to Manchester at the earliest opportunity after things turned ‘sour’.

In other news, Leeds are ‘very likely’ to make this signing.

Taking to Twitter, Sportitalia TV reporter Gianluigi Longari has broken some Tottenham Hotspur transfer news in the race to sign Fiorentina star striker Dusan Vlahovic.

The Lowdown: Spurs eye Vlahovic move…

As per numerous reports, the Lilywhites and transfer chief Fabio Paratici have been eyeing a move for the Serbia international over these last few months as manager Antonio Conte seeks an attacking alternative to Harry Kane.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-updates-5/” title=”Spurs latest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Vlahovic has been in scintillating form for his club over 2021/2022, catching Spurs’ attention as they reportedly hold pre-January transfer meetings with La Viola chiefs over a transfer (La Gazzetta dello Sport via Sport Witness).

Sources closer to home also back Tottenham’s interest in the 21-year-old, with The Telegraph claiming that he has been a Paratici target since the summer window.

Breaking some news on social media, Longari now has the latest on Spurs’ links to Vlahovic.

The Latest: Longari breaks Vlahovic news…

Taking to Twitter, the Italian reporter has claimed that Tottenham are now ‘working strongly’ to sign the striker for summer but are ‘also trying’ a difficult move for January.

“They are working strongly for Vlahovic for the summer and are also trying a difficult attempt for January,” he explained.

“Fiorentina want to keep him until summer.”

The Verdict: Pull out all the stops?

Amid Conte’s goal to secure Tottenham qualification the Europa League or Champions League at the end of this season, news that they are unlikely to sign him this month could come as a slight blow.

However, as they attempt to sway Fiorentina into a winter agreement, you could make the argument that every club has their price and we believe Paratici should be pulling out all the stops for Vlahovic as a priority target.

Scoring 18 goals and assisting four others in 21 appearances across all competitions (Transfermarkt), Vlahovic has been lavished with praise given he is one of the most in-form forwards in Europe right now.

Spurs insider John Wenham recently called him ‘unbelievable’ and a would-be ‘phenomenal signing’ for Conte and the club, with Vlahovic’s numbers certainly backing those claims.

Paratici would have to break Tottenham’s transfer record to sign Fiorentina’s man according to some reports as Gazzetta (via AS) claim the club have set an eye-watering €100million (£85m) price tag.

However, given Vlahovic’s age, sell-on potential, incredible form and obvious ability – he genuinely could be worth such a fee.

In other news: Tottenham prepare £16.7m offer for ‘sensational’ player, club have no choice but to accept…find out more here.

It’s safe to say Everton are in a bad run of form at the moment having lost five and drawn two of their seven previous league games, scoring just four goals and conceding 13 in the process.

Injuries have played their part in Everton’s poor run of form in recent weeks with the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Andre Gomes and Yerry Mina all out of action.

With a tough test against Liverpool next up for the Toffees in midweek, it seems as though the Everton fans could do with a bit of good news to get some positive vibes around the club again, and it seems that they may have exactly that.

It has recently been reported in The Telegraph that Everton are interested in signing Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard as a free agent in the next summer transfer window when his current contract runs out.

Given Everton’s dismal run of form, perhaps it would be better for the Merseyside club if they managed to sign the England international on a loan deal in the upcoming January window with an obligation to sign him permanently in the summer.

As a product of United’s youth system, Lingard has made 220 appearances for the Manchester club across all competitions, scoring 35 goals and providing 21 assists along the way, proving himself as a useful attacking and creative option from midfield.

This backs up why Lingard was previously labelled as being an “intelligent” player by former United teammate Rio Ferdinand.

During his loan period with West Ham last season, the 28-year-old, who is currently valued at £19.8m according to Transfermarkt, certainly made the most of his time in east London by scoring nine goals and providing five assists in 16 games, helping them secure their place in the Europa League.

This shows just how much of an attacking impact he can have on a team when he’s given the chance to play regularly, which he hasn’t been at Old Trafford this season with no starts in the Premier League.

With that in mind, Marcel Brands should definitely explore the option of signing Lingard in January to see if he can add a bit of extra attacking power to Rafa Benitez’s side for the second half of the season.

As he did at West Ham, there is a possibility that he could bethe catalyst that sparks a revival at Goodison Park and fixes the issue of their turbulent form. Certainly, with the qualities in his locker, he can do that under Benitez and turn their season around.

In other news: Rafa could solve major EFC issue with “sensational” 18y/o gem whose “future is bright”