All posts by z3u9t.icu

Taking to Twitter, Sky Sports reporter Lyall Thomas has dropped an exciting five-word transfer hint as he makes a claim on Tottenham Hotspur’s activity in January.

The Lowdown: Spurs eye moves…

As reported elsewhere, it appears manager Antonio Conte and transfer chief Fabio Paratici have their eyes on strengthening key areas of the squad this month.

[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”]

Reliable football.london correspondent Alasdair Gold, for example, says the Lilywhites wish to bolster central midfield, the right-wing-back area, the left-side of central defence and further forward.

There have been no shortage of links to some big name players, either, with claims varying from lucrative pre-contract offers to big bids being made.

Thomas, dropping a transfer hint on Twitter, has now told Spurs fans to expect activity out of N17.

The Latest: Thomas drops transfer hint…

Sending a five-word message to Lilywhites supporters when asked for the latest updates out of their club, the Sky journalist stated that Paratici and Conte will definitely make moves this month.

Taking to social media, he explained: “Will do business, almost certainly.”

The Verdict: Exciting claim…

Over recent seasons, it’s safe to say the January transfer window hasn’t exactly been a busy one for Spurs – so news that they will indeed be active this month should come as music to the ears of Lilywhites supporters.

Conte needs backing in the transfer market if he is to make a success of his tenure in charge with managing director Paratici and chairman Daniel Levy tasked to do just that.

The latter man has apparently met with Tottenham owner Joe Lewis in the Bahamas to discuss transfer strategy in what could be a key factor to Conte’s plans this month.

Adding Thomas’ transfer hint on top of that news, it’s safe to to say this is shaping up to be the most interesting Lilywhites winter window in some time.

In other news: Tottenham ‘working strongly’ for ‘phenomenal signing’ as reporter drops Twitter message, find out more here.

Some Wolves supporters are in confident spirits after Wanderers were drawn at home to Sheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup.

It has been a largely positive start to the season for Bruno Lage’s men, who sit eighth in the Premier League with 15 matches played.

There is still plenty of work to be done if Wolves have genuine hopes of securing a European finish but the positives outweigh the negatives currently.

Away from the Premier League, there is always the chance of silverware in the FA Cup, as Wanderers look to lift the trophy for the first time since way back in 1960.

On Monday evening, Wolves were pitted against the Blades in the third round draw, with the tie taking place at Molineux early next month.

United are currently 10th in the Championship so all things point towards Lage’s team making it into the fourth round.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375704”]

Wolves fans happy with FA Cup draw

These Wolves fans reacted positively to the draw on Twitter, after it was confirmed on the club’s official channels.

“Come on boys!”

Credit: @XXXTANNERTACION

“Decent”

Credit: @wwfcglover

“Happy with that tbh”

Credit: @eve_elizabethxx

“The Morgan Gibbs-White derby”

Credit: @krittterrr

“I’m happy we got a home tie, but I was hoping for Kidderminster!”

Credit: @AdeTWG

“I’ll take that tbf. Would love to see us take the competition seriously though and have another decent cup run/give it a good go at least”

Credit: @WwfcAj_

In other news, Tim Spiers has made a big Wolves claim ahead of the January transfer window. Read more here.

Everton manager Rafa Benitez could secure a transfer masterclass after being linked with a move for Brentford defender Pontus Jansson in the January transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to The Guardian, the Toffees are one of three Premier League clubs eyeing up a potential swoop for the 30-year-old, with Newcastle United and Leicester City also listed as potential suitors.

With Jansson’s current contract at the Brentford Community Stadium set to expire at the end of the current campaign, an imminent exit could be on the cards as several sides look to secure a cut-price deal.

The report states that: “Pontus Jansson is wanted by Leicester, Newcastle and Everton in January after they were alerted to the Brentford captain’s contract situation.”

Transfer masterclass

Everton’s defence has been extremely porous in the opening 16 games of the top-flight campaign, heavily contributing to their recent run of poor form.

Benitez’s charges have conceded 28 goals so far, the fourth-highest amount in the Premier League, and seven more than relegation-threatened Burnley, highlighting their extensive troubles at the back.

And things could get worse for the Merseyside outfit over the coming months.

Reports have suggested key centre-back Yerry Mina could depart the club during the winter as he seeks pastures new, leaving Everton desperately short of quality at the back, and Benitez will be in desperate need of reinforcements if his proposed exit is confirmed.

With the Merseyside outfit also having to tighten their budget significantly in order to comply with Financial Fair Play restrictions, securing Jansson’s signature for a bargain price would be a masterstroke by the Spanish tactician.

Since arriving in west London back in July 2019, the £4.5m-rated beast has been a key figure in Brentford’s defence, and manager Thomas Frank made no effort to hide his excitement following his arrival.

“Pontus is a top defender who brings immense professionalism, a great attitude, experience, defensive robustness, leadership qualities, and threat from set-pieces to our side,” said Frank upon his unveiling.

“Everyone knows about the Brentford model but to develop the young players we have here, we also need experience and quality in the squad to get the perfect balance.

“To have someone with his CV turn down other offers to join us shows where we stand as a club now.”

After playing a key role in the Bees’ promotion from the Championship last term, Jansson has showcased his quality on the Premier League stage on a consistent basis throughout 2021/22.

The 6 foot 4 colossus has started all 16 of the capital club’s league encounters, averaging 1.4 interceptions, a whopping 4.8 clearances and 0.4 blocks while winning 2.8 aerial duels, as per WhoScored.

Those figures place Jansson in the top three for each metric when compared to his teammates, and illustrate how the Swede could be an extremely astute purchase for Benitez and Everton.

With Mina departing, they will need someone with height and power to add to their ranks and fortunately, those are two attributes the Brentford giant has in abundance.

And, in other news…More misery: Everton could be set for a big blow in January, Rafa would be devastated – opinion

Newcastle United have reportedly ‘set their sights’ on Hellas Verona striker Giovanni Simeone. 

The lowdown: Most lethal finisher in 20/21

Simeone, the son of Atletico Madrid manager Diego, is currently on loan at Verona from fellow Serie A outfit Cagliari.

He’s currently the second top-scorer in the division with nine goals in just seven starts (via WhoScored). Four of those strikes came in 4-1 win over Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio last month.

Strikingly, no player in Europe’s top five leagues has out-performed their expected goals by a greater margin than Simeone (+6.2), showing he has been extremely clinical in front of goal this term.

The latest

The report, from L’Arena (via Tutto Hellas Verona), states that Newcastle and West Ham are both interested in Simeone.

Verona apparently have the option to make his loan permanent for €12million (£10.1million), so it may not be Cagliari with whom the Magpies have to negotiate.

The verdict

You can look at Simeone’s goalscoring exploits in one of two ways. If you take them at face value, they’re immensely impressive, putting him amongst the European elite at this stage of the campaign.

On the other hand, though, the deficit between his expected goals and actual goals is surely unsustainable. Indeed, prior to this season, he’d actually underperformed every year in that department.

It’s important that Newcastle look past the headline numbers and don’t allow themselves to be fooled into another Joelinton, although Simeone’s far inferior price tag to the Brazilian could mean this is still a risk worth taking.

In other news, Newcastle are ready to splash the cash on another Serie A signing.

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has ruled Joachim Andersen out of Tuesday night’s clash with Leeds United. 

The Eagles boss told reporters that the 25-year-old ‘is not going to travel’ to Elland Road because he’s not ‘100%’ following a recent hamstring injury.

Andersen injury a real blow for Palace

The Dane, a £20m summer signing from Lyon, had featured in all of Palace’s Premier League games this season prior to last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa.

James Tomkins was called upon to replace him in the heart of defence, slotting in alongside Marc Guehi, but the 32-year-old was partly culpable for Villa’s opener as he failed to deal with Ashley Young’s corner before it fell to eventual scorer Matt Targett.

An attacking weapon

Andersen’s importance to the Eagles extends beyond his defensive contribution.

He frequently launches attacks through his passing, averaging a squad-high 6.3 accurate long balls per 90 (via WhoScored). In the Premier League as a whole, only one outfielder – Wolves’ Ruben Neves – can better that figure.

Fan feed CPFC Transfers HQ relayed Vieira’s update, and here’s how these Palace supporters reacted.

Palace fans flock to Andersen injury update

“Announce Leeds win”

Credit: @cpfcadam_

“Pain”

Credit: @callum_cpfc_

“Tomkins vs Leeds it is”

Credit: @cpfc_sean

“Inshallah he is not out for five months”

Credit: @cpfctristan

“Not surprised and it sucks but hopefully this means it’s not too serious and he can be back for the weekend”

Credit: @phillyconcarne

“We struggled without him last week, I honestly think we should play Riedewald at the back to advance the play forward even though defensively he may not be as safe as Tonks”

Credit: @nikolimorgan

In other news, lots of Palace fans reacted to this contract news. 

Sky Sports journalist Pete Graves has relayed news that Newcastle United are eyeing up Luis Campos as the club’s new sporting director.

What’s the story?

Writing on Twitter, he said: “My colleague @gary_cotterill tells me on @SkySportsNews that world renowned Sporting Director Luis Campos would be interested in a role at #nufc and that he expects him to be under consideration by the clubs new owners. Campos helped Lille and Monaco beat PSG to the French title.”

Could be game-changing for Newcastle

While PIF may be the wealthiest owners in the business, that shouldn’t just mean throwing big money at new players for the sake of it.

Bringing someone like Campos into the fold would give Newcastle the kind of respected presence behind-the-scenes who has proven in his time around Europe that he is among the best around when it comes to talent spotting.

For those who aren’t aware of the kind of genius that the Portuguese man possesses, then look no further than his work at AS Monaco and Lille.

The likes of Fabinho, Bernardo Silva, Anthony Martial, Nicolas Pepe and Victor Osimhen all arrived under his watch, with everyone barring the latter leaving for the Premier League for big sums of money.

The 57-year-old has clearly got a nose for identifying talent before they’ve really established themselves on the world scene, and getting that extra edge in the transfer market could be crucial to Newcastle in these early years of PIF’s revolution.

Campos has got the pedigree and profile to be a real game-changing appointment for the Magpies, and ensure they sign the best up-and-coming players around.

Newcastle fans will surely be excited about their links to Campos.

Meanwhile, George Caulkin has dropped a Newcastle manager update…

The Athletic’s Phil Hay has confirmed that Leeds United defender Luke Ayling will miss today’s clash against Norwich City and delivered a worrying update on his potential comeback.

What’s the story?

The versatile 30-year-old has missed the last four games in the Premier League for Marcelo Bielsa’s side after being forced off late in the second half against Newcastle United a few weeks ago.

Hay has now revealed that Leeds manager Bielsa hasn’t indicated when Ayling could be back.

Writing on Twitter, the journalist said: “Shackleton has a chance of being involved but no Luke Ayling. Still not ready to return. Bielsa says there’s no precise return date set for Bamford, Ayling or Koch yet.”

Big setback for Bielsa

Usually one of the first names on the team-sheet, there’s no questioning that Ayling has been one of the manager’s most trusted lieutenants over the past couple of seasons.

The £45k-a-week ace played the full 90 minutes in every single Premier League game last season bar one, and even that was when Bielsa took him off to try and find a goal in the last 20 minutes against ten-man Arsenal.

Described as a “great technician” by former Arsenal academy team-mate Cedric Evina, Ayling’s composure on the ball is something that Bielsa particularly admires, saying after Leeds’ 3-0 victory over Aston Villa last year that the right-back “transmitted serenity to the rest of the team”.

The Leeds manager even once said that the defender was someone “who can solve any problem”, and that’s exactly why Hay’s update is a body blow for Bielsa and the Whites this weekend.

While missing Bamford up top and Phillips in the middle of the park have both been big blows for Leeds, losing a reliable presence like the 30-year-old Ayling is sure to have left the manager particularly gutted.

Meanwhile, Leeds are eyeing this South American ace…

Lots of Glasgow Rangers fans have been left buzzing over some news from the club’s youth ranks.

As shared by the official Twitter page of Rangers B & Academy, the B team defeated Berwick Rangers 6-1 away from home with six different scorers in what was described as a ‘great performance’ with ‘brilliant team play’.

Robbie Fraser, Leon King, Alex Lowry, Ross McCausland, Kyle McClelland and Tony Weston all managed to get themselves on the scoresheet as Rangers B followed up their 3-0 win at home to Hammarby on Tuesday night.

The young Bears are in a very good place at this moment in time, and some of their performances should certainly catch the eye of Steven Gerrard, who may now think about giving one or two of them a chance in the first team.

Rangers fans on B-team’s result

These Ibrox supporters were delighted as the result was shared on Twitter, with one Gers fan saying that it was ‘excellent’ from the youngsters:

“Brilliant result”

Credit: @Tracey49876558

“FT: Berwick Rangers – 1 Rangers B – 6. Great win lads”

Credit: @BobSteele55

“Fantastic result”

Credit: @Papa_291

“What a future for a club if handled correctly”

Credit: @RFCGW

“Excellent again by the youngsters”

Credit: @4ladshadadream

“Nice one young Gers”

Credit: @Rabg1872

In other news, some fans criticised this first-teamer’s performance against Hibernian

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) Public Investment Fund (PIF) are now eyeing a move to make Diego Simeone the next manager of Newcastle United.

The Lowdown: Bruce exit confirmed

The St. James’ Park faithful have confirmed in an official statement on Wednesday morning that Steve Bruce has left the club by ‘mutual consent’.

Graeme Jones has now stepped in on an interim basis, and will take charge of the team when they play Crystal Palace away from home in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Following this news, an exciting name has now emerged in the manager hunt.

The Latest: Simeone eyed

As per Spanish outlet AS, Simeone is now being eyed as the potential replacement for Bruce, and Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta could well follow him to the North East.

The new owners were looking at bringing both me in at the start of 2020, when the initial rumours of the takeover on Tyneside were heating up, and as the deal is now officially completed, PIF are now hoping to re-test the possibility of bringing them both in, and emulating the Atletico model.

The Verdict: Unrealistic

Simeone leaving his beloved Atletico to move to the Magpies just seems too unrealistic at this particular moment in time, given that the Toon still find themselves in a relegation battle.

Widely recognised as one of the elite managers in world football, he has won a total of nine trophies as a manager, including being voted the World’s Best Coach in 2016, and winning the La Liga title ahead of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid last season (Transfermarkt) – Atletico star Rodrigo De Paul claims it is ‘incredible’ to be coached by his compatriot.

Before Liverpool beat Los Rojiblancos 3-2 on Tuesday night, Jurgen Klopp told the media just how much he loved and respected Simeone, claiming that he is ‘doing absolutely everything right’ at Atletico.

Simeone could be a future manager at NUFC, but for now they need to hire someone who would be up for a relegation fight first of all, perhaps with a view to bring the maverick superstar in down the line.

In other news, find out which representatives of this ‘phenomenal’ target were at St. James’ Park here!

Some Wolves fans have been left fuming at Gabby Agbonlahor after his prediction involving them emerged on talkSPORT.

Speaking on talkSPORT’s Sunday show, the former Aston Villa and England international striker has now predicted that the Midlands club will be in a relegation battle this season after their 2-0 home loss at the hands of Brentford in the Premier League at Saturday lunchtime.

As Agbonlahor put it, the performance was ‘shocking’, but some members of the Molineux faithful believe that he is being too reactionary as it is still very early on in the campaign.

There are also his past connections with AVFC to contend with as well, and so it is not a surprise at all to see so many WWFC supporters disagree with his opinion despite the poor result and disappointing performance.

Wolves fans on Agbonlahor prediction

These Wanderers were left fuming as the prediction made by Agbonlahor was shared by talkSPORT on their official Twitter page:

“What a surprise a former Villa player and Villa fan saying his team’s rivals are going to be in a relegation battle after 1 bad performance”

Credit: @JaysonGibbons2

“…and last week you said wolves would be fine this season. You just go with the flow Gabby”

Credit: @dave_golding

“Shock, Villa fan says Wolves are in trouble. Every team in the league has off days. Villa gave taken 1 point out of a possible 6 against newly promoted teams so far.”

Credit: @charlie_bish93

“Bore off”

Credit: @salopwolf

“As bad as we were yesterday one game doesn’t make a season. First 4 games we could have easily had 12 points! On to the next one”

Credit: @Leicesterwolf

“Gabby giving his opinion that nobody asked for again”

Credit: @DanWWFC89

In other news, find out what John Percy update has Wanderers buzzing here!