All posts by h716a5.icu

Tottenham Hotspur have been linked to some of the best players in the world as Jose Mourinho looks to ease the burden on Harry Kane, but nothing has materialised as of yet. 

Paul Robinson believes it will be “difficult” for Tottenham to tempt Arkadiusz Milik to join the club in the summer and insists they should sign Olivier Giroud instead. The Pole has recently been linked with a move to north London.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-England international acknowledged Spurs have a tough time trying to convince strikers to move to north London as Kane is the first-choice striker.

Kane made his first competitive start in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United following his recovery from a hamstring injury that ruled him out for a large chunk of the season.

Jose Mourinho is desperate to find a backup for the club’s top scorer and Robinson insists a veteran may be better suited to the role as they will not be expecting to start every game.

The pundit told football writer Dylan Childs “it is always a difficult sell to a player when they know Harry Kane will play if he is fit. Mourinho will only play with one striker and you have got to remember that they have Son as well.

“Milik would not start every game and it would take a certain type of player to play that role.

“But Kane has not completed a full season for three years or so. He is still scoring goals despite missing great big chunks of seasons through injury but do you want to risk it as a player coming in? It is a tough sell.

“In January they tried to get Giroud and I still think he would be a smart signing.”

It is hard to argue with Robinson on this one, as Giroud is still a top-class striker, given his status as a World Cup winner.

The 33-year-old bagged 105 goals for Arsenal between 2012-18 until he jumped ship to Stamford Bridge.

Despite his age, it doesn’t look like the Frenchman will be slowing down anytime soon, as he has continued to impress for Chelsea, scoring 22 goals and providing 13 assists in 79 appearances for the Blues, winning the Europa League and FA Cup along the way.

Mourinho’s side are currently eighth in the Premier League, nine points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, although they have a game in hand over their close rivals.

The Portuguese has made it clear he wants to win trophies at Tottenham, which is something Giroud knows all about, as his trophy cabinet more than speaks for itself.

His experience at the top levels of the game could be a decisive factor as Spurs go in search of silverware next season. Moreover, he could act as a mentor to Troy Parrott and Steven Bergwijn, which would be an added bonus.

Tottenham fans, do you think Daniel Levy should sign Olivier Giroud in the summer? Let us know down below!

Jose Mourinho knows he must fix Tottenham Hotspur’s defensive problems sooner rather than later. 

Tottenham have conceded more goals than Arsenal, Sheffield United and Premier League champions Liverpool this season amongst others.

While they seem to have turned things around at the moment, Spurs will be aware they must improve their defensive displays if they want to challenge for silverware in the future.

Tottenham have now turned their attentions to Schalke star Weston McKennie, reports say.

According to Football Insider, McKennie set to move away from FC Schalke 04 as they are struggling to cope with financial pressures.

Spurs are keen to sign the Bundesliga ace amid interest from a number of Premier League rivals, as well as Inter Milan and Hertha Berlin.

Despite his young age, the 21-year-old has impressed at Schalke, playing 28 games in the Bundesliga this season, scoring 3 goals, making 1.4 tackles per game, averaging 1.6 interceptions, and completing 1.3 clearances on average (via WhoScored).

After arriving at the VELTINS-Arena, the USA international has become a mainstay for the Miners, making over 91 appearances for the German club so far.

Reports indicate Schalke are seeking £27m to let him leave this summer.

After Toby Alderweireld came back into the side, Spurs have only conceded one goal in three games, but it is arguably too little, too late.

Tottenham’s record speaks for itself, and signing a new defensive minded midfielder to protect the backline could be what is needed to stabilise the team. The American’s stats suggest he can certainly play that role, he even averages more tackles, interceptions and clearances per league game than current Spurs man Harry Winks.

However, Daniel Levy has made it clear he will not be spending “rivers of money” in the summer, and McKennie may be too expensive to buy in the summer, as Spurs could have a transfer battle on their hands.

Tottenham fans, should Levy sign Weston McKennie this summer? Let us know down below!

Leeds United have finally been promoted to the Premier League, and while their finances are going to be boosted massively by finally attaining top-flight status, Andrea Radrizzani has just had to pay out a hefty amount to his players.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of United’s playing staff were in line for a bonus if Leeds got out of the Championship, but the actual amount that the club have paid out is quite staggering.

What’s the story then?

Alan Nixon was giving a round-up of his main footballing stories from the week on Sunday morning, and he mentioned that both West Brom and Leeds had paid out huge bonuses to their players after being promoted.

Watch Leeds United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Understandably, there was interest in just how much the players received, and the journalist was quick to give an answer.

Nixon stated that Leeds paid out over £10m to the players after promotion.

Incredible

The players have certainly earned their pay packet after such a successful season, but to pay out an eight-figure fee is simply incredible.

The Whites have only spent over £10m on a player once since their relegation in 2004 with Helder Costa’s £16m fee breaking the bank, and this is a sign of just how much promotion boost’s the club’s coffers.

There have been whole transfer windows where Leeds haven’t spent that much, and they’ve now given that amount out as a bonus.

There are two ways to look at this though, it’s either a sign of things to come in terms of big spending at the club, or it’s a reckless way to spend such a figure when the squad needs seriously bolstering ahead of next season.

It will be interesting to keep an eye on Leeds’ finances over the next year, especially when you consider the FFP trouble they had in the Championship.

Many Aston Villa fans have reacted to an image shared by club captain Jack Grealish alongside former striker Tammy Abraham.

22-year-old striker Abraham moved to Villa Park on a season long loan two summers ago and played a big part in the Midlands club’s promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.

Netting an impressive 26 goals in 41 games for Villa, Abraham returned to parent club Chelsea last summer where he has gone on to feature regularly under Frank Lampard.

A good return of 15 Premier League goals for the Blues last season was impressive from the youngster but his future is now under question as the London based club welcome new signing Timo Werner this summer.

With his future under question, Birmingham LIVE reported last month that Abraham had turned down a new contract offer from Chelsea, which would certainly capture the interest of Villa given his previous ties.

On the back of that there have been questions over whether Villa could make a return move for the striker, including on the Claret and Blue podcast. Now, Grealish’s post is likely to spark further rumours as he shared a photo alongside his ex-teammate with the caption: “That’s my brother y’naaa #secretagent.”

Reacting to the image of Grealish and Abraham via Twitter account @villareport, fans shared their excitement…

Do you think Abraham could return to Villa Park? Let us know in the comments section below…

Brighton have discovered how much they will need to spend if they want to sign transfer target Boulaye Dia, who is also on the wish-lists of two former Champions League-winning clubs.

Portuguese media outlet A Bola reported [via HITC] that Reims will demand €15m (£13.5m) for the 23-year-old, with the Seagulls facing competition from Porto and Marseille for his signature.

Earlier this month, Le10 Sport had claimed that Albion had commenced talks with the centre-forward about a possible move to the Amex Stadium.

Dia has scored 13 goals in 50 appearances for Reims, netting eight times last season in helping them to a fifth-placed finish in a curtailed Ligue 1 campaign and getting off the mark for this term with the opener in a 2-2 draw at Monaco last week. However, he was a notable absentee from the matchday squad for yesterday’s 0-1 home defeat against Lille.

Although he has proven that he can score in a major European league, there is no guarantee that the 23-year-old would go straight into Graham Potter’s starting line-up. The Brighton manager often starts with only one centre-forward, a position which Neal Maupay is likely to occupy after his 10 goals in last season’s Premier League. However, the ex-Brentford man scored just seven goals in 59 Ligue 1 games before moving to England, the same tally that Dia managed in 24 matches in the division last term.

The Seagulls will also need to present a very persuasive sales pitch to the Reims striker if they are to fend off the competition for his signature. A resurgent Marseille qualified for this season’s Champions League, a tournament which will also feature Porto after they regained their Portuguese title earlier this year. While they are both competing in Europe’s flagship club competition, Brighton have the more modest ambition of seeking to improve on a 15th-placed finish in the Premier League.

Considering that Maupay cost £20m from second-tier Brentford, a sum of £13m does not seem excessive for Dia, whose goal ratio in Ligue 1 is far better than the current Brighton marksman.

However, the Seagulls could have it all to do if they are to beat the likes of Porto and Marseille to his signature. That said, they already pulled off an impressive coup when signing Joel Veltman from Ajax for less than £1m earlier this summer, so Albion might be quietly confident of landing another clever purchase in the current transfer window.

Brighton fans, how thrilled would you be if the Seagulls beat Porto and Marseille to Dia’s signature? Comment below with your views!

After yet another injury-hit campaign last season, Jack Wilshere will surely be hoping that he can finally enjoy a full season in the Premier League with West Ham.The former Arsenal starlet played just ten times across all competitions in the 2019/2020 campaign, and played just 35 minutes of football following the top-flight’s restart.

Spot the fact from the fib: Are these Premier League records true or false?

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

Against Brentford in Saturday afternoon’s pre-season clash, Wilshere was given the chance to impress David Moyes from the off, lining up alongside Mark Noble in the middle of the park.

After seeing his performance against last season’s Championship play-off finalists, Hammers fans took to Twitter to share their reactions.

A couple of supporters urged the club to get rid of the midfielder, with one fan saying that he “offers absolutely nothing to our club”.

Another couple of Hammers fans even slammed Wilshere as being “anonymous” during the game.

Having barely done anything of note since joining the Hammers, it’s no surprise to see West Ham fans have little confidence that Wilshere can turn his career around at the London Stadium.

Tomas Soucek’s arrival has dropped him further down the pecking order, with the Czech Republic international actually scoring the match-winner against Brentford on Saturday.

It’s difficult to see how Wilshere gets back into the starting line-up.

Tottenham Hotspur are a couple of signings short of what would be a perfect summer of transfer activity, although one of their confirmed moves is already looking like a masterstroke from Daniel Levy.

Jose Mourinho has brought in three new players; former Southampton skipper Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, free-agent veteran Joe Hart and right wing-back Matt Doherty from Wolves.

And it’s the latter that has already shown his class in just his second game post-transfer, albeit for his national side, Ireland.

Stephen Kenny’s side were disappointingly defeated 1-0 by Finland at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday evening but Doherty played a starring role at the back despite the loss.

Per SofaScore, the 28-year-old picked up a match-high rating of 7.8 after recording four clearances, three tackles and one interception. He also only lost possession five times from 84 touches, had a 100% long ball accuracy rate from seven attempts and 94% passing accuracy.

The Ireland squad isn’t brimming with the same sort of quality as what Mourinho has at his disposal in north London, so you can already picture that sort of display but with Harry Kane making an impact in attack instead of Adam Idah.

Serge Aurier has been woefully inconsistent as Spurs’ first-choice right-back, leading to the Portuguese boss hilariously questioning him in Amazon’s ‘All or Nothing‘ series, so it’s no wonder the club have pressed with an addition in this position.

For just £15m, this looks an absolute steal, particularly as Doherty was one of Wolves’ standout performers last term.

The long-serving Irishman provided six goals and four assists across the Premier League and the Europa League whilst also averaging 1.7 tackles, 0.9 dribbles and 0.8 key passes, via WhoScored.

Doherty will surely be given the freedom to attack down that right-flank with Ben Davies on the other side the more defensively-minded player, so it’s a signing that really could turn out to be a bargain.

Former Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas has lauded his performances in the past as “absolutely sensational” whilst his old skipper Conor Coady believes Doherty is “phenomenal,” so Spurs will be hoping that’s continued into this term.

His display over the weekend is the perfect sign of things to come and if he does turn out to be a good signing, then Levy should absolutely be praised for sanctioning the deal.

AND in other news, Spurs should look to replace Vertonghen with Serie A monster – it’s not Skriniar either…

Leeds United have told Serie A side Udinese that their pursuit of Rodrigo de Paul is likely to have come to an end, with the Whites set to complete a deal for Rennes forward Raphinha.

The Whites have already agreed terms over a deal with Rennes to take Raphinha on a permanent deal, whilst also agreeing personal terms with the 23-year-old, who will arrive at Elland Road on a five-year deal pending a medical and a work permit, according to Fabrizio Romano.

It now seems like Raphinha’s arrival will signal the end to the Whites’ long-term interest in de Paul, with Leeds having been consistently linked with a move for the 26-year-old throughout the course of the transfer window. Marcelo Bielsa’s side have informed Udinese that they consider the move to be off at this stage, according to Romano’s tweet.

Bielsa has been keen on adding some extra firepower and creativity to his squad before the window closes, and de Paul having scored seven goals and registered six assists from attacking midfield last term in Serie A (via Sofascore) looked like he would fit the bill for the Whites.

However, it now looks like Leeds will instead settle for bringing in Raphinha, who does play in a slightly different forward role to de Paul but also has plenty of attacking output to offer, hitting five goals and providing three assists in 22 Ligue 1 appearances last term, as per Sofascore.

Leeds missing out on de Paul would be a shame with the 26-year-old looking like a player who would be ideal for the way the Whites set up, capable of providing moments of magic in the final third that could have helped them edge tight matches with his 3.3 key passes per game. The club though do not want to over-spend this window so by bringing in Raphinha they will have to hope he is equally as efficient in the last third – he boasts 1.5 key passes per game.

The Whites have had a decent transfer window and have backed Bielsa as much as they can, and you would back any player arriving at Elland Road to thrive under his coaching given the way his side are playing at the moment.

Raphinha is an exciting addition with not much known about the 23-year-old, but Leeds have a coach who can extract the best from the player so he could well excel and prove to be a bargain addition.

Leeds fans, do you think the club has made the right decision opting for Raphinha? Comment below!

Last year it was Tanguy Ndombele, this year it’s Dele Alli.

There has always been some sort of perplexing saga going on at Tottenham Hotspur with the divisive Jose Mourinho at the helm.

The €70m-rated (£64m) attacking midfielder has started just two of their eight matches in all competitions this season, even missing the matchday squad 50% of the time.

It comes not too long after Amazon’s ‘All or Nothing‘ docuseries in which Mourinho described Alli as “lazy,” although he said it with more colourful language.

As a result of a combination of the above, the 24-year-old has had his Spurs future thrown into doubt with a loan move to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain thought to be in discussion during the final stages of the summer transfer window.

Indeed, Alli could be running out of time to convince the Special One over his credentials, so perhaps he should consider reinventing himself to give him the best shot at salvaging his career in N17.

On the Chalkboard

Currently, Mourinho’s system does not account for a number ten, which is Alli’s true position.

Instead, he looks to Harry Kane to drop deeper, thus allowing Heung-min Son to nip in behind as an inside forward – this was best seen against Southampton where the pair combined for all five goals.

Such a tactic has long been a mainstay of the Portuguese’s gameplan – think of Marcus Rashford at Manchester United and Samuel Eto’o in the treble-winning Inter Milan side.

This is probably the position Alli will need to transition into if he’s to have much of a future under Mourinho at Spurs.

Considering he’s sat on £100k-per-week as the third-highest earner at the club, if push comes to shove, Daniel Levy could well look to cash in.

In 2017, Alli was lauded as a “freak of a talent” who could one day be up there with Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes as one of the best midfielders in Premier League history, and boy was he right to after a campaign which produced a whopping 21 goals and nine assists.

But the Englishman, who is now out of the England squad too, has failed to hit such substantial heights since, managing just nine goals last season.

We also know that the 57-year-old isn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers or cast-off players he either cannot trust or cannot get the best out of.

At the current rate, Alli could well become Mourinho’s next Kevin De Bruyne, who he infamously sold whilst in charge at Chelsea before he went on to become a household name in the Premier League at Manchester City.

Of course the Belgian is merely one example – albeit a relevant one given Alli’s position – but you could also throw in Romelu Lukaku and Mohamed Salah too.

It certainly appears as if a new role as a Son-like inside forward would be the only way the two-time PFA Young Player of the Year earns any form of redemption in north London.

AND in other news, Spurs must surely regret Levy decision on £22m Mourinho target who’s better than Doherty…

A number of Southampton fans have been heaping praise on Oriol Romeu after his performance during the Saints’ impressive 2-0 win against Premier League leaders Everton.

Romeu delivered an all-action midfield performance for the Saints as they prevented Everton from getting any rhythm throughout the contest at St Mary’s. The midfielder managed to break up play by winning four tackles and making two interceptions to provide a solid base from which the Saints could build (Sofascore).

The 29-year-old was also very composed in possession, helping Southampton keep control of the ball when needed and building attacks. Romeu averaged an impressive 93% passing accuracy, as well as delivering one key pass into the final third (Sofascore).

The midfielder’s impact on the game was not just limited to keeping the ball and protecting the defence either, with Romeu also firing in two attempts on target (Sofascore). That made him an integral part of what was arguably the Saints’ most impressive performance of the campaign so far.

Saints fans react to performance of Romeu following Everton win

Many Southampton fans were quick to point out that the midfielder’s “immense” display was worthy of winning the Man of the Match award, while others were just keen to point out the importance of Romeu in the Saints’ impressive performance.

In other news, find out what concerned Saints fans after reports emerged over details of a potential new deal for star man here and don’t forget to leave a comment below!