All posts by z3u9t.icu

James McArthur and Jordan Ayew are in line for new contracts at Crystal Palace, according to London World’s Rahman Osman. 

The lowdown

McArthur had started every Premier League game since Patrick Vieira took charge before tearing his hamstring against Wolves.

WhoScored have the Scotsman as Palace’s third-strongest performer this season with an average rating of 6.94/10. Only Christian Benteke (7.16) and Conor Gallagher (7.5) can better that.

Ayew has also been a favourite of the new boss, starting nine of his first 12 PL matches.

Like McArthur, Ayew has only a matter of months left to run on his current agreement. The pair are valued at £1.8million and £7.2million respectively by Transfermarkt.

The latest

McArthur will be rewarded with a new deal ‘in the coming months’ after making a ‘brilliant start to the season’.

Vieira ‘recently gave the green light’ for McArthur to be granted an extension. He’s agreed to commit for another year, and the ‘final details’ just need to be sorted out.

Elsewhere, ‘talks are ongoing’ over a new contract for Ayew, but Osman will report ‘more on that later’.

‘Crystal Palace are working’ to tie some of their ‘key players’ down.

The verdict

It’s no surprise to see Palace look to agree fresh terms with McArthur. The stats attest to his effectiveness in their midfield.

But it’s perhaps harder to make the case for Ayew, who has only scored once in his last 55 appearances for the club.

Vieira, though, may value him for his defensive contribution. Data from FBRef shows that he ranks in the 99th percentile among positional peers in the top five leagues for pressures per 90 minutes, and in the 95th for tackles.

In other news, fans showed their appreciation for this moment.

Speaking to Wett Freunde, reputable Sky Sports journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur will pursue a deal for Internazionale striker Lautaro Martinez in the summer transfer window. 

The lowdown: Plenty of suitors…

Unsurprisingly, the potential availability of the 23-year-old has caused a stir across the continent as Atletico Madrid, Arsenal and Liverpool have all previously been linked with a move.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-news-copy/” title=”Tottenham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Spurs have also been regularly tipped to swoop for the dynamic Argentinian frontman, who boasts an impressive 111 career goals for club and country.

As the transfer window looms, Martinez is once again being indexed with a possible exit from the San Siro.

The latest: North London bound?

Di Marzio has told the German outlet that the Lilywhites will ‘go after’ the 37-cap Argentina star.

It’s also stated that Tottenham ‘wanted him’ last summer amidst speculation linking Martinez away from Italy and could reignite interest in order to ‘plan for the future’ without Harry Kane.

The journalist describes both Spurs and Atletico Madrid as the ‘perfect destinations’ for the Inter star, who currently earns £180,000 per week (Wage Indicator).

The verdict: A no-brainer

Having already worked with Antonio Conte, scoring 40 times and providing 19 assists whilst lifting the Serie A title under the Italian manager, Martinez is the ideal candidate to bolster the attacking deportment at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Enjoying another stellar campaign with 16 goals and two assists in 39 appearances across all competitions (Transfermarkt), the Argentine frontman is certainly operating at the very peak of his powers.

As for replacing Kane, we feel a move for the £63million valued star should instead be viewed as a method of offering support and indeed an alternative option.

Predominantly operating alongside a more physical strike partner in the shape of Eden Dzeko and previously Romelu Lukaku, Martinez would have no problems forging a partnership with the England captain, who already links up so effectively with Son Heung-min.

In other news: Paratici eyeing move for EFL starlet, find out more here

A development has emerged on Gio van Bronckhorst, regarding Rangers’ interest in appointing him as Steven Gerrard’s successor.

What’s the talk?

According to the Daily Record, Gers chief Ross Wilson has already entered into talks with the Dutchman’s representatives over a potential move to Ibrox.

The report claims that talks are set to continue over the weekend, with van Bronckhorst due in London to meet face-to-face.

Excitement for Rangers

This update will surely leave Rangers fans feeling excited as Wilson appears to be moving swiftly following Gerrard’s switch to Premier League side Aston Villa earlier this week. The club are now twiddling their thumbs in their search for a new head coach and the supporters will be delighted that they are wasting no time in holding talks with van Bronckhorst over the role.

Gerrard, to his credit, has left Rangers in a superb position. They are currently sitting four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table after 13 games and this could make them an attractive prospect for coaches who are keen to come in and win a trophy this season.

Therefore, bringing in a manager who knows how to secure trophies could be a shrewd move by Wilson. Van Bronckhorst won five trophies in four years as manager of Feyenoord in the Netherlands, including four cups and one Eredivisie title. This shows that he knows how to set up a side to win silverware and that is why fans could get excited by the prospect of his arrival.

One criticism that could be levelled at Gerrard’s time with Rangers is his lack of cup success. He did not win a trophy outside of the Premiership – reaching the final once in six attempts at the SFA Cup and League Cup. Van Bronckhorst, meanwhile, reached five cup finals with Feyenoord and won four of them.

This suggests that the 46-year-old, who also has experience of winning a league title, could come in and improve Rangers’ chances of completing the domestic double or treble this season. Therefore, the prospect of league and cup success at Ibrox this season could excite supporters and leave them delighted with this update on the pursuit of the Dutchman.

AND in other news, Wilson could get Ibrox rocking by appointing divisive 43 y/o “phenomenon” at Rangers…

Leeds United are in line for an encouraging injury boost ahead of this weekend’s clash with Newcastle United…

What’s the latest?

According to The Athletic’s Phil Hay, the Yorkshire outfit are likely to have three first-team attackers available for selection ahead of Saturday’s league encounter at Elland Road.

“Better news – Joe Gelhardt could be back at the weekend, as could Tyler Roberts. Rodrigo also sounds like he’s come through his appearance at West Ham without a problem,” he tweeted.

The Whites head into the weekend on the back of an impressive 3-2 victory over West Ham United but there was cause for concern looking at the bench as the returning Spaniard was the only senior professional from nine substitutes.

Big boost

That is how bad the injury situation has been at Thorp Arch over the last few months and it shows no signs of easing up, with Patrick Bamford’s continued absence.

The England international has missed 16 of their last 17 league games with ankle and hamstring injuries and it appears he is still not available to feature against the Magpies after missing last weekend’s win.

[snack-amp-story url = “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-transfer-rumours-and-news-2″ title=”Read the latest Leeds news, transfer updates and much, much more!”]

In his absence, Bielsa has had to turn to a number of different options, largely the likes of Daniel James and Jack Harrison playing out of position to fill the void.

So the fact the club’s young academy striker Gelhardt is available is certainly encouraging to see. He has one goal and two assists in the Premier League from only two starts, so he’s more than capable at this level.

Roberts is an experienced option to have too.

If these two return alongside a fit Rodrigo, it will alleviate some of the worry facing Bielsa ahead of kick-off – after all, he still is missing key midfielder Kalvin Phillips, skipper Liam Cooper and many others.

Therefore, the Argentine will surely feel a little more relieved this weekend.

AND in other news, “What I have been told”: Journo drops huge Leeds transfer claim, Bielsa will be fuming…

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side head into Thursday evening’s Europa League clash against Real Betis knowing that they cannot finish any higher or lower than third place in the Group G standings – a fixture many would deem a dead rubber.

However, while it is true that the three points available in the match ultimately do not matter, the contest will undoubtedly still prove to be an extremely important one for the 56-year-old manager.

This is not only because a win against a team who sit third in the LaLiga table would provide his side with a substantial boost in confidence, but it is also an opportunity for Celtic to afford a number of their peripheral squad members some much-needed first-team minutes.

Indeed, youngsters such as Liam Shaw, Osaze Urhoghide, Liam Scales, Dane Murray and Mikey Johnston have seen their game time extremely limited so far this season, with the fixture against Betis being the perfect time to unleash at least a few of Celtic’s most exciting up and coming talents.

As such, some of the players who started the 3-0 win over Dundee United last weekend will have to make way, with James Forrest appearing to be a prime candidate for the chop on Thursday night.

Postecoglou must axe Forrest

While it is true the winger is still in the process of regaining full fitness in his recovery from injury, it is unavoidable that Forrest was by far and away Celtic’s most disappointing performer at Tannadice.

Indeed, over his 45 minutes on the pitch, the £5.4m-rated winger struggled to make any real impact on the game, failing to complete any of his three attempted crosses, losing three of his five duels and completing just 16 passes – six fewer than Joe Hart.

These returns saw the £19k-per-week forward earn a SofaScore match rating of 6.9 – the second-lowest of any Celtic player to start the fixture – before he was hooked at halftime after appearing to struggle with the pace of the match.

As such, while Forrest is undoubtedly a talented player – with Kieran Tierney dubbing the 30-year-old’s ability as “scary,” as well as claiming he is “one of the best” players he has featured alongside – in order to provide the likes of Johnston with a much-needed start, Postecoglou simply must axe the Scotland international from his starting XI against Real Betis.

In other news: Ange could unearth Celtic’s new Robbie Keane with swoop for “bright” 18 G/A machine

[ad_pod ]

According to renowned journalist Alan Nixon on his official Twitter account, reported Southampton target Che Adams is available before the deadline, as long as a club is willing to pay £12m for his services.

What’s the word, then?

Well, a report in The Mirror at the weekend said that Saints are keen to bring the Birmingham City attacker to St Mary’s before the transfer window slams shut on Thursday night, and have already tabled an £8m bid for the 22-year-old.

However, The Mirror also reported that the Blues had rebuffed the approach, but were expecting the Premier League club to try again for the impressive attacker, who has scored 15 league goals for the Championship outfit this season, as per Transfermarkt.

The latest of those came in the 3-3 draw with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday night, when he cut in from the left on his right foot before bending an effort into the far corner of the goal from outside the box.

Will Saints pay £12m?

It seems a lot depends on whether they can sell Charlie Austin, whom they are said to be demanding £10m for, also according to Nixon on Twitter, before the deadline.

For the second game running the former QPR striker missed out on the 18-man squad when Saints hosted Crystal Palace at St Mary’s on Wednesday night, and it appears as though his future lies away from the south coast outfit if a deal is right for all parties.

They may well be trying to raise the funds to buy Adams by offloading the 29-year-old, but there has been no progress on that to date with just hours of the window remaining.

Given the pace and strength the Birmingham man has in his locker – as well as the fact he can play out wide or through the middle – he appears to be a perfect fit to succeed under Ralph Hasenhuttl at Southampton.

Check out the video below for Emma Conybeare’s rundown of which clubs need what in the January transfer window…

After managing to win just one of their five Championship games in November, West Brom will undoubtedly be hoping to get their December off to a good start by securing a win in their next league game against Coventry City at the weekend.

On the chalkboard

In terms of which players Baggies boss Valerien Ismael could select in his starting XI to take on Coventry after securing two consecutive 0-0 draws against Blackpool and Nottingham Forest, one figure that started in the game against Forest that should not be in the team at the weekend is £18k-per-week Callum Robinson.

Before being replaced by Adam Reach in the 72nd minute against Forest, Robinson failed to have a big impact from an attacking point of view.

During his time on the pitch, Robinson only managed to have 32 touches of the ball, fewer than Baggies goalkeeper Sam Johnstone (37).

Robinson also only tested the Forest goalkeeper on one occasion and failed to complete any of the two dribbles he attempted, losing possession 13 times.

Previously labelled as an “intelligent” player by Baggies journalist Steve Madeley, Robinson had very little impact off the ball as well against Forest by losing 11 of the 14 duels he was involved in and getting dribbled past twice.

This performance earned Robinson a rather uninspiring overall match rating of 6.5/10, making him the lowest-rated West Brom player that started the game according to SofaScore, even lower than Grady Diangana who racked up very similar statistics to Robinson in the same match.

Also, with the Birmingham Mail claiming that Robinson “looked lost in the centre forward position” against Forest, this suggests that he was a passenger for the Baggies on this occasion.

Combine that with the fact that Robinson hasn’t managed to score a league goal since West Brom’s 4-0 win over Sheffield United back in August, it’s safe to say that the forward is becoming a bit of a liability for the team and is scuppering their chances of securing promotion back to the Premier League.

With the Coventry match on the horizon, it could be Ismael’s best option to drop him altogether or perhaps use him in a different role this time out to see if he can get his season back on track and push the team on.

In other news: “Industrious” WBA monster with 12 key passes was Ismael’s shining light in November – opinion

Tottenham Hotspur may have advanced into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup for the second successive season but the form of Harry Kane is surely a major cause for concern.

It was another game in which the out-of-sorts England international completely misfired as his struggles continued in Spurs’ win over Premier League rivals West Ham United on Wednesday evening.

On the back of Euro 2020 heartbreak with the Three Lions and an intense transfer saga that linked him with a move to champions Manchester City, the 28-year-old has found life very tough since returning late for pre-season training.

Indeed, Kane has scored just twice from 14 appearances in the English top-flight all season. Meanwhile, six of his nine goals in all competitions have come against minnows in the Europa Conference League, which is hardly inspiring.

You could forgive manager Antonio Conte if he’s left with nightmares after yet another disappointing outing. He must find out how to get the English talisman firing on all cylinders and that’s simply yet to happen since his arrival last month.

Kane lasted the entire 90 minutes on Wednesday, where he managed only one shot on target.

His 40 touches of the ball not only saw him lose possession 13 times (once every three touches) but it was also the second-lowest of any Spurs outfield player, meaning he evidently struggled to garner much of an influence on the game.

And when he was involved, he was wasteful, as seen by him losing the ball so frequently. Furthermore, he made only 20 passes at an accuracy rate of 77%, as per SofaScore.

Elsewhere, the £108m-rated forward was weak against the Hammers’ backline, winning just 28% of his 14 duels, whilst he was dribbled past on two occasions.

Both football.london reporter Alasdair Gold and the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick were in agreement over Kane’s performance in their post-game columns.

‘Still nowhere near his best,’ wrote Gold, with Kilpatrick added: ‘Tested Alphonse Areola early on but otherwise had no chances of note as his finishing slump continued.’

It was another game without a goal and another weak and ponderous showing. Conte must be hugely worried by Kane’s disastrous form and it’s surely only a matter of time before something is done about it.

AND in other news, Spurs plan fresh transfer talks as inside source drops major January update, fans will surely love this one…

Wolves are interested in signing young Monaco centre-back Benoit Badiashile in the January transfer window, according to a new report.

The Lowdown: Badiashile an exciting prospect

The 20-year-old has emerged as an exciting player in Ligue 1, making nine starts in the league and enjoying a pass completion rate of 88.5%. He has also averaged 4.3 aerial duel wins per game in the Europa League this season, which is more than any Wolves player has managed in the Premier League.

Badiashile appears to be a man in demand, and Molineux could potentially be his next destination.

The Latest: Wolves linked with move

According to Sky Sports News [via Talking Wolves on Twitter], Wolves are interested in making a move for the Frenchman, as Bruno Lage looks for centre-back reinforcements.

The £25.2m-rated defender’s current Monaco deal expires in the summer of 2024.

The Verdict: Ideal centre-back alternative

Central defence does look like one area where an addition would be welcome at Wolves this month, with too much reliance on the availability of Max Kilman, Conor Coady and Romain Saiss. Indeed, the latter is currently away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Willy Boly would invariably be a strong backup for the trio but he continues to be plagued by medical issues, highlighting the need for a new signing at centre-back.

At 20, Badiashile would be considered a long-term acquisition who could fill in when required this season before hopefully growing into a key figure at Molineux over the next few years.

In other news, Wolves have been handed a potential transfer blow. Read more here.

With four goals conceded and Ezri Konsa sent off in the early stages of the second half of their 4-1 defeat against West Ham United, delivering Aston Villa with their fourth Premier League defeat in a row, it was not a successful day for Dean Smith’s side.

However, one player that we think stood head and shoulders above the rest of his teammates on the day that we think can hold his head up high, despite the disappointing result, is Villa striker Ollie Watkins.

The striker, who started the match and ended up playing the full 90 minutes managed to not only score Villa’s goal but put in a well-rounded individual offensive display.

Via SofaScore, he had two shots on target, completed two dribbles and also managed to hit the woodwork. A combative display was summed up by the six defensive duels he won which ultimately earned him a very solid overall match rating of 7.2/10, higher than any other Villa player.

This shows just how useful he was for Smith in the game against David Moyes’ side and why we feel he was Smith’s shining light in a rather dark Halloween defeat for the Midlands club.

Since joining Villa from Brentford back in the 2020 summer transfer window for a then club-record fee of £28m, the 25-year-old, who is currently valued at £28.8m according to Transfermarkt, has made 47 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring 17 goals and providing five assists along the way, cementing himself as one of Villa’s top attacking talents.

Watkins’ Premier League performances so far in this campaign have earned him an overall season rating of 6.88/10, making him Villa’s third-highest rated player according to WhoScored, further highlighting his importance to the team.

Moving forward, with Watkins having now scored his second league goal of the season, everyone at the club will undoubtedly be hoping that he can keep scoring on a regular basis so he can help the club turn their poor run of form around and eventually see if he can get anywhere near the 14 league goals he managed to rack up in his debut season at Villa Park.

In other news: Ashley Preece has delivered his verdict on Aston Villa’s recent Premier League struggles…