All posts by z3u9t.icu

Last week was a period of surprising news at Parkhead as Dominic McKay got to work with Ange Postecoglou on shaping the squad for next season.

On the chalkboard

The Hoops signed versatile defender Osaze Urhoghide just hours after confirming a new deal for Leigh Griffiths.

It was a strange decision for a player who has so regularly been second fiddle to Odsonne Edouard.

Some members of the Parkhead faithful were keen to see a man known as one of the best finishers at the club handed a one-year extension.

However, others were perplexed that he was going to form part of the club’s rebuild.

Griffiths has been off the pace for a while now and ended last term with just seven goals to his name.

That was one more than Albian Ajeti but you sense there would be a greater use of the club’s resources.

The solution

Celtic could look towards Vakoun Issouf Bayo following his return to the club. The Ivorian spent last season on loan at Toulouse where he bagged 13 times.

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Though, the Hoops could also dip their toes into the transfer market. The Daily Mail reported towards the end of last week that Celtic were interested in signing Hibernian forward Kevin Nisbet.

The striker made three substitute appearances for Scotland at Euro 2020, earning a place in the team after a fine campaign with Hibs.

Jack Ross is willing to do a deal but only if a willing suitor coughs up around the £4m mark.

Nisbet has progressed exceptionally well over the last 12 months, scoring 18 goals in all competitions. 14 of those strikes came in the Premiership, meaning that only Edouard found the net on more occasions in the entire division.

Speaking about the 24-year-old back in May, Frank McAvennie commented: “I would sign him, I’d love to get him but I don’t think it will happen. I like him a lot, he’s a wonderful player.

“I don’t know if he can be that focal point. For a decent price, he’s a good buy. But he’s not the finished article.”

McAvennie is right to doubt his capabilities as Celtic’s main forward but if Edouard does end up staying, he’d be a superb back-up, someone with a better recent history in front of goal than Griffiths.

He is also approaching the prime of his career, whereas Celtic’s number 9 is now into the latter stages.

At just £4m, this move would be a snip. He’s proven in the division, unlike Albian Ajeti who set the Hoops back £5m last summer.

AND in other news, Celtic submit bid to sign £3.5m gem who may end up “like Busquets”, he’s a big upgrade…

An update has emerged on Newcastle United’s interest in Atletico Madrid full-back Kieran Trippier…

What’s the talk?

Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie has claimed that PIF are hopeful of completing a deal for the defender and does not think he will be the last of any new additions.

He Tweeted: “Newcastle’s owners are hoping to make Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier their first signing this week. Atletico boss Diego Simeone said today: ‘Nowadays when a player wants to leave, he cannot be retained.’ Trippier set to be the first of potentially 4+ signings this window.”

Excitement

This update will surely leave Newcastle fans feeling excited as they prepare for a month of action off the pitch as well as on it. PIF appear set to splash the cash in the market and Downie’s Tweet brings with it the promise of multiple arrivals to bolster Eddie Howe’s squad, starting with Trippier.

Supporters will be buzzing with this for multiple reasons. Firstly, the signing of the England international could be an excellent one for the club. The Magpies have struggled badly in defence this season and bringing in an experienced top-flight performer could improve their backline.

Norwich are the only side in the division who have conceded as many goals as Newcastle (42) and they have only kept one clean sheet in the league, which came in their 1-0 win over Burnley – their only three points of the campaign so far.

Trippier is coming in after helping Atletico to keep an outstanding 16 clean sheets in 28 La Liga matches last season in Spain. In that time, he averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.29 and registered six assists, showing that he was a crucial part of their success as he produced superb displays week-in-week-out.

Therefore, fans will be buzzing with his potential arrival at St. James’ Park as he could come in and produce those types of performances in black and white in the coming months.

Also, the supporters will be excited by Downie’s claim that he could be one of four or more new signings. They can look forward to plenty of activity in the coming weeks in regards to incomings and that could get fans eagerly awaiting further updates on who they may be seeing play for the club in the second half of the season.

AND in other news, Howe must seal NUFC swoop for “incredible” 105-goal ‘terminator’, he’s Demba Ba 2.0…

Leeds United pundit Noel Whelan believes having Patrick Bamford available against Burnley ‘could be massive’, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Bamford in line for return?

Bamford has endured an injury-hit campaign so far this season, making just six Premier League appearances.

He made a brief return from an ankle problem at the beginning of December but suffered a hamstring issue after celebrating his stoppage-time equaliser against Brentford.

However, Marcelo Bielsa refused to rule Bamford out of the scheduled Liverpool game on Boxing Day after the 4-1 defeat to Arsenal.

On that basis, it seems as if Bamford could be in line for a return to the squad for their next fixture now with even more recovery time under his belt, with Whelan giving his thoughts.

The Latest: Whelan’s comments

Whelan, who contributes for BBC Radio Leeds, was talking to Football Insider about the club’s injury issues.

He name-checked Bamford when talking about injuries, labelling a possible return against Burnley on January 2 as ‘massive’.

“It’s been unfortunate.

“It’s given an opportunity to those players who were on the fringes of coming back, like Bamford.

“They’ve had that bit of extra time to get themselves right and be part of the squad for these games. That could be massive. Especially for the Burnley game.

“It’s no secret that we’ve missed a lot of players over this Christmas period. It will be nice to get back to a nearly fully-fit squad for the remainder of the season.”

The Verdict: Needed…

Leeds’ options from the bench against Arsenal were all Under-23 players, with youngsters Cody Drameh and Joe Gelhardt even starting.

Bielsa is down to the bare bones, especially with the recent Covid-19 outbreak at the club, so having Bamford available against Burnley, even if it is from the bench, could be huge.

Hopefully the 28-year-old is just one of a number of players to make returns at Elland Road on Sunday, and who knows, the club could look back at the recent postponements against Liverpool and Aston Villa as a blessing in disguise.

In other news: Leeds ‘set’ to sign attacker in January who has the same agent as Forshaw – journalist. 

Liverpool were on cloud nine yesterday after demolishing their bitter rivals Manchester United 5-0 at Old Trafford and sending out a message to the rest of the Premier League that they mean serious business this season.

Even though the prolific Mohamed Salah scored three of Liverpool’s goals on the day, taking his impressive record to ten goals scored in nine Premier League games, we feel that fellow Reds winger Diogo Jota stood out in the win against the Red Devils.

After coming on as a substitute in Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League in midweek, Jota found himself back in the starting XI ahead of Sadio Mane.

This move from Reds manager Jurgen Klopp seemed to work wonders for the Reds as the Portuguese was very much a thorn in United’s side on Sunday.

After playing the full 90 minutes against the Red Devils, Jota managed to score Liverpool’s second goal with a neat finish from close range.

He assisted their fourth strike and would go on to complete 32 of the 38 passes he attempted. He also won seven out of the 14 duels he was involved in, made two key passes, one tackle and one clearance which ultimately earned himself a strong overall match rating of 8.5/10, making him Liverpool’s joint second-highest rated player on the day according to SofaScore, showing just how useful he was.

Liverpool signed Jota in September 2020 from fellow Premier League side Wolves for a reported fee of £41m.

In his first season in Klopp’s side, the 24-year-old, who is currently valued at £40.5m according to Transfermarkt, bagged 13 goals in 30 appearances across all competitions.

So far this season, the winger, who has previously been described as “intense” by Klopp shortly after he moved to Anfield, has managed to score four goals and provide one assist in eight Premier League appearances, once again proving himself as an important figure for the Reds.

Moving forward, with Liverpool set to take on Championship club Preston North End on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup followed by a Premier League clash against Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, we feel that Jota will be involved in both games in some way given how much of a goalscoring threat he is and he should help the Reds keep their unbeaten streak going.

In other news: FSG must land Liverpool swoop for £29.7m-rated beast who’s a “better version of Pogba” – opinion

Rangers travel away from Ibrox today as they return to Premiership action after losing in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Gio van Bronckhorst’s men lost 1-0 to Braga in the European clash and now come up against St Mirren in the Scottish top-flight as they look to bounce back from the defeat in Portugal.

The Gers have lost three of their last four matches in all competitions, including their Old Firm clash last week, and the Dutch head coach may need to make some changes to the team to get back to winning ways.

How many alterations will he make to the side? Here is our predicted XI…

We are predicting that Borna Barisic, Joe Aribo and Aaron Ramsey will all return in place of Leon Balogun, Scott Arfield and Glen Kamara from Thursday night.

Starting off with the defence, Van Bronckhorst may look to move Calvin Bassey to centre-back and bring Barisic in at left-back. He made this change in the second half against Braga and it would freshen up the backline amid a busy schedule of matches, leaving Balogun fresh for the second leg next Thursday.

In the number 10 role, we are predicting that Kamara will be axed for Ramsey. The Finland international was deployed ahead of Ryan Jack and John Lundstram on Thursday night but was unable to display any attacking quality.

As per SofaScore, the £21k-per-week dud failed with his one attempted dribble and failed to create a single chance for his teammates. By contrast, Ramsey – who Ross Wilson dubbed “world-class” – has scored two goals in his last two Premiership appearances and can offer more of a threat going forward.

On the right, we are predicting that Arfield will lose his place and Aribo will come in instead. The Nigeria international has started 28 of the club’s 32 Premiership matches this season, which shows that Van Bronckhorst has been relying upon him on a regular basis.

This is why he may want to go with the ex-Charlton man from the start against St Mirren, as the manager clearly trusts the 25-year-old to put in a good performance.

Despite Fashion Sakala’s struggles against Braga, he could keep his place up front as Kemar Roofe also failed to adequately fill Alfredo Morelos’ boots against Celtic. Both players have been unable to catch the eye and therefore it seems largely irrelevant – at this point – to debate which one of them will start.

AND in other news, 100% duels lost: Rangers dud who lost the ball every 1.8 touches v Braga failed Van Bronckhorst’s big test…

Taking to Twitter, reliable reporter Roshane Thomas of The Athletic has now leaked another major West Ham United development out of Rush Green involving Vladimir Coufal.

The Lowdown: Eventful times at West Ham…

After West Ham confirmed the appointment of Rob Newman in the new head of recruitment role, a change which could have a big impact on transfers, it appears that more news has emerged out of east London, this time regarding fresh terms for Coufal.

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West Ham and GSB have been in talks over a new deal for their 2020 summer signing over these last few months, but an agreement had stalled over reported disputes regarding salary (Sky Sports).

The 29-year-old, who shone last season under David Moyes, is only one of the Czech Republic fan favourites subject to fresh terms at the London Stadium. His compatriot Tomas Soucek has also been touted with a blockbuster new deal, while the club also want to tie down star midfielder Declan Rice (Claret & Hugh).

In a major development, Thomas has now shared exactly how West Ham are getting on in tying down Coufal to a new contract.

The Latest: Coufal signs new deal…

As per The Athletic reporter, sharing the ‘great news’ on his Twitter profile, Coufal has now put pen to paper on a new three-year deal with West Ham, including the option for a further year.

In a ‘huge boost’ for Moyes, the 29-year-old has committed his long term future in east London after quickly becoming a fan favourite.

It is believed that Coufal even turns up to Rush Green on his days off and has helped change the culture at West Ham.

The Verdict: Absolutely massive…

One of the first names on Moyes’ teamsheet having started 34 league games last season, news of the right-back extending his stay is nothing short of massive for the Irons.

He finished his debut season in England as West Ham’s joint-highest tackler per game and attracted praise from club legend Mark Noble, who called him a ‘machine’ of a player.

His dynamism and application on that right-hand side is an absolute joy to behold at times and it’s arguable that he was the Premier League’s best right-back of 2020/21.

Moyes will be delighted that Coufal looks set to remain in the east end of London for a while longer.

In other news: Reliable reporter: West Ham fans should also be ‘excited’ by another big update, find out more here.

Ollie Watkins playing on the left-hand side is something Aston Villa fans may see this season following Danny Ings’ arrival from Southampton, says Express & Star journalist Luke Hatfield.

Watkins was Villa’s first-choice striker last season and impressed as he led the line for Dean Smith’s side. The England international made 40 appearances in all competitions and scored 16 goals.

However, albeit a good one, Smith now has a dilemma on his hands after the acquisition of Ings. Like Watkins, Ings has proven himself to be an efficient No.9 in recent seasons, scoring 34 goals over the last two Premier League campaigns.

But with Villa mostly using a 4-2-3-1 last term, there will only be room for one centre-forward if that remains Smith’s go-to system. As a result, Hatfield would not be surprised if supporters saw Watkins deployed on the left flank from time to time.

“It’s an interesting one,” the Aston Villa journalist said to FFC. “I think that’s what a lot of fans are asking as well.

“I think you’ll see a number of systems used this season by Villa. The 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3, both very similar, of course, but they were in place and they did revolve around [Jack] Grealish. 

“I still think we’ll see that 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 with Watkins maybe on the left-hand side.”

It will be interesting to see what happens, but again, it is a good problem to have.

Just over two weeks on from their 1-0 win over Aston Villa which led to Dean Smith losing his job at the Midlands club, Southampton come up against the 50-year-old once again for his first game in charge of Norwich City this afternoon. 

Speaking ahead of the match at Carrow Road, Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl revealed that defender Jack Stephens is the only player unavailable for selection as a result of the serious knee injury he sustained earlier in the campaign. 

With this in mind, here’s how we think Southampton will line up against Norwich, with two changes from the starting XI from the win over Villa 15 days ago. 

In goal, considering that he’s played in every league game so far this season, it would be safe to assume that Hasenhuttl will stick with Alex McCarthy. 

In defence, with Valentino Livramento being declared fit after dropping out of England’s under-21 squad last week through injury, we can see him starting at right-back, with Kyle Walker-Peters occupying the left-back position. 

For the centre-back pairing, we think Hasenhuttl will stick with Mohamed Salisu but bring Lyanco in for Jan Bednarek after the Brazilian impressed during the last 34 minutes of the game against Villa. On that night, he blocked two shots and made one tackle, one interception and one clearance whilst winning three of his four duels, ultimately earning himself an overall match rating of 7/10 from SofaScore.

In midfield, we can see Hasenhuttl sticking with the central duo of Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse, who has recovered from a bug which forced him out of international duty for England.

On the wings, with Nathan Redmond being available for selection after missing the Villa game as a result of a positive virus test, we think he will go straight back into the team. Stuart Armstrong, who is currently earning a wage of £50k-per-week according to Spotrac, drops to the substitutes’ bench after an ineffective display against Villa as Mohamed Elyounoussi returns to the right-hand side.

Up top, even though Armando Broja has apparently been declared fit enough to play, we can see Hasenhuttl sticking with the duo of Adam Armstrong and Che Adams to see if they can get Smith’s reign at Norwich off to a bad start and pick up another win for the Saints. 

In other news: Ralph could save Southampton millions with £1.8m-rated beast who “fancies himself”

Antonio Conte recorded his first Premier League victory in charge of Tottenham Hotspur as his side came from behind to defeat Leeds United in north London on Sunday evening.

Spurs went into the break trailing by a goal and without a shot on target but came out in the second half as a completely different outfit, with goals from two unlikely sources in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Sergio Reguilon sealing all three points to make it three games unbeaten under the Italian.

Truth be told, the visitors will return to Yorkshire feeling a little disappointed and gutted as they deserved to come away with at least a point, having racked up more possession and attempts on goal than the home side.

But Conte’s back-three held firm against the weakened Whites, with Eric Dier arguably stealing the show at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

In the absence of Cristian Romero, who missed the match with injury, the English colossus stepped up to be the aggressive ball-playing beast in the heart of the backline.

As per SofaScore, he recorded the most touches (76) in the Spurs team, which only goes to show that the bulk of their play came out through him in the middle of the defence. This was also reinforced by the fact that he managed more passes (53) than any other player in the side, too.

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It was even more impressive that he managed to create one big chance, with one key pass and managed three successful long balls.

Elsewhere, he defended soundly, managing a game-high seven clearances, as well as winning five of his nine duels, both in the air and on the ground, via SofaScore.

Alasdair Gold of football.london was also impressed by the 27-year-old, whom he described as the ‘quarterback’ of the team due to the lack of creativity elsewhere and also claimed that he ‘had more success with his defending though, with little getting past him.’

With Romero expected to be out for a little longer, the £92k-per-week Dier will need to keep to this standard to ensure more positive results under Conte.

So forget the goalscoring Reguilon, who won Sky Sports’ ‘Man of the Match’ award, the English powerhouse arguably stole the show in north London on Sunday.

AND in other news, Spurs could find new Christian Eriksen after January transfer boost…

According to a report by 90min, West Ham have held ‘conversations’ with Chelsea over signing attacking midfielder Ross Barkley – with manager David Moyes now personally keen if the club don’t seal a deal for Jesse Lingard.

The Lowdown: West Ham want attacking midfield man…

Claret & Hugh outlined Lingard as West Ham’s priority target for this summer window but the Manchester United player is looking more and more likely to stay at Old Trafford this summer.

This has lead to the club targeting other players as they look to bolster Moyes’ attacking midfield options, with West Bromwich Albion star Matheus Pereira also heavily linked as an alternative.

Now, 90min claim another player is on West Ham’s radar for that position.

The Latest: West Ham hold ‘conversations’ over signing Barkley…

As per the outlet, West Ham are still keen on Lingard, but have held ‘conversations’ with Chelsea over signing Barkley.

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Moyes is thought to be interested in reuniting with his former player at the London Stadium and the 27-year-old has also been told he can find a new club this summer.

Barkley spent the 2020/2021 season on loan at Aston Villa and impressed in spells, with the Hammers boss remaining a ‘big fan’.

It is also said that the former Everton ace may ‘jump at the chance’ to reunite with his ex-manager.

The Verdict: Good option?

Going by statistics, the £100,000-per-week midfielder, valued at around £18 million by Transfermarkt, actually doesn’t appear to be a bad option in the grand scheme of things.

According to WhoScored, he averaged 1.6 key passes per 90 in the final third over 18 Premier League starts for Villa last term – more than Lingard managed during his loan spell with the Hammers (WhoScored).

He also competed more dribbles in that time (1.2) than the Red Devils ace (1.1), not to mention Chelsea would apparently be ‘prepared to sanction’ a loan deal for Barkley.

The only warning sign could be his major dip in form after an impressive start to 2020/2021 under Villans boss Dean Smith, with the playmaker drawing some criticism thereafter (Birmingham Live).

Could Moyes give his former prodigy another fresh start at the London Stadium?

In other news: ‘Wow’, ‘Incredible’, ‘Please have truth in this’…West Ham fans flock to forward update, find out more here.