All posts by z3u9t.icu

According to a report by Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna (relayed by Sport Witness), West Ham and Newcastle have ‘made an approach’ for Monaco defender Benoit Badiashile, and both sides ‘could make an offer’ for the player.

The Lowdown: Badiashile a hot prospect

Badiashile has taken Ligue 1 by storm, as he has secured himself as one of the hottest young prospects in the country. The 20-year-old centre-back has made 12 appearances for Monaco this season, and this total would have been even greater if it weren’t for a hamstring injury which kept him out for the second half of November and early December.

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

The France U21 has also played a part in the club’s Europa League campaign, having played in the home and away fixtures against Real Sociedad and PSV Eindhoven. Impressively, he leads the side in defensive clearances made in the competition, averaging a mammoth five per game.

The Latest: Irons have ‘made an approach’ for Badiashile

According to a report by Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna (via Sport Witness), West Ham have joined Newcastle in having ‘made an approach’ for the Frenchman, who have contacted Monaco and the player’s representatives directly.

As a result, it is said that both Premier League clubs ‘could make an offer’ for the 20-year-old in the January window.

Aouna has previously reported that the Magpies and the Hammers were ‘both interested’ in securing the youngster’s signature. At that point, it was claimed that the Irons ‘should’ make an offer, whilst Newcastle were waiting to assess the situation, due to the pursuits of Sven Botman and Diego Carlos. However now, it seems the two English clubs are set to go toe-to-toe for the player.

The Verdict: A phenomenal signing for the next decade

Unfortunately, the youngster has recently picked up another injury, potentially ruling him out for at least a month (NUFC 360), so this would definitely be a signing for the long-term.

Despite being just 20 years old, Badiashile has already received vast interest from big clubs across Europe. In the summer of 2020, former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane was supposedly keeping a close eye on the youngster. He was even compared with current Manchester United defender Raphael Varane, with that report detailing Zidane’s keen eye for talent and affection for Badiashile.

Monaco Vice President Oleg Petrov has also previously expressed how the player was considered ‘bankable’, due to his ‘great talent’ and potential to play for ‘one of the best clubs’ in the world.

This international attention clearly illustrates Badiashile’s quality and outstanding promise as a youngster. Therefore, if West Ham can beat Newcastle to the player’s signature, this could prove to be a phenomenal signing for years to come.

As per football.london correspondent Tom Clark, a West Ham United transfer update has come to light involving Manchester City defender Nathan Ake.

The Lowdown: Ake keen to join…

An emergency central defensive signing is on the agenda for manager David Moyes as he aims to keep his West Ham side in contention to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

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

Injuries to both Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna have prompted both the Scotsman and recruitment chief Rob Newman to look at their options in January with City ace Ake one of their targets.

As per Eurosport journalist Dean Jones, the 26-year-old ‘is believed to be keen’ on the prospect of a move to the London Stadium if his side sanction a transfer.

Clark, writing for football.london, has now shared an update.

The Latest: Newman exploring offer…

As per his sources, West Ham, and by extension transfer chief Newman, are ‘exploring’ an offer to sign Ake in January.

However, a deal may be difficult to pull off given City are in no hurry to let him leave – especially since the Netherlands ace has worked his way back into contention with 11 appearances so far.

The Verdict: Pull out all the stops?

The £28.8 million-valued ace would be a shrewd signing for Moyes given his versatility as a central defender, left-back and even a defensive midfield man.

Ake would plug many gaping holes in West Ham’s side and come as a really assured presence – having averaged a better pass success rate out from the back (93.2%) in the Premier League than any Irons defender (WhoScored).

Lauded as ‘underrated’ by Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk, this further highlights his quality, but if City refuse to budge on letting him go then Anfield defender Nathaniel Phillips could be a great alternative.

It is believed that the 24-year-old could leave for just £15 million and he has already signalled his willingness to leave next month as West Ham eye a move (The Sun).

In other news: ‘We are back’, ‘What I wanted to hear’…ExWHUemployee’s ‘best news’ has many West Ham fans buzzing, find out more here.

Manchester United face Villarreal in the Champions League this evening in what will be their first fixture since former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked.

The Red Devils slumped to a humiliating 4-1 defeat to newly-promoted Watford over the weekend, proving to be the final straw in the 48-year-old’s two-and-a-half-year reign.

Barring a curtain-raising thrashing of fierce rivals Leeds United, the Old Trafford outfit had been hugely disappointing throughout 2021/22, with Saturday’s loss their seventh of the campaign in all competitions.

It was meant to be the season that Solskjaer returned United to the top of English football following the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, but things haven’t gone to plan.

The managerless outfit currently sit in eighth place in the Premier League table, six points behind fourth-placed West Ham United and 12 behind league-leaders Chelsea.

However, interim manager, Michael Carrick, could become an instant hit in the United dugout by axing Nemanja Matic following his dismal display against the Hornets last time out.

Throughout the torrid 90 minutes at Vicarage Road, the £120,000-per-week midfielder constantly relinquished possession to the opposition, losing the ball on a whopping 19 occasions, as per SofaScore.

Matic also recorded a passing accuracy of just 83% during Solskjaer’s final fixture, significantly adding to United’s woes.

The Serbia international also put in a shaky performance against Southampton earlier in the campaign, leading to Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane suggesting that Solskjaer didn’t know his best midfield options.

“I think if you’re going to play in central midfield for a big team and a big club, you have got to hang your hat on someone to say he’s brilliant at going forward or he’s brilliant defensively, or he’s got a goal in him, or he’s a great athlete,” said Keane. “I don’t see any of [those qualities] in Fred.

“I think McTominay has got a chance of being that player, Matic, you know… would any of these players get in the Man City, Chelsea or Liverpool teams? I don’t see it, so I wouldn’t know what their best combination is – so that’s a problem.”

With United needing three points against Villarreal to secure their passage into the last 16 of Europe’s elite cup competition, Carrick must be brave in dropping one of his most experienced players.

And, in other news…Luckhurst drops huge six-word Man United manager update that’ll leave fans buzzing

Despite having an average squad age of 26.4, three of Wolves’ five oldest senior players are defenders.

One of those is 30-year-old centre-back Willy Boly, who along with being one of the squad’s oldest current players also has a rather worrying injury record over recent months and years. It was also recently revealed by Old Gold manager Bruno Lage that the Ivorian has suffered a muscular injury.

With this in mind, a potential dip into the transfer market during the upcoming January window could be on the cards for the Midlands club.

Recently, journalist Luke Hatfield said that he thinks Wolves could be “keen to revive their interest” in Lille defender Sven Botman in January if a deal can be done after being linked with him during the previous summer transfer window.

Since joining the French club from Ajax’s under-21 side back in the 2020 summer transfer window, the 21-year-old has gone on to make 59 appearances for Lille across all competitions, chipping in with one goal and one assist along the way.

Furthermore, the 6 foot 3 Botman has proved himself to be a solid defensive unit for Lille by averaging 4.4 clearances per game and winning 68% of duels in Ligue 1 this season.

Labelled as a potential “leader” on the pitch by former Lille manager Christophe Galtier, the 21-year-old could not only fix Lage’s short-term issue of Boly being out injured for the time being. The Dutchman could also prove himself to be a suitable long-term replacement for the likes of Boly and Romain Saiss given his young age.

Taking all this into account, working out a deal in January to bring Botman to Molineux in January should be at the top of Fosun’s priority list to help the club strengthen their squad with a player who has admitted to having dreams of playing in the Premier League at some stage in his career.

However, with the defender also being previously linked with a number of other Premier League clubs in the past, Wolves could have some competition for his signature if those reported suitors also see an opportunity to sign him in January.

In other news: One man is edging closer to a significant deal with the club

As per Corriere di Bologna (via Sport Witness), an update has come to light on Tottenham Hotspur’s chase for Serie A starlet Mattias Svanberg as the club now identify him as a top target.

The Lowdown: Spurs in pole position…

This isn’t the first time Spurs have been linked with the 22-year-old with inews dropping a big claim earlier this week.

[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”]

According to their information, Paratici and Conte have entered pole position for his services and are ‘favourites’ to sign the Dane – even ahead of Premier League champions Man City.

It was also claimed that Tottenham are ready to make the midfielder Conte’s first signing of the new era in January, and it appears there has been a development as CdB (via Sport Witness) share some news on a new top target.

The Latest: Spurs make approach…

According to the regional Italian outlet, Tottenham have now made an approach to sign Svanberg in the form of ‘enquiries’ over a possible January deal.

It is said that both Conte and Paratici have admired the Serie A ace for some time – so much so that they have now made him one of their ‘main objectives’ for next month.

The Verdict: Get it done?

Earning a nod for Sweden’s Euro 2020 squad, it is clear that the young attacking midfielder has bags of potential and could be a snip at the right price.

He’s averaged around 1.3 key passes per 90 in the final third this season, with only Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min making more (WhoScored).

Svanberg has also found the back of the net three times already over 2021/2022, but again, it will depend on the price tag to contemplate whether this move would be worthwhile.

Tottenham have other pressing matters in the form of potentially signing a back-up striker to Harry Kane and acquiring needed defensive depth.

If they are to reignite their fortunes and finish in a European place, both Paratici and Conte must spend their money wisely.

In other news: Levy open to another big name exit as Conte tells Spurs to sell ‘magnificent’ star, find out more here.

Manchester City have sounded out the possibility of signing Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic in 2022, according to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness).

The lowdown

Fiorentina president Rocco Commisso confirmed early this month that Vlahovic had rejected several contract offers, even though he could have become the highest-paid player in the club’s history (via London Evening Standard). The 21-year-old’s current deal is up at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Vlahovic bagged 21 goals in 34 Serie A starts last term and has started the new campaign in decent form too, with five strikes in his first ten showings (via WhoScored).

He’s previously been described as a ‘force of nature’ in the Italian press and likened to Erling Haaland and Romelu Lukaku (via Football Italia).

The latest

The reigning Premier League champions have apparently ‘appeared in recent weeks’ amid the Serbian’s contract deadlock.

Ahead of the January transfer window, Fiorentina’s asking price is said to be €60million, which equates to about £50.7million.

But it remains to be seen whether La Viola countenance a mid-season sale.

The verdict

Manchester City may find themselves just two points off the top of the Premier League table without buying an out-and-out striker, but we know they were willing to invest huge sums for the right one.

Indeed, they reportedly tabled a bid as high as £100million for Spurs frontman Harry Kane, so the price tag on Vlahovic’s head should not be insurmountable.

At a fraction over half the amount the Cityzens were allegedly willing to splash on Kane, with an impressive goal record, some lofty comparisons and age on his side at just 21 years old, we believe the 6 foot 3 colossus could actually be the better long-term purchase then the Spurs skipper.

In other news, fans were gushing over this news. 

A Newcastle United scout was in attendance for FC Porto’s game this weekend, according to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo (via Sport Witness).

The lowdown

Newcastle only made one first-team signing during the summer transfer window, with Joe Willock’s loan move from Arsenal made permanent for a fee of £26.46million.

But they may feel the need to improve their squad at the mid-point of the campaign, with their poor start raising the prospect of a relegation battle.

Newcastle are winless after seven matches and find themselves 19th in the table.

If Porto players are indeed under consideration, then they’ll have the benefit of seeing how they measure up against Premier League opposition.

Liverpool are in Porto’s Champions League group and after the Reds ran out 5-1 victors in Portugal last week – they’ll meet again in November.

The latest

A Newcastle official apparently took in the Primeira Liga action at the Estadio do Dragao on Sunday. Porto went up against Pacos Ferreira, the team Spurs knocked out of the Europa Conference League.

It’s not clear how many players were being studied.

What we do know is that Porto fell behind early on to a Nuno Santos goal, but were level before the break after Luis Diaz’s sixth goal of the season.

Left-back Wendell then scored what proved to be the winner seven minutes into the second half.

The verdict

It’s tempting to speculate. Who exactly were Newcastle watching? Well, we heard during the transfer window that Steve Bruce was keen to add a centre-back and a defensive midfielder.

Sergio Conceicao selected two veterans at the heart of his defence – 38-year-old Pepe and 34-year-old Ivan Marcano.

The star of the show most weeks for Porto at the moment however is Diaz, who was strongly linked with a Premier League move to Everton this summer, perhaps the Magpies are planning a January hijacking?

In other news, Lee Ryder has offered encouragement to those calling for Bruce’s head.

Some Wolves fans have been left reacting to some international news involving Raul Jimenez.

As per the official Twitter page of the Midlands club, the striker managed to bag himself a goal while on international duty with Mexico, much to the delight of some of the Molineux faithful.

However, others were more concerned about his fitness, as he has played three games for his national team in a week and has to fly back to the Wanderers, casting a doubt over whether he will be able to start away at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Nonetheless, it is good to see that Jimenez is back among the goals following his terrible head injury last season, and he will be hoping that he can add to his tally against Dean Smith’s side.

Wolves fans on Jimenez goal

These WWFC supporters flocked to the news as it was shared on Twitter, with some fairly mixed reactions:

“Fantastic!!!!!”

Credit: @WolvesFirst

“Siiiiiiii not suuuiiiii”

Credit: @drawlings27

“Best in the world comes from Mexico”

Credit: @SpeesrA

“Great player xx.”

Credit: @Susan94219402

“Yeah yeah yeah, Get him home!”

Credit: @BKristianmarcus

“Very pleased for him, but not good for us as he’ll be jaded”

Credit: @peggyja95517835

In other news, find out what Tim Spiers update has blown away Wanderers here!

Antonio Conte has been dealt the first blow of his Tottenham Hotspur managerial career as his side take on Vitesse in the UEFA Europa Conference League this evening…

What’s the word?

According to Evening Standard reporter Dan Kilpatrick, the 52-year-old will be without first-team duo Ryan Sessegnon and Bryan Gil as the pair missed training on Wednesday.

They are set to miss this clash, leaving the Italian light on options on the wing, a position that is expected to be pivotal to his system in north London.

“Sessegnon and Gil the only players to miss training yesterday & both out of tonight,” he tweeted.

Double setback

This isn’t the best of news to kickstart your reign at a struggling side and it’s one that he’ll have to deal with heading into kickoff.

Spurs were defeated by the Dutch outfit two weeks ago after Nuno Santo opted to leave the majority of his senior stars back in N17, trusting the ‘second-string’ to start.

A 1-0 defeat and a lack of clear-cut chances was the beginning of the end for him. They then lost to West Ham and Manchester United, where they went 135 minutes without registering a shot on goal.

Gil could hold the keys to being a creative solution for the Lilywhites and in a game like this, he would surely be in contention. The young gem averaged 1.7 crosses and 1.9 key passes per 90 in La Liga last season, via WhoScored.

Only Giovani Lo Celso has managed a better number of chances created per 90 this campaign, whilst the 20-year-old would lead the way for crosses based on last term’s exploits.

Meanwhile, Sessegnon’s time at the club has been nothing short of a disaster but with Conte expected to deploy wing-backs either side of a three-man defence, he could be in line for a little boost as he offers a lot more than Ben Davies in the attack.

However, his injury woes will be a concern to the new manager as he cannot stay fit – something that is also angering much of the Hotspur faithful. As relayed by This is Futbol, the England U21 international has been described as “pathetic” and a “sick note” in recent weeks.

Whether Conte fields his strongest side tonight or not remains to be seen but he won’t be too happy to have walked into what seems like a never-ending mess.

AND in other news, Conte can become an instant hit at Spurs by brutally axing “phenomenal” £26m-rated dud…

Frank McAvennie has offered a brutal assessment of Rangers central defender Connor Goldson…

What’s the talk?

Former Scotland international Frank McAvennie has predicted that Rangers defender Connor Goldson will not be able to join a bigger club if he leaves Ibrox.

McAvennie has sent a warning to the defender and said that Gerrard should be making the point to him, amid reported interest from Premier League side West Ham.

He told Football Insider:

“He must think he deserves a better deal than everyone else. He has played well in a well-drilled defence, they work well together.

“I don’t think any of them are standout players, they just work so hard together, that’s why they were so good. He’s not as good as he thinks he is. I think he’s a cog rather than the star man. What is he demanding?

“Gerrard will be telling him that. If he leaves, he won’t find a bigger club, you know, get real.”

Fans would be buzzing

Steven Gerrard must now have a difficult conversation with Goldson in order to convince him to stay at the club in the long term. He must make a major call and tell the defender, to his face, that Rangers may be the best team he will ever play for, as McAvennie has predicted.

Whether or not Goldson can get a better move is irrelevant at the end of the day, Gerrard simply needs to state his case strong enough for the centre-back to believe it. He should be explaining to him how lucky he is to play, typically, in front of almost 50,000 fans every home game whilst competing for trophies year-in-year-out.

That may not be the case if he heads back down to England to join a team in midtable in the Premier League, for example.

Fans would be buzzing if this tactic managed to convince Goldson to put pen to paper. Back in February, Gerrard told The Scotsman: “Connor has been an absolute mountain for this team, a warrior.

“I can’t describe to you how well he has done for this team, not just in terms of what you have seen on the pitch but also his leadership on the inside of the club and his availability every single day.”

This shows how highly-valued the £27k-per-week beast is at Rangers, on and off the pitch with his leadership. He also played 38 Premiership matches for the Gers as they won the title last season, helping the team to keep an astonishing 26 clean sheets in that time.

Goldson averaged a phenomenal SofaScore rating of 7.39, showing that he was consistently brilliant at centre-back in the Premiership. This highlights how important he has been to Gerrard’s side and why fans would be delighted if he signed a contract extension to stay at Ibrox.

AND in other news, Gerrard masterstroke: Rangers colossus has seen value rise 650% since joining the club…