All posts by z3u9t.icu

The Athletic’s Crystal Palace writer Matt Woosnam believes that club will be looking for around £40million if they are to sell Wilfried Zaha.

Palace’s star man found the back of the net on 11 occasions in the Premier League last season and began life under new manager Patrick Vieira with a goal in a pre-season friendly against Walsall.

The 28-year-old has two years left to run on his current contract at Selhurst Park and has been the subject of much speculation over the years over his Crystal Palace future, with Arsenal heavily linked with him back in 2019.

After injury to Eberechi Eze, you would think Patrick Vieira would be reluctant to let one of his creative players leave the club, but if they did, Woosnam believes Palace would be able to command a decent fee for Zaha.

“I think we’re looking around £40million at least, which is lower than it was a year ago, but he only has two years on his contract, so in two years’ time he will be a free agent,” Woosnam told FFC.

With Palace re-building under Patrick Vieira, already entering the market to bring in Marc Guehi from Chelsea, the Evening Standard reported that the club are hoping their summer business will convince Zaha to stay.

Many Liverpool fans voiced their frustration with Jordan Henderson during the Premier League clash with Leicester City on Tuesday night. 

Liverpool were looking to return to winning ways after their six-game streak was halted by a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on 19 December.

Leicester, meanwhile, were facing a title contender for the second time in three days, having lost 6-3 at league leaders Manchester City on Boxing Day.

Henderson’s Leicester struggle

Henderson returned to the starting line-up after missing the Spurs draw through illness.

Jurgen Klopp selected him alongside Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in his three-man midfield.

He took on three shots from range in the first half of the match, but all three of them missed the target.

The Reds skipper also misplaced 13 of the 47 passes he attempted, meaning his accuracy was only 72 per cent.

Here’s what a selection of supporters on Twitter made of the 31-year-old’s display at The King Power Stadium, as he was eventually withdrawn for Roberto Firmino while the Reds fell six points behind Manchester City…

These Liverpool fans lay into Henderson

“Henderson has been abysmal”

Credit: @Liverpxxl

“Every week I shed another tear at the fact that we extended henderson’s contract”

Credit: @RHLFC7

“Henderson can’t keep getting away with these performances”

Credit: @kwaku_tvb

“Henderson disasterclass and mane awful”

Credit: @kop_for_ever

“Love watching Henderson sky volleys into the 30th row”

Credit: @commenterlfc

“Get Henderson off immediately and terminate his contract. Awful awful player, who gave this imbecile an extension?”

Credit: @LaVillanelle

In other news, fans mocked this Mohamed Salah claim.

After joining West Bromwich Albion in a £6.75m deal back in the summer of 2017, Baggies fans may well have believed Kieran Gibbs would go on to become their club’s first-choice left-back for a fair few seasons.

This proved to be the case initially, with the 32-year-old going on to make 33 Premier League appearances in his debut season at The Hawthorns, helping his side keep seven clean sheets but earning a rather disappointing seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.78 on the way to Albion’s relegation from the top flight.

The former England international’s level of performance picked up somewhat over his 36 Championship appearances in the following campaign, helping the Baggies keep five clean sheets, scoring four goals and registering four assists, in addition to averaging an improved SofaScore match rating of 6.84 – ranking him as the club’s joint 12th-best performer in the second tier.

However, with West Brom having signed fellow left-back Conor Townsend in the summer of 2018, the younger man clearly started to impress at Palm Training Ground, as he limited Gibbs to just 14 Championship appearances in 2019/20 – over which the £30k-per-week defender once again disappointed, receiving a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.76.

Townsend’s usurping of the man who Slaven Bilic once dubbed a “stupid” player came full circle last season, with Gibbs featuring in just ten Premier League fixtures, before being released on a free transfer this summer.

As such, considering the fact that Albion paid a rather hefty fee for the left-back, in addition to him costing the club a whopping £6.24m in wages over his four-year contract at The Hawthorns, the Baggies’ investment in Gibbs looks to have been something of a nightmare for the West Brom board.

Indeed, it would be a difficult argument to make that the former Arsenal defender’s contributions during his time in West Bromwich warranted even half of the club’s total outlay on the defender, let alone the near-£13m he actually cost the Championship side.

In other news: Ismael could save West Brom millions with exciting 20 y/o prodigy with a “big future”

Newcastle United return to action this evening as they face off against Wolves at St James’ Park in the Premier League.

The Magpies are currently on a run of three straight defeats and will be looking to put their poor form to an end with a positive result against Bruno Lage’s side.

Eddie Howe’s men were given a thrashing last time out in the top flight as they were hammered 5-1 by Antonio Conte’s Tottenham last weekend.

The ex-Cherries head coach will surely make changes to his team in the hope of turning in an improved performance, and one player he must finally unleash from the start is Bruno Guimaraes after benching him last week.

The midfielder came on as a substitute against Spurs and caught the eye with a strong showing amid a number of poor displays from his team-mates. As per SofaScore, he won seven of his nine duels, made four tackles and completed 96% of his attempted passes – resulting in one key pass – in just 31 minutes on the pitch.

To put those statistics into context, Joe Willock (six), Jonjo Shelvey (three) and Joelinton (two) all failed to win as many duels as the Brazilian despite all of them starting the match, with the former two playing the full 90 minutes and Joelinton coming off in the 59th minute.

His former Lyon team-mate Houssem Aouar dubbed Bruno as someone who “constantly offers solutions” for his team’s defenders by sweeping up ahead of them. This was on full display in his cameo performance in north London as the 24-year-old got stuck in and won possession back for his team in the little time that he had on the pitch.

Howe previously hailed the midfielder as a “standout” player and that is exactly what he can be for Newcastle against Wolves if he is named in the starting XI.

In his last Premier League start – against Everton in mid-March – Bruno impressed in the middle of the park. As per SofaScore, he won seven of his nine duels and made three tackles, whilst completing 97% of his passes and all nine of his long pass attempts.

This display – along with his ability to outshine Willock, Shelvey and Joelinton against Spurs – suggests that he has the quality to run the midfield for the Magpies. He can excel both on and off the ball and it is time for Howe to throw him in from the start at St James’ Park tonight.

AND in other news, Signed for free, now worth £9m: Ashley sealed his final NUFC gift in £35k-p/w “dream”…

According to a report from the Daily Mail, Manchester United are considering a move for Brentford’s attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen. 

The lowdown: Eriksen enjoying fairytale comeback

When regulations in Italy ruled out the possibility of a career in Serie A following a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s Euro 2020 clash with Finland, Eriksen had to be released by Inter Milan.

The 30-year-old subsequently signed for Brentford on a short-term deal and continued a fairytale return to professional football in west London on the weekend, netting a first Premier League goal since joining the Bees against Chelsea.

This came just after the former Tottenham star scored twice upon his comeback to the international stage recently.

As the end of the season and the conclusion of a deal at the west London club comes into view, it appears that Brentford may struggle to retain the Dane’s services…

The latest: United watching Eriksen

As per the Daily Mail, the Red Devils are believed to be ‘monitoring’ Eriksen ahead of a potential summer swoop.

With the 30-year-old set to become a free agent in July (as per Transfermarkt), Manchester United and Tottenham are both attentive to the 111-cap playmaker’s situation at Brentford.

The verdict: Perfect Pogba replacement

As Eriksen becomes a free agent, there can be no doubting the logic in pursuing a deal for the £13.5m valued man, particularly as United brace themselves for the seemingly imminent departure of Paul Pogba.

Boasting an enviable trophy haul along with 230 English top-flight appearances, signing the Denmark star would be the ideal tonic to boost the Old Trafford squad in terms of quality and experience.

Previously hailed as ‘world class’ by former Spurs team-mate Dele Alli, adding Eriksen’s impressive technical ability to the squad to dovetail alongside the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho would surely be an exciting prospect, particularly on a free transfer.

In other news: Source makes worrying claim regarding Man Utd star. Find out more here!

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.

Liam Kennedy has dropped some worrying insight from Newcastle United takeover sources.

The Lowdown: Delays

According to The Chronicle, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) claim over the stalled takeover deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group has now been delayed until September.

This follows the delay of the separate arbitration case filed by the St. James’ Park faithful against the Premier League over their decision-making process with regards to the failed bid, which is now not due to take place until early next year.

The Latest: Takeover insight

Writing in his latest piece for Newcastle World, Kennedy has shared that the proposed takeover in the North East by the KSA consortium is now ‘hanging by a thread’, according to sources.

It is thought that the recent legal delays have potentially further strained relationships, and the parties involved in the consortium are said to be shocked at the news that the arbitration hearing has been delayed until early 2022.

The Verdict: Worrying

It is certainly worrying to hear that the proposed takeover could well be on the cusp of collapse, especially given the constant delays that the consortium have had to face.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/newcastle-updates-5/” title=”Newcastle updates! (5)” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

They have had to be very patient with the top flight up until this point, and the cases should give a much clearer picture over the direction of where the deal is heading.

Still, one can understand if their patience is slowly dying out, and so the North East club need to make sure that there are no further delays to both cases and that they can be finalised swiftly.

In other news, find out who NUFC are now ‘on the lookout’ to sign here!

A number of Wolves supporters have hailed Daniel Podence’s Twitter post following an excellent performance in the 1-0 win over West Ham.

Bruno Lage’s side returned to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon, looking to respond from the 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace before the international break.

They came up against an in-form Hammers team sitting third in the table before the game but the hosts came away with all three points at Molineux.

A tight game was eventually decided by a Raul Jimenez goal in the second half and one player who stood out throughout proceedings was Podence.

On his first league start for nearly two months, the Portuguese forward played three key passes, had two shots on target and provided the assist for the goal. After the game he posted on Twitter, simply saying: “Always delivering” followed by emojis including the number 3 and a check mark.

Wolves fans laud Podence

It was a fantastic performance from the winger against West Ham, and these Wolves fans took to Twitter to shower him with praise, with one supporter calling him an “absolute baller” and others imploring Lage to start him consistently.

“I proper love Danny P”

Credit: @GladonK

“Absolute baller today lad”

Credit: @Cal_Wood1990

“Postman Pod”

Credit: @wwfcscott

“Maybe not always but today when it counted. Great to have you back: love to see you at your best. UTW”

Credit: @dobspoon

“Great game lad”

Credit: @jlewwfc

“The most underrated Wolves player. Bruno should start him every match. Oi Oi Podence!”

Credit: @Joeybrainsgood

In other news, some Wolves fans have bemoaned a transfer rumour that has emerged. Read 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

Southampton fans are far from happy after it was revealed that Jack Stephens is close to agreeing a contract extension with the club ahead of the new season.

The Saints are preparing for the new season, one in which the Saints supporters will demand progress, especially as they only managed a 15th place finish in the Premier League last term and conceded more goals than 18 of the other sides in the top flight (Sky Sports).

As of yet, they have made just one signing – Romain Perraud’s arrival from Brest was confirmed on Friday afternoon – but it seems they are close to tying one of their current players down to a new deal.

According to Hampshire Live, 27-year-old Stephens is within touching distance of signing a contract extension at St. Mary’s Stadium.

The news was shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Stephens news below

“next they will announce a Redmond extension”

Credit: @9joemaxwell

“Awful news to wake up to”

Credit: @McAulie_Stubbs

“Championship defender at best. Not the worst decision for a team perpetually battling to stay out of the championship.”

Credit: @DoPradista

“No way!”

Credit: @miaoale1

“Yuk”

Credit: @Charlie_Mercer_

“Why?? we need better players not sticking with players that aren’t quite good enough”

Credit: @tugs081976

In other news, Southampton fans want to sign this winger.