All posts by z3u9t.icu

Pundit Kevin Campbell has heaped praise on Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi for his impact at Parkhead, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: With and without Furuhashi

Ange Postecoglou has been able to call upon the 26-year-old prior to the international break, with Furuhashi signing off with a first-half strike against Aberdeen in a 2-1 win.

He also featured against Bayer Leverkusen, but prior to that, had missed five games with a knee injury.

The Hoops lost to Livingston and failed to beat Dundee United without the Japan international, and the £4.86m summer signing has clearly impressed Campbell.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-15/” title=”Celtic updates!!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Campbell reacts

Celtic TV shared a ‘unique angle’ on Monday following the win at Aberdeen, which included Furuhashi’s smart finish.

Campbell, who regularly appears on Sky Sports, was asked by Football Insider for his thoughts on the goal, to which he said:

“Wow, what a phenomenal impact he is having on that football club.

“When a player has confidence he can produce goals like that.

“Let’s be honest, he has been the difference for Celtic this season. They are a different team when he plays. They need him fit and available every week.

“He can carry the team and that is what he has done. He has been nothing short of awesome since he has signed. You have to give Postecoglou credit.”

The Verdict: Kyogo key?

Celtic showed signs of promise against Aberdeen, with Furuhashi netting his eighth goal in 11 games for the Hoops.

His versatility has helped Postecoglou already this season by turning out as a left-winger and through the middle, and he appears to be a key figure in Glasgow already.

The Hoops managed just four points from a possible nine in the Scottish Premiership without him recently, and you could argue that if he was fit, it may have been nine from nine.

In other news: Coach with 17-honours may be open to replacing Postecoglou; he’s a Celtic fan. 

Following on from their 2-2 draw against Manchester United in the Premier League last weekend, when they came from 2-0 down in the second half, Aston Villa secured all three points in their latest league outing with a 1-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park this afternoon.

A headed goal from Emiliano Buendia just before half-time was enough to win the game for Steven Gerrard’s side against the struggling Toffees.

The Argentine was not the only Villa player who impressed on the day, with defender Tyrone Mings putting in the sort of performance which would leave his manager delighted.

Throughout the entire match, Mings was Villa’s defensive rock by racking up five clearances – with one off the goal-line – one tackle, one interception and two blocks (as per SofaScore), so it’s fair to say that he made a somewhat heroic contribution to his team recording a clean sheet as well as victory.

The defender also won six duels, showing how difficult he made it for Everton’s attacking figures such as Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin this afternoon.

This performance ultimately earned the England international an impressive overall match rating of 8.1/10, making him Villa’s highest-rated player on the day according to SofaScore and arguably Gerrard’s hero of the hour.

Birmingham Live’s Ashley Preece also picked up on the 28-year-old’s “excellent” display by saying that he “showed real leadership once again, blocking and clearing everything that came his way while he headed Godfrey’s goal-bound effort away as Everton pressed after the break.”

Having been praised in the past by former Villa attacker Gabby Agbonlahor for his “outstanding” performances on the international stage for England, Mings showed today that he is capable of delivering solid displays for his club as well, and that he is worthy of donning the captain’s armband.

Moving forward, if the 28-year-old can keep producing this standard of performance on a regular basis throughout the remainder of the season, he will surely give Villa every chance of comfortably finishing in the top half in the final Premier League table.

In other news: Ashley Preece drops Villa transfer claim amid Gerrard comments, fans surely delighted

Celtic-linked free agent Robbie Brady is set for a surprise move to Turkish side Gaziantep, Lancashire Live report.

The Lowdown: Celtic rumours

Brady was linked with a move to Parkhead back in February when Neil Lennon was still in charge of Celtic.

Rumours of the Republic of Ireland international moving to Scotland re-emerged at the end of May after he left Burnley.

Ange Postecoglou was quizzed specifically on bringing Brady to the club, but as we know, the left-midfielder wasn’t one of 12 Celtic signings.

The Latest: Turkey move

Lancashire Live shared a story on Brady on Wednesday, claiming the winger is close to a move to Gaziantep.

The Super Lig side boasts a number of international footballers in their squad, and it is believed Brady would be viewed as a marquee signing, should a move go through.

The Verdict: Not a major blow for Celtic

Celtic brought in plenty of attacking talent in Kyogo Furuhashi, Liel Abada, Filipe Jota and Georgios Giakoumakis, so missing out on Brady shouldn’t be an issue.

He could’ve brought plenty of experience to the Hoops, however, Postecoglou did just that with Joe Hart and James McCarthy joining.

The 35-goal free agent now looks as if he is heading to Turkey, though, and it’s not as if Celtic haven’t had the chance to act, so we suspect Dominic McKay and Postecoglou decided the aforementioned names are better options.

In other news: Another Celtic summer signing, as well as Urhoghide, isn’t impressing under Ange, says Devlin.

A number of Liverpool fans have been calling for Divock Origi to leave the club after three Premier League teams were linked with a move for him.

The Reds got off to a winning start in the top flight on Saturday evening, with Jurgen Klopp’s men securing a 3-0 victory away to Norwich City. However, Origi played no part in proceedings, with the Belgian becoming increasingly surplus to requirements at Liverpool.

Last season he started just two top-flight matches and netted only once in all competitions, the goal coming in a 7-2 Carabao Cup romp against Lincoln.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359326”]

The 26-year-old will always be appreciated for some of the huge goals he has scored for the Reds, most notably the clincher against Tottenham in the 2019 Champions League final, but his time at Anfield could soon be up.

According to The Telegraph [via Anfield Edition on Twitter], Wolves, Crystal Palace and West Ham are all eyeing up a summer move for him.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/the-latest-liverpool-transfer-news-copy-4/” title=”The latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Liverpool fans call for Origi to leave

These Liverpool fans took to Twitter to give their approval to the prospects of Origi moving on in the next few weeks.

“I’m on my knees”

Credit: @DannyBains25

“Get him off”

Credit: @pieckbootysweat

“Please please please buy him”

Credit: @Cody3Smith

“Take him please”

Credit: @CHADO_K_

“I beg”

Credit: @JoeeSZN

“Please be true”

Credit: @mdeeks76

In other news, some Liverpool fans have been reacting to an injury update on a rumoured transfer target. Read more here.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang endured a nightmare display as Arsenal were held by Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday evening.

The Gunners still head into the international break unbeaten in five matches across all competitions, also seeing a major improvement defensively, having conceded just one goal in that run.

However, the performance from the skipper was cause for concern as he struggled to have any sort of impact on the game, meaning Mikel Arteta’s side rarely ever threatened the Seagulls.

The 32-year-old striker failed to register a single shot, on or off target, which is way below his average of 2.6 for the 2021/22 campaign.

Aside from the fact that he could not score or even threaten the opposition’s goal, the Gabon international could only muster up 23 touches of the ball – the fewest of any starter – and just six passes at an accuracy rate of 55%, as per SofaScore.

Furthermore, he did not complete a single dribble, was caught offside once by referee Jon Moss and could not create a single key chance, so not only did he struggle personally but he too was equally poor for his teammates.

That’s not what you want from your captain and it’s really no wonder he was hooked for Alexandre Lacazette after 72 minutes.

Aubameyang was weak in his battles, winning just one of six duels (16%), and thus struggling to cope with the physical threat of Graham Potter’s towering back three of Dan Burn, Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk.

It continues a worrying trend for the Gunners talisman as questions could be asked of him considering he’s only scored twice in their opening six league matches.

The £22.5m-rated star was lambasted as “poor” by Arsenal legend Ian Wright on BBC’s Match of the Day (as relayed by the Metro).

Martin Odegaard, who was withdrawn after just an hour, received plenty of flak from the media, with the Evening Standard rating him poorly in their post-match column and commentator Alan Smith echoing such sentiments during the game.

But it was Aubameyang that badly let Arteta and the Gunners down on the south coast this weekend.

AND in other news, Forget Lokonga: Arsenal’s £14.4m-rated “Rolls-Royce” can fill Arteta’s huge Xhaka void…

Having kicked off their Championship campaign with a spirited draw last weekend, Wayne Rooney’s Derby County side once again displayed a tremendous amount of fight on Tuesday evening in order to qualify for the Carabao Cup second round.

Having fallen behind to two early first-half Salford City goals, with Jordan Turnbull putting the visitors ahead in the eighth minute before Josh Morris doubled the League Two side’s lead six minutes later, Derby fans must have been worried their side could be in for something of a hiding from their lower league opponents.

However, Isaac Hutchinson got the Rams back in the game shortly before half-time, before Colin Kazim-Richards went on to level the scores with a 71st-minute penalty, with the momentum very much appearing to be with the home side as the game wore on.

But, with Derby being Derby, nothing is done the easy way, and when Josh Morris bagged his second of the game just three minutes after the equaliser, those first-half fears may have been creeping back in for the Pride Park faithful.

In the end, it required a moment of magic from one of Rooney’s summer additions to eventually pull Derby level once again, with Ravel Morrison, after seeing his initial free-kick crash into the wall, thrashing a half-volley from 25-yards out into the top corner of the Salford goal in the 82nd minute.

The game would ultimately finish 3-3, with the Rams proving to be the side who kept their composure in the subsequent penalty shootout, dispatching all five of their spot-kicks to Salford’s three.

However, despite a number of impressive performances in the fixture, with Morrison, Louie Watson and Colin Kazim-Richards being the pick of the bunch, there were nevertheless a couple of players who saw the game pass them by slightly – none more so than Kamil Jozwiak.

Indeed, the 23-year-old appeared to be at fault for Salford’s opener, losing his man at the corner, while his statistics from the fixture do not exactly make pleasant reading.

Over the course of the 90 minutes, the winger mustered no shots, either on or off target, lost 73% of his duels – 3 out of 11 – and gave away possession of the ball on 13 occasions.

However, of these statistics, it was perhaps the £7k-per-week forward’s inability to get into scoring positions that stood out most, with The Athletic journalist Ryan Conway dubbing Jozwiak “shot-shy” after the game.

Overall, the Poland international’s display saw him earn a disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.4, ranking him as the joint second-worst performer from either side in the fixture.

So, while Rooney is not exactly blessed with options in the wide attacking areas of his squad, most likely meaning that he will be forced to rely upon Jozwiak once again this weekend, the 35-year-old will undoubtedly be hoping the winger turns in a much more profitable performance against Peterborough United.

In other news: Derby County plotting swoop for “outstanding” £25k-p/w beast, Rooney would love him

A number of Wolves supporters have been hailing their players after a club post showed them receiving their booster jab on Monday.

Wanderers picked up a solid 0-0 draw at home to Champions League holders Chelsea on Sunday afternoon as their resolute form continues. That result followed the 1-0 win away to Brighton last week, leaving Wolves sitting eighth in the Premier League currently and dreaming of European football next season.

Away from the field of play, Bruno Lage and his players have been leading by example, with the club’s official Twitter channel sharing photos of them all receiving their booster jab as an extra layer of protection against the global pandemic.

The manager had recently stated that every member of the squad was keen to get the job, with Wolves having one of the best vaccination uptake rates of any Premier League club (Daily Mail).

It is great to see at a time when all footballers are being urged to get vaccinated, helping to ensure that the Premier League schedule continues as normal for as long as possible amid a spate of recent postponements.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375704”]

Wolves fans hail players

These Wolves fans took to Twitter to hail the players for getting their booster jabs.

“My club – leading by example!!!”

Credit: @Kingwolf84

“Leading the way”

Credit: @TheKevinLeslie

“Well done Wolves”

Credit: @cassie2195

“I love my team”

Credit: @carlos_alpuche_

“Top, top Football Club WWFC. COYW”

Credit: @Philip_wwfc

“Leading by example. Well done”

Credit: @kerry337

In other news, some Wolves fans have been reacting to a Tim Spiers tweet. Read more here.

Bill Young was critical of the build-up play from Glasgow Rangers despite their 4-0 away win in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

The Lowdown: Convincing win for Rangers

It was a convincing win for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team in the end, which ensured that they kept up the pace with their Glasgow arch-rivals at the top of the Premiership table.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/rangers-news-3/” title=”Rangers news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Unfortunately for them, the Hoops won even more convincingly, thumping St Johnstone 7-0 at home on Saturday, and in this kind of form they look very difficult to catch right now.

The Latest: Young unhappy with build-up play

Taking to Twitter, Scottish football journalist Young was critical of Rangers’ general build-up play during the game against St Mirren, despite going 2-0 up at half-time through a brace from Kemar Roofe.

The reporter stated: “Rangers 2 up through Roofe, Rangers have dominated the ball but not the game.

“The midfield is MIA and the build-up play is nothing short of ponderous which allows St. Mirren to get men behind the ball.

“Distribution has been poor and it’s all becoming a bit too predictable sadly.”

The Verdict: Win is a win

After winning 4-0 in the end, many Light Blues supporters will not be too worried about how well they played, as getting the three points was the most important thing.

However, for all of the possession that Rangers had (71% in total) they only mustered eight shots on target from 22, around 36% (SofaScore). They actually lost the ball more than the hosts as well, implying that their passing was not always clean and crisp.

Nonetheless, getting the three points was all that mattered, but the Gers will want to play better in their crucial second leg against Braga at Ibrox in the Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night.

In other news, Rangers have been hit by an injury setback

A number of Liverpool supporters have reacted positively to a transfer rumour linking the Reds with a move for Chelsea attacker Christian Pulisic.

Jurgen Klopp’s men delivered an emphatic performance last weekend, dispatching Arsenal 4-0 at Anfield and overcoming the defeat to West Ham in their previous game.

It was a win which once again highlighted Liverpool’s title credentials, although they are set to be in a tough battle with Chelsea and Manchester City.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375258″]

The one thing the other Premier League title contenders arguably have over the Reds is squad depth, with Klopp not enjoying the luxury of having as many attacking options.

According to Calciomercato [via LFC Transfer Room on Twitter], Liverpool are interested in signing Chelsea winger Pulisic, with the American managing just one league start all season.

He has shown that he can thrive at Premier League level, though, with nine goals and four assists in the 2019/20 season. One of those goals opened the scoring against Manchester City on the night that Liverpool were finally crowned champions of England.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-12/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=“none”]

Liverpool fans welcome Pulisic transfer link

Whether or not a move happens remains to be seen, but these Liverpool fans reacted positively to the Pulisic links on Twitter.

“If you are offloading Origi and getting Pulisic I reckon it’s good business”

Credit: @Rajani_Meet

“It’s still a rumour. But if it happens, Klopp finally gets his boy!”

Credit: @zubinofficial

“I would explode with excitement if this happened”

Credit: @ZachsEleven

“Yessssss”

Credit: @avesamra

“Now this I would be on board with”

Credit: @JwilliamC89

“Wouldn’t mind this if he stays fit tbh”

Credit: @Jaden08959312

In other news, some Liverpool fans are excited by an injury update provided by one player. Read more here.

Newcastle United reportedly now ‘want’ to make Darwin Nunez their ‘marquee’ signing this summer.

The Lowdown: Highly sought after

Nunez seems to be the name on everyone’s lips at the moment after he scored yet another goal for Benfica in their 3-3 draw away at Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night.

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

Incredibly, that was the 32nd goal that he scored in just 37 games in total over all competitions so far this season (Transfermarkt), and there is plenty of room left for more.

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed the player will leave Benfica this summer for a fee of around €80m (£66m), and it’s just a matter now of who wins the race.

The Latest: Wanted man

There is seemingly no doubt that Nunez is a wanted man this summer, and the St. James’ Park faithful are just one of the clubs on that list, as per iNews journalist Mark Douglas.

Taking to Twitter, Douglas revealed that they ‘want’ the ‘hot property’ as their marquee signing, but clubs in the Champions League are also ‘circling’ for his signature.

Expanding in his article, an executive from the Premier League has told Douglas that Nunez is ‘tailor-made’ for English football, while Jeremy Steele, the CEO of data company FC Analytics, believes that he could even be worth £100m.

The Verdict: Move on

Given the calibre of clubs that are likely to be in for Nunez, the North East outfit should just forget about trying to sign him this summer and move on to other targets.

Of course, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium would likely be able to offer the right financial package, but it seems too early in the project for them to able to snatch the likes of Nunez off of bigger and better suitors, likely forcing the club to pay over the odds and risk harming what has so far looked like a shrewd approach in the transfer market.

Nonetheless, the Uruguay international is still only 22 years of age, and so there may be an opportunity for the Magpies in the future, when trophies and Champions League football will hopefully be on the agenda.

In other news, find out who the Magpies have now sent officials to watch here!