All posts by z3u9t.icu

Glasgow Rangers are reportedly now in a ‘strong position’ to sign Danilho Doekhi in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Souttar in

It has now been confirmed that John Souttar has signed a pre-contract agreement with the Ibrox faithful from Hearts, and he may even be able to play from this month if a further agreement can be made.

A few central defenders for the Teddy Bears are facing uncertain futures, and so bringing in a new centre-back was vital.

In truth, they could do with another one as well, given that both Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun’s contracts are up in the summer, with no sign of them renewing as of yet.

The Latest: Doekhi next?

As per The Athletic journalist Jordan Campbell, the Light Blues are now in a ‘strong position’ to sign Doekhi, after confirming Souttar’s signing.

The Dutchman is also a player whose contract is up in the summer, and so he could also be very attainable this month.

The Verdict: No-brainer

Assuming both Goldson and Balogun leave, it would be a no-brainer to sign Doekhi up alongside Souttar.

He has been described as having ‘all the ingredients’ for a good centre-half by Dutch football agent Freddy van der Hoorn, as he is ‘aggressive’ being six-foot-three, but also ‘very comfortable’ on the ball as well (Rangers Review).

Doekhi has also hinted himself that he would like the move, claiming that he is ‘flattered’ by the Gers’ interest, and that they are a ‘very beautiful’ club (de Gelderlander).

Nonetheless, to play under Dutch legend Giovanni van Bronckhorst could well be a match made in heaven.

In other news, find out what transfer update has Gers buzzing here!

Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino should return from a hamstring injury before Christmas, according to reliable journalist James Pearce.

The Lowdown: Firmino missing through injury

The Reds have again been hampered by numerous injuries this season, as was the case last time around, with the Brazilian one of those currently absent. The 30-year-old limped out of last week’s win over Atletico Madrid with a hamstring issue, with an extended spell on the sidelines being expected.

Firmino had just found some form again after struggling in 2020/21 – he has scored six times already this season – so the news was undoubtedly a setback for Jurgen Klopp.

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The Latest: Pearce predicts Firmino comeback date

Speaking in a Q&A for The Athletic on Sunday off the back of Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat at West Ham, Pearce claimed that the Brazilian would hopefully be back in action in the middle of December, a month before Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are due to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations.

He wrote: “Looking for positives, Firmino should be back playing by mid-December so will be going into that crunch period fresh when Salah/Mane are away.”

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The Verdict: Reds desperately need him back

Firmino is such a subtle player that his brilliance isn’t always appreciated by the masses, but he is a vital player for Liverpool. His ability to drop deep allows space in behind for Salah and Mane, while his selflessness and work ethic make him a fantastic team player.

Liverpool rarely look as cohesive in attack when Diogo Jota plays instead of him, as shown in Sunday’s defeat to West Ham, when the 24-year-old had just 17 accurate passes in the match. Therefore, Pearce’s prediction of a pre-Christmas return for the Brazilian is very welcome news indeed.

In other news, Pearce has also discussed Liverpool’s interest in a Premier League player. Read more here.

Leeds United are now facing a stern transfer battle to sign Basel striker Arthur Cabral amid a recent update.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent weeks had suggested that Marcelo Bielsa’s side were one of several Premier League clubs interested in signing the £13.5m-rated star, and there was a significant development surrounding his future at Basel.

Italian publication Corriere dello Sport claimed that Cabral has called off talks with Basel over a potential new contract, with his existing deal with the Swiss club coming to an end in less than two years time.

And now, UOL claim that a number of other sides have been alerted to the striker’s performances, and that Leeds now face competition from the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Porto, Southampton and Fiorentina.

Fans would love him

One of the big concerns for Leeds fans this season has of course surrounded their worrying lack of depth up front, especially with Patrick Bamford being out injured for a number of weeks now.

The England international was their chief goal-scorer last term with 17 in the Premier League alone, and his injury this season has seen the Whites’ offensive threat take a real hit – they’ve scored just 11 goals in 11 top-flight games thus far.

In Cabral, those striking worries would be eased considerably.

FocusonLeeds said of the 6 foot 1 centre-forward: “His ability to find space and shoot with power and accuracy is really impressive. He really comes alive in the box and a calmness about him when in goal scoring positions. At 6ft 1 he also provides an aerial threat with 6 off his 18 goals coming from headers.

“Arthur isn’t overly quick in terms of his speed however, he also isn’t slow. Due to his movement in and around the box, he still finds himself in shooting positions a lot. If you combine this with his dribbling ability and quick feet, this helps him work room to gets shots off at goal.”

Indeed, earlier this season, the “relentless” Cabral made a piece of history, becoming the first player in the history of the Swiss Super League to score nine goals in the first seven games, surpassing the record of Christian Gimenez back in 2003/2004.

The man with 72 goals over his entire club career thus far would provide exceptional cover to Bamford while he’s out, and provide genuine competition for him when he’s back too.

Given the kind of prolific striker that he is, Leeds fans would surely love him at Elland Road.

Meanwhile, Leeds must finally sell this first-team star…

With David Moyes’ West Ham United side securing a famous 3-2 victory at the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon, it feels somewhat harsh to take aim at one of the club’s less experienced players for his display against an incredibly impressive Chelsea team.

However, it is, unfortunately, an unavoidable conclusion to draw from the fixture that 21-year-old Ben Johnson had something of a shocker against Thomas Tuchel’s side, a fact that, in being pointed out, is quite literally adding insult to injury – as the right-back was withdrawn shortly before half-time after pulling his hamstring.

Indeed, while it cannot be argued that Johnson is one of the most promising defensive talents to graduate from the Hammers academy in recent seasons, over his 45 minutes on the pitch against Chelsea, the versatile right-back far from enjoyed his finest game in claret and blue.

Being deployed on the opposite flank against the then-table-toppers, the £2.7m-rated man endured a rather torrid afternoon up against Hakim Ziyech and Reece James, managing a grand total of just 26 touches of the ball – 12 fewer than Lukasz Fabianski between the West Ham sticks – completed a mere six of his 12 attempted passes and lost possession of the ball on ten separate occasions.

The £19k-per-week defender also lost both of his two attempted duels – a failure rate of 100% – made no tackles, failed with all three of his attempted crosses and gave away one foul.

These returns saw the youngster receive a very disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.4, with no other player who started for the Hammers earning a lower score.

Indeed, Football.London journalist Tom Clarke also awarded the fan-favourite the joint-lowest score in his own West Ham match ratings, stating of Johnson: “Unfortunate to be injured and out of position for Mason Mount’s goal but had found himself beaten a couple of times by Ziyech on the left – 6.”

As such, while the 21-year-old who Moyes dubbed a “really important” player will undoubtedly bounce back following his recovery from injury, this was far from his finest display for the Hammers, and is a performance he will be hoping to put behind him as quickly as possible.

In other news: Forget Bowen: West Ham’s “fantastic” 5-tackle beast seized his “big chance” vs Chelsea

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur recently had a bid rejected for AS Roma centre-back Roger Ibanez.

The report by Voce Giallorossa (via Sport Witness) claims that Ilario Di Giovambattista revealed both Tottenham and Leicester City made recent offers of €30m (£25.7m) for Ibanez, who just signed a permanent deal with Roma having initially been on loan from fellow Italian outfit Atalanta.

According to Di Giovambattista, both Jose Mourinho and Brendan Rodgers have been tracking the £18m-rated centre-back for some time and will continue to do so despite the 22-year-old officially becoming a Roma player in recent weeks.

Transfer Tavern Take

Considering that Ibanez has impressed over his 22 Serie A appearances for Paulo Fonseca’s side this season, with the defender’s average WhoScored match rating of 6.92 ranking him as the club’s sixth-best performer in the Italian top flight, the claim that Spurs have been keeping tabs on the Brazilian is not overly surprising, considering Mourinho’s desire to sign a new centre-back last summer.

However, it is more difficult to believe that the club would have offered a large sum of money for Ibanez in the January transfer window, as the Tottenham manager himself stated the club would not likely be doing any business in the winter market.

Indeed, Sport Witness suggested that Di Giovambattista’s claims could well be an attempt to make Roma’s business appear in a better light with the club’s supporters, which seems a much more plausible scenario.

In other news: Tottenham are also monitoring this attacker, find out more here.

Lots of Arsenal fans have been talking about the latest tweet from journalist Charles Watts that recently emerged on social media.

Watts recently tweeted about Arsenal’s draw against Burnley, talking about the performance of Pablo Mari for the Gunners. The journalist said that the defender’s display went unnoticed because the VAR controversy in the game but Mari put in another ‘excellent’ performance against Sean Dyche’s Clarets. Watts believes that the Spaniard looks ‘impressive’ for Mikel Arteta’s men.

The 27-year-old had arrived at Arsenal in January of 2020 on an initial loan deal from Brazilian club Flamengo. The deal was made permanent in the summer of 2020, when Mari arrived for a fee of only £4.50 million (as per Transfermarkt).

This season, the defender has made nine appearances in all competitions for the first-team, also scoring once in the UEFA Europa League. He had sustained a long-term ankle injury last season, injuring his calf this season.

In the Premier League, Mari has picked up an average rating of 6.73 for the Gunners, with his rating at 7.39 in the Europa League (as per Whoscored).

Watts’ tweet about the Spaniard drew the attention of many Arsenal supporters, who rushed to it and made their views clear about Mari and his performances.

What did Arsenal fans make of Watts’ tweet about Mari?

“Another hyping from people like this after 5 games in the season. This is part of the problem at Arsenal.”

Credit: @ElKyasiima

“Think he looks very very good. A couple of mistakes I’ve seen but people forget how little football he’s played since he’s joined. A real shame he and Gabriel are both left footed, as I think they would compliment each other very well.”

Credit: @JackHam22922642

“Excellent acquisition. Very calm under pressure and reads game very well.”

Credit: @UdayDes77051913

“He’s ridiculously cool on the pitch man. Hell of a defender.”

Credit: @Bryce_Huddini

“He played the biggest role in the worst attempt at defending I’ve ever seen.”

Credit: @gunnersauruas

“Looked like an absolute joker in the second half.”

Credit: @DouzisApologyIn other news, Arsenal have been linked with a move for a Ligue 1 left-back – read more here.

Manchester United have appointed Erik ten Hag as their new manager to join the club this summer, and with a new manager, there will likely be new signings with speculation already mounting on who the Dutch coach will bring in to start his revolution at the Premier League club.

The Red Devils have struggled this season and become the centre of a media frenzy with the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and reported dressing room leaks constantly hitting the headlines amongst poor form in all competitions on the pitch with the side entering their longest trophy drought in 40 years and looking unlikely to secure a top-four finish in the few remaining games.

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With that being said, Ten Hag has clearly been brought into the club to reinstate the identity and to improve the mentality amongst the players, something he can achieve by bringing in new players to begin a new era and a fresh start at Man United.

The midfield is one of the key areas that has been targeted for desperate improvement, and one player who has been linked to the club this week that would drastically improve the centre of the pitch is Frenkie de Jong.

The £164k-per-week ace who was hailed “amazing” and a “genius” by his manager Xavi, would be a huge upgrade in Man United’s midfield next season to replace Scott McTominay when you compare the pair on effectiveness for their respective teams.

For Barcelona, De Jong has scored two more goals and assists, completed over 300 more passes, has a better pass accuracy, completes more take-ons and has a higher ground duel success rate (64.2%) compared to Scott McTominay at United in the Premier League this season, per Squawka.

Manchester United will reportedly (via Sport) give ten Hag £210m to spend this summer, and the 24-year-old has become a prime target for the Ajax boss who will have full involvement in the transfer dealings at Old Trafford during his three-year contract.

Ultimately, the Dutch tactician will have a large workload when it comes to reviving the club from its current state, and along with identifying new signings will also need to make the right decisions when it comes to replacing and moving on players this summer to give Manchester United the best chance next season.

AND in other news: Man Utd plot bid for “special” 52-goal “wizard”, it’s an instant ten Hag masterclass

A lot of Liverpool fans have flocked to Twitter to slate Reds right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold over his performance in the Merseyside club’s latest Premier League clash with Southampton. 

The 22-year-old played a notable role in Danny Ings’ opening goal of the game, which came in just the second minute. Per The Liverpool Echo, the £99m-rated man produced some ‘pathetic defending’ from the set-piece which allowed the former Reds striker to get onto the end of the ball from James Ward-Prowse and score. 

Later on in the contest, the right-back was on the receiving end of a telling off from Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, with Alexander-Arnold said to have been ‘having a bit of a nightmare’ versus The Saints. 

So, what have these Liverpool fans had to say about Alexander-Arnold?

Many Liverpool fans took to Twitter to criticise the England international for the role he played in the game’s opening goal, while others shared that they believe his role in the goal was just the latest error in what has been an overall poor season from the Reds academy product.

“Some finish that you know. However, it’s never a free-kick and TAA defensive wise is absolutely shocking there.”

Credit: @Pallen19_6

“Weak from TAA. His first poor run.”

Credit: @MiddleEarthLFC

“Alexander-Arnold is such a terrible defender. Complete liability this year with the shape of this back line.”

Credit: @ItsOkBud

“Alexander-Arnold needlessly gave the ball away just before Thiago committed that foul. There’s no hiding his poor form of late #SOULIV”

Credit: @Hickory92

“Awful that from Alexander-Arnold, why is he trying to control that with his chest instead of just clearing it?”

Credit: @adam_canavan

“He’s been pretty poor all season long”

Credit: @JonesJones4Life

“Been horrendous lately”

Credit: @LFCzach_8

“Trent Alexander-Arnold has been sleepwalking through the entire season and it’s infuriating”

Credit: @lead_farmerxx

In other news, many Liverpool fans have been fuming over The Liverpool Echo’s January transfer claim.

Manchester City fans love the club’s reported new away kit, which was leaked on Twitter on Thursday.

The Citizens have a big end of the season to look forward to. They are one win away from confirming their status as Premier League champions (Sky Sports), while there is also the mouth-watering prospect of a first Champions League final on the horizon as they prepare to face Chelsea in Istanbul.

Despite plenty still being on the line, though, the club’s hierarchy of course planning for the new campaign behind the scenes. Earlier this week, the club’s third kit was leaked on social media, and that did not go down well at all with the fans.

However, The white away shirt is clearly a far bigger hit, and the supporters are giddy with anticipation of the players wearing this next term.

The leak was shared by @City_Xtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the Etihad Stadium faithful. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the Man City fans had to say below

“Unreal”

Credit: @Tom72ii

“Stunning. Yes please!!!”

Credit: @Record_Peddler

“Absolutely mint, I’ll be having that.”

Credit: @Boyraceruk

“Looks fantastic. The color scheme is phenomenal.”

Credit: @abellwillring

“This is beautiful tbh, can’t wait for it to drop and cop”

Credit: @Just_Leeds

“This is the best kit I have ever laid my eyes on. Gorgeous.”

Credit: @majorramblings

In other news, Man City fans slammed this man against Crystal Palace.

West Brom have been handed a promising boost in their quest to secure a new defensive midfielder before Monday’s 11pm transfer deadline.

What’s the word?

According to ever-reliable Telegraph reporter John Percy, the Baggies are closing in on sealing a loan swoop for Celta Vigo powerhouse Okay Yokuslu.

He claims that the Midlands outfit are “on course to complete” a deal to take the 26-year-old Turkey international on loan until the end of the season before tomorrow night.

Big boost

This will come as a huge source of encouragement for struggling Albion boss Sam Allardyce as he’s been longing for a defensive midfield addition all month – and ultimately, it’s something they have desperately needed for a very long time.

Heading into the new season under Slaven Bilic, West Brom only had one out-and-out option in the role in Sam Field, but evidently, neither the sacked Croatian nor the man tasked with keeping them up have fancied him as he’s only played a total of 59 minutes in the league all campaign, despite West Brom leaking a whopping 19 goals in the five home games under Big Sam.

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A big issue has been how easy it is to bypass the Albion midfield, both regular starters in the central position – skipper Jake Livermore (6.18) and Romaine Sawyers (6.13) – have been their two worst players, as per WhoScored ratings.

The engine room duo are also two of the top four in the ranking for most times dribbled past players Premier League players this season, via FBRef. That merely reinforces the notion that they are struggling against top-flight opposition since their promotion from the Championship.

Yokuslu could, somewhat, solve this issue as the 6 foot 3 colossus is an imposing figure who is also capable of playing in defence.

In La Liga this term, the 28-cap enforcer is only being dribbled past an average of 0.8 times per 90 minutes and compared to Livermore (1.3x per 90) and Sawyers (1.8x per 90), that’s a major upgrade, per Whoscored.

His average of 2.5 tackles per 90 at a success rate of 71.5% is also vastly above that of Albion’s two options too.

Clearly, as evident above, Allardyce will be delighted to get Yokuslu over the line. The midfielder will be a valuable addition to the Premier League’s leakiest backline.

AND in other news, Exclusive: West Brom backed to seal PL striker before deadline