All posts by z3u9t.icu

Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth has dropped a major update on West Ham United’s plans for the rest of the January transfer window.

What’s the story?

Speaking on The Transfer Show on Sky Sports, Sheth revealed that the Hammers are “still” keen on bringing in a new centre-forward as they look to provide Michail Antonio with some vital striking competition.

He said: “David Moyes is still looking for a striker to strengthen his West Ham United squad this month, but he won’t take any risks in the market.”

Fans will be buzzing

While Antonio has certainly led the line well for the Hammers this season – he’s scored eight goals and provided another six assists in just 21 Premier League games – he could certainly do with being given some help up front.

That’s something which former Leeds man Noel Whelan has suggested Moyes’ side should be targeting this month. He said: “You can’t have enough strikers. When you look at the top sides and where where you want to be year in, year out in the Premier League, you’ve got to have cover.

“You’ve got to have options. It’s no different to Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool. You’ve got to have options in these positions. I think it will benefit, Michail Antonio. Yes, I know he’s going to be up for the fight to keep his place but it becomes healthy competition. Sometimes you’re not going to be able to play the same as you did the week before when you’re on a good run.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Paddy Kenny, who insisted: “You can’t rely on one man to score all of your goals. Antonio is great but he’s not going to score every week. Sometimes that pressure of scoring goals can almost be a burden. It wouldn’t surprise me if West Ham went and got a player to come in and support him.”

If the Hammers are intent on making a push for a Champions League place for next season, then bringing in someone who can share that goal-scoring burden with Antonio could prove to be crucial, and be the real difference-maker.

The news that Moyes is “still” looking for a new centre-forward is sure to have West Ham fans buzzing.

Meanwhile, West Ham are pushing hard for this attacker…

An update has emerged on Newcastle forward Ryan Fraser, regarding his place in the Scotland national team squad.

What’s the latest?

According to The Chronicle, the Magpies winger has been forced to withdraw from the squad due to an injury picked up over the weekend.

The report claims that the extent of the injury remains unclear at this moment in time, with the only update being that he will be absent for Scotland’s matches.

Gutted

This news will surely leave Newcastle fans feeling gutted due to the awful timing of the knock. Eddie Howe has been confirmed as the club’s new manager this week and supporters should be excited by the prospect of the pair reuniting after their spell together at Bournemouth in the Premier League earlier in his career.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/check-out-the-latest-newcastle-howe-ter-stegen” title= “Read the latest Newcastle news!”]

The ex-Cherries coach has only just been appointed but this could represent his first big blow as manager and provide an insight into what he could be dealing with in the coming months; adversity. Newcastle are 19th in the Premier League and are yet to win a match, which means that his first few matches could be a slog that they need to grind through in order to pull themselves closer to safety.

Fraser has started two of the club’s last three games and the arrival of Howe could signal an upturn in form for the winger. In his final two seasons for Bournemouth under the 43-year-old, he managed eight goals and a whopping 18 assists in the Premier League as he showed that he can provide end product at the top level. Reaching those sort of figures again would surely delight Newcastle supporters who are yet see him bag a league goal for Newcastle since joining the club in 2020.

News of an injury, therefore, is not only a blow to Howe but it’s also gutting for supporters as it could hinder his progress in the coming weeks as he tries to rediscover himself under his former manager.

Hopefully, a positive update emerges ahead of the clash with Brentford on the other side of the break and Howe can get to work on improving Fraser and getting him back to his best.

AND in other news, PIF must avoid 1st Newcastle howler with deal for rarely-seen £36k-p/w liability…

Wolverhampton Wanderers have been handed a major boost in their bid to bring Donny van de Beek to Molineux.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Metro, via The Sun, who claim that the 24-year-old will leave Manchester United in the January transfer window if he is not awarded more first-team minutes by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the coming weeks.

The report goes on to state that Wolves are closely monitoring the situation of the Netherlands international ahead of a potential swoop, while Newcastle United are also credited with an interest in the central midfielder.

Furthermore, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano backed up The Sun’s claim regarding Van de Beek in a recent post on Twitter, with the journalist stating: “Donny van de Beek situation is so clear. He loves the club and he’s still super professional in training, doing his best for Man Utd – but if the situation remains the same, he will leave Manchester United in January.”

Shi must act

While it is true that van de Beek has somewhat stagnated since his move to Manchester United back in the summer of 2020, the fact remains that, should Jeff Shi be able to get a deal over the line for the midfielder this January, Wolves will be in possession of a player who, just a little over a year ago, was one of the most promising talents in European football.

Indeed, over his 23 Eredivisie appearances during his swansong campaign with Ajax, the £34m-rated man bagged eight goals, provided five assists and created six big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.9 shots and making 1.8 key passes per game.

These metrics saw the player who former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves dubbed “perfect” earn an average SofaScore rating of 7.32, ranking him as the joint 12th-best performer in the Dutch top-flight back in 2019/20.

The £120k-per-week 23-year-old also highly impressed over his five fixtures in the Champions League that season, scoring two goals, registering one assist and creating two big chances for his teammates – returns which saw him average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating 7.32 in Europe’s most prestigious club competition.

As such, when considering the sheer amount of talent Van de Beek quite clearly possesses, in addition to the fact that Bruno Lage’s side are extremely short of creative options in the middle of the park, should a deal for the Manchester United man indeed be on the table this winter, Shi simply must do all he can to land the Dutch dynamo.

In other news: Fosun must avoid Wolves disaster on “brutal” £71k-p/w sensation, Lage would be furious

Steven Gerrard only left Rangers for Aston Villa less than a month ago but has already been nominated for the Premier League’s Manager of the Month award for November.

As to be expected, a number of Villa fans have been giving their thoughts to the news on social media – although some weren’t overly enthused to hear of it.

The 41-year-old began his tenure in charge at Villa Park with a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion and made it back-to-back victories with a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace.

Those six points helped Villa move clear of flirting with the bottom three, although Gerrard has since suffered his first defeat at the Midlands club, losing 2-1 against champions Manchester City on Wednesday night.

The defeat against Pep Guardiola’s side was on the first day of December, so Gerrard had a 100% record in November. He has been shortlisted for the award alongside Guardiola and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, with the winner to be announced on December 10.

Villa fans react

Villa shared the news regarding Gerrard on their official Twitter channel on Friday. Here is what these fans had to say in reply, with many fearing “bad luck” in regards to a possible manager of the month jinx – as has afflicted previous winners of the prize – should Gerrard win the November award.

“Oh god.”

Credit: @LukeKing_

“Uh oh”

Credit: @JustTheVilla

“Nooooooooooooooooooooooo He doesn’t deserve it in all honesty. Don’t jinx him and us please”

Credit: @TipsCurtis

“Bad luck incoming”

Credit: @JackUTFV

“DO NOT VOTE, DO NOT VOTE, DO NOT VOTE, DO NOT VOTE”

Credit: @VillaBot1874

“don’t jinx him”

Credit: @avfc_kel

In other news: ‘Do it’ – Many Villa fans react as ‘brilliant’ transfer news emerges

Ozan Kabak and Roberto Firmino should both be back in contention for Liverpool’s Champions League round of 16 second leg against RB Leipzig on Wednesday, according to The Athletic’s James Pearce.

The pair were missing on Sunday as Liverpool slumped to a sixth consecutive home defeat against Fulham. However, their injuries were understood to be minor, and Jurgen Klopp should have them available again as he plots a route into the last eight of the competition.

Liverpool’s domestic path to Champions League qualification is narrowing, and so they might have to win the competition to avoid the huge financial blow of missing out on it next season. They carry a 2-0 lead into the second leg, nominally their ‘home’ fixture.

Firmino and Kabak both started the first meeting in Budapest three weeks ago. The struggling Brazilian has yet to score in Europe this season, while Kabak is battling to win over some doubtful Reds fans, as well as his manager, as the club decide whether to exercise their option to buy the on-loan defender.

Liverpool fans take little encouragement from Firmino/Kabak return

“Is it compulsory for Kabak to play in that Liverpool squad…”

Credit: @mister_laolu

“We will still lose…”

Credit: @No4troublemaker

“Firmino? NO”

Credit: @lcfpxnj

“Start Nat and not Kabak, he’s been brilliant”

Credit: @harooncr171

“So you’re saying we’ll lose again”

Credit: @NewhouseT

“Firmino hasn’t been fit for over 2 years.”

Credit: @T_bird_6

“And what changes?? Trash”

Credit: @Manlikegidi

In other news, some Liverpool fans were critical of one midfielder during Fulham clash

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Rob Lee, who spent one season with West Ham United, admits he can’t see Declan Rice staying with the Hammers in the long term unless they continue to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea.

With Mark Noble not starting many games this season, it has been Rice captaining the side, something Lee says is an unbelievable achievement for someone who is just 22 years of age.

West Ham are currently challenging for the top four, however, Lee can’t seee that being a regular occurrence at the London Stadium, which is one of the reasons why Rice will search for pastures new in the coming years.

Rice has become one of the first names on the team sheet for David Moyes as well as forcing his way into Gareth Southgate’s side, however, the dream of Hammers fans seeing their midfielder emulate Noble’s one-club mentality may be smashed, according to Lee.

The former Hammers midfielder fears Rice won’t be around for the long term future with an inevitability of him being prised away by a bigger club, in financial terms and in terms of winning trophies.

“Unfortunately, for my hometown team, no.” Lee told FFC when asked if he sees Rice becoming a one-club player like Noble.

He added: “West Ham have done brilliantly, but to keep that going, you have to spend money, a lot of money to keep up with the likes of Man City, Man United and Chelsea.

“He’s probably the best player at doing what he does, sitting in the midfield for a young guy, he’s probably the best I’ve seen for a long time at doing what he does. For him to be captain at such a young age is a great achievement for him.

“So, I think eventually he’ll be prised away.”

Rice has improved season-on-season and was regularly touted with a move to Chelsea when Frank Lampard was manager and one club players seem a rarity nowadays.

The England international has proved his worth at West Ham and may only be a matter of time before he gets a move away from the London Stadium.

Alessandro Bastoni could be a realistic signing for Tottenham Hotspur this summer transfer window…

What’s the word?

That’s according to reliable journalist Pete O’Rourke, who delivered a fresh verdict surrounding Spurs’ interest in the Inter Milan centre-back to GIVEMESPORT this week.

“Bastoni could be a more realistic option for Tottenham right now,” he said.

“[Antonio] Conte and Fabio Paratici will know all about him from their time in Italy and he might be a more achievable target.

“That could be the one Spurs push for as they look to bring in a new centre-back in the summer.”

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-levy-conte-paratici-thfc” title= “Read the latest Spurs news!”]

Perfect Conte reunion

It is no secret that the north Londoners are targeting a major central defensive addition this off-season.

The Athletic recently claimed that a left-sided option will be a priority, naming the likes of Bastoni, Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol, Lille’s Sven Botman and Nico Schlotterbeck of Freiburg as potential signings.

Given Conte’s history and experience with the Italian, he could well be the best candidate and just as O’Rourke suggests, he is surely a viable and practical signing that Spurs could make.

Prior to the 52-year-old’s arrival at the San Siro, Bastoni was a young and unknown talent that had not featured for the first team. He is now a Serie A winner and valued in the region of £60m.

He started 33 of their 38 games on their way to Inter’s first Scudetto in 11 years and he continues to be an integral part under Conte’s successor, Simone Inzaghi.

Compared to Leonardo Bonucci and Alessandro Nesta, Bastoni offers sublime ball-playing abilities, ranking in the top five in the whole Italian top-flight by attempting 70.9 passes per 90. His ball retention is just as effective, grading at the 86th percentile out of 99 – perfect for Conte.

And whilst he’s not too effective in the air, he is very active and aggressive defensively, ranking in the 94th percentile for intensity.

It’s no wonder the 23-year-old gem has been lauded as a “Rolls-Royce” of a centre-back, as well as being “complete” and “dominant” – this is exactly the sort of profile that Conte adores, so you can only imagine him in a back-three involving Cristian Romero.

The fact that Bastoni is viewed as a realistic signing, despite his £60m valuation, is certainly fantastic news for the Italian head coach heading into the summer.

AND in other news, 75% duels won: £36m-rated Spurs “animal” was Conte’s only shining light at Brentford…

As the January transfer window draws closer, it’s become increasingly apparent that Glasgow Rangers could do with a couple more additions in the market. Namely, another wide option and a holding midfielder.

Despite their summer spending spree, Steven Gerrard faces some tough decisions ahead of the Premiership clash with St. Mirren as he looks to trigger a big reaction after the Betfred Cup exit.

Whilst the Ibrox boss will no doubt want to strengthen at the back, his wide options could do with his undivided attention too. Ianis Hagi has been in such fine form since the beginning of the month, having bagged two goals in his past three games, but Ryan Kent seems to be in some sort of a rapid decline and Kemar Roofe is in danger of being stretched too thinly.

Although Kent has showed glimpses of quality, he has been unable to produce magic as consistently as he managed last season.

What’s the word?

There’s no doubt Gerrard has a plethora of options out wide at his disposal with Jordan Jones re-entering the fold after serving a suspension for breaching rules. However, despite all of the options currently available, it’s fair to say that Rangers lack any real depth on the right-wing, as both Jones and Brandon Barker have been deemed surplus to requirements.

But there’s one player in particular who may be able to fix their problems once and for all.

According to The Daily Record, Airdrieonians winger Thomas Robert is still of interest to Rangers and Airdrie are bracing themselves for a bidding war in the January transfer window.

Premiership rivals Celtic, Hibernian, and Scottish Championship side Heart of Midlothian are also keen to land the Parisian-born right-winger, whose contract will run out at the end of the season.

Robert, the son of former Newcastle United star Laurent, has been in prolific form since the start of the season, providing four goals and two assists across all competitions so far, via Transfermarkt.

Perfect partner for Kemar Roofe

The 20-year-old scored directly from a corner against Clyde during the 4-2 win at the Broadwood Stadium at the weekend.

By comparison, Kent finds himself in the midst of a goal drought, with his last goal coming during the 4-0 win at home to Aberdeen last month.

Comfortable on both wings, Ross Wilson would be wise to sanction a move for Robert as not only would the set-piece specialist be able to provide cover and competition for Kent, he’d also be able to do the same for Hagi on the opposite flank. Just imagine him slotting into place alongside Roofe up front.

Airdrie manager Ian Murray heaped praise on the Frenchman following his latest impressive performance, saying: “It wouldn’t surprise me if we have a fight to keep him. Thomas has done really, really well.

“He showed his class again against Clyde with the corner kick, but it wasn’t just that, in the first half he was excellent, his touches on the ball, his movement, his timing in the releasing of the ball, the way he picked up space, was excellent.

“We’ve had loads of clubs looking at him, a few of them were pretty impressed.

“Were they impressed enough to make a bid, I’m not sure, but I think there are a couple who are not too far away from that.”

Despite his young age, Robert’s versatility would make him a most useful addition to the Govan-based Glaswegian giants, as both Kent and Roofe have been run ragged for most of the season so far.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must unleash Calvin Bassey vs St. Mirren…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, David Norris, who made 118 appearances for Ipswich Town, has claimed that on-loan striker, Troy Parrott, won’t be able to make a career for himself at his parent club Tottenham Hotspur.

Parrott has high expectations at Spurs with current manager, Ryan Mason, claiming that the club still have confidence in the striker to fulfil his potential, despite a tough time during both his loan spells at Ipswich and Milwall respectively this season.

The 19-year old has only managed one goal in 29 games this campaign, which saw him also fail to score at all during the first half of the season when he played 11 times in the Championship with Millwall.

Speaking on how his loan spells haven’t worked out for him and how he doesn’t think the striker has enough to make it at Tottenham, Norris exclusively told FFC:

“It’s not worked out for him because one goal in 15 games is not great and it’s not what the club would have hoped for, and it’s certainly not what the lad would have wanted. 

“I think I’d probably say I’m not sure he’s going to cut it in the Premier League.”

Parrott has made just four appearances for Spurs but his record for their U18s side was phenomenal, which saw him score 17 goals in 15 games.

Spurs may feel he needs a season in their U23s to potentially regain some of his confidence after a poor season on the pitch for the Republic of Ireland international.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed Brandon Williams will not be leaving Old Trafford on loan before the transfer window closes today.

What’s the word?

Recent reports revealed the Red Devils were considering whether or not to loan out Williams amid interest from four Premier League clubs including Southampton having struggled for game time under Solskjaer this season.

It’s claimed the 20-year-old had emerged as Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s preferred candidate to provide backup for the likes of Ryan Bertrand and Kyle Walker-Peters after the Saints targeted him last summer.

However, Solskjaer dismissed all talk of Williams leaving on loan this month following Jesse Lingard’s switch to West Ham.

“Brandon will stay,” he said. “He played [for] the U23’s against Liverpool [on Saturday], he needed the match fitness. He has been working really hard. We don’t have any more players that we feel should be going. We need a strong squad.”

Chance to impress

Nonetheless, he may want to reconsider his somewhat hasty decision. It’s fair to say that it has been a frustrating season so far for Williams, who has fallen down the pecking order after the arrival of Alex Telles in October.

The left-back, who can also provide cover at right-back, has only featured six times for United so far this season, with his last appearance coming as a substitute in the second half in the 3-2 defeat to RB Leipzig in the Champions League last year.

By comparison, both Telles and Luke Shaw have cemented their places in the starting line-up, with the two jostling for position alongside club captain Harry Maguire.

The £9.9m-rated ace has only made one appearance in the Premier League, once again as a substitute in the 3-2 win against Southampton at St Mary’s, which should indicate that Solskjaer has no intentions of including him in his plans for the immediate future.

It’s not too late for the club legend to change his mind, with there still being a few hours left on the clock until the transfer market shuts its doors tonight.

There’s no doubting the fact that the academy product who broke through the ranks into the first team last season and was dubbed an “outstanding” talent by Solskjaer has been blessed with both obvious talent and vast potential but he needs to get some game time under his belt to continue his development.

Williams, therefore, should push his representatives to try to force a loan move as he has so far been unable to oust Shaw and Telles as Solskjaer’s preferred options at left-back.

AND in other news, Manchester Utd should sign Sergio Ramos after transfer update…