All posts by z3u9t.icu

Tottenham Hotspur are expected to revisit their interest in Nahitan Nandez this January…

What’s the word?

That’s according to CalcioNapoli24 (via Sport Witness), who claim Spurs are in the mix to sign the Cagliari midfielder but they are facing competition from Serie A rivals Napoli and Inter Milan.

It’s thought that the north Londoners are ready to complete a move for Nandez in the winter transfer window, though it remains to be seen how much he would command.

Transfermarkt currently value him the 44-time Uruguay international at £19.8m.

Imagine him and Hojbjerg

Nandez is a player that Spurs boss Nuno Santo would surely love to sign, he could well be the ideal partner to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg at the base of the engine room.

The diminutive 5 foot 7 dynamo can be a livewire in midfield, having the same sort of skill set as N’Golo Kante at Chelsea.

The 25-year-old enforcer has continued his fine form from last season and has proven his credentials in taking control of matches.

For example, he has averaged 2.6 aerial duels won, 1.6 tackles and 0.7 interceptions per league game this term, showing his defensive capabilities but he has also shown an ability to bring the ball forward to contribute in the opposition’s half, having also averaged two dribbles and one key pass each outing, as per WhoScored.

It’s no wonder he has been called a “machine” by Serie A expert Conor Clancy, who told This is Futbol:

“I like him a lot. I think he’s only about five foot seven, but you wouldn’t know it if you just watched clips of him, he is a little bit of a machine. He’s so powerful but at the same time, has really, really good ball control.”

Hojbjerg is regarded as one of the more defensively sound options in the middle, so adding a player like Nandez could be really complimentary.

In some ways, there may be further comparisons to the influence of Joao Moutinho in Nuno’s Wolves system – a similar sort of short but quality presence in midfield.

Nuno would surely love a move for the Uruguay beast this winter, so Lilywhites sporting director Fabio Paratici must look to seal a swoop for him in the upcoming window.

AND in other news, Signed for £22m, now worth 248% more: Daniel Levy struck gold with Spurs’ “revelation”…

Southampton take on Everton in their opening Premier League fixture on Saturday and Ralph Hasenhuttl can amend the Saints’ woeful record at Goodison Park by unleashing new signing Tino Livramento.

Southampton’s last win at Everton came 24 years ago in 1997, whilst the Saints haven’t won an opening day fixture in the Premier League since 2013, so the omens are not looking good as Hasenhuttl’s side prepare for their trip to Merseyside.

The Austrian will be without two of his key players from last season, with Danny Ings having completed a move to Aston Villa, whilst Jannik Vestergaard is on the verge of signing for Leicester City, so it could be a tough season for the Saints.

Romain Perraud, Dynel Simeu, Armando Broja (on loan), Adam Armstrong and Livramento have all joined the Saints this summer, and the latter could be the difference-maker against Rafa Benitez’s side this weekend.

Should Livramento start vs Everton?

Much of the Toffees’ threat could come down the left-hand side, with Lucas Digne’s crossing ability likely to cause a lot of problems again this season, especially with the aerial prowess that both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison possess.

Therefore, stopping him could be the key to Southampton picking up three points against Everton, so locking down the right-hand side might well be something that Hasenhuttl is considering.

Whilst Livramento is naturally a full-back, he has played further forward during his time with Chelsea and was named the academy player of the season earlier this year after contributing a number of goals and assists from wing-back for the Blues.

The youngster certainly impressed on his first appearance in a Saints shirt in a recent friendly against Athletic Bilbao, with Hampshire Live journalist Tom Leach singing his praises after the game, saying: “What a way to introduce yourself to the Saints fans! With his first touch of the ball, he pressed to win it and with his second, he played a delicious ball over the top for Walcott to score. He looked so comfortable on the ball and had a real awareness of the role he was playing. Brilliant.”

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Therefore, if Hasenhuttl were to select him playing ahead of Kyle Walker-Peters on the right wing for Southampton in his 4-2-2-2 setup, it could make the Saints a lot more defensively secure. It would also allow Livramento more freedom to get forward and attack, which could be the difference as the south coast club seek to begin their Premier League campaign with a long-overdue three points at Goodison Park.

In other news… Tom Leach drops huge Southampton transfer update, fans will be worried

With West Brom only managing to win one of their five Championship games throughout November, drawing three and losing one, it’s safe to say that it hasn’t been the best month for the Midlands club and their promotion hopes.

Despite their disappointing run of form, one player has stood out to be one of West Brom and Valerien Ismael’s shining lights throughout the month that the fans should be full of praise for – Conor Townsend.

With Townsend having played in the left-back, centre-back and left-midfield positions throughout November, the 28-year-old has shown how much of a capable defender he is whilst proving himself to be a useful creative player he is going forward.

In his five previous league games this month, Townsend has made eight tackles, eight clearances and four interceptions whilst making 12 key passes along the way (as per WhoScored).

Six of those key passes came in West Brom’s 0-0 draw against Blackpool where Townsend managed to earn himself a very impressive overall match rating of 8.2/10 according to SofaScore, making him the highest-rated player on the day.

Since joining West Brom from Scunthorpe United in the 2018 summer transfer window in a deal worth a reported fee of around £750k, Townsend, who is currently valued at £2.25m according to Transfermarkt, has made 95 appearances for the Baggies across all competitions, scoring one goal and providing seven assists along the way.

Two of Townsend’s seven assists have come this season, the first coming on the opening day of the campaign in West Brom’s  2-2 against Bournemouth followed by the other one being provided in their 1-1 draw against Millwall in September.

Labelled as an “industrious” player by Baggies podcaster Chris Lepkowski, Townsend has played more minutes in the league (1795) than any other West Brom player so far this season, showing just how important he is to Ismael with his November performances merely the icing on the cake so far.

Moving forward, if Townsend can keep playing regularly for West Brom from now until the end of the season, he will surely give his side a great chance of securing promotion, especially if he can add some goals and assists to his tally and the players around him can equal the same sort of performances he’s been putting in recently.

In other news: Johnstone tipped to stay at West Brom until summer

The future of Rangers centre-back Connor Goldson remains up in the air, with his deal set to expire at the end of the season.

Former Premier League goalkeeper Paddy Kenny has suggested that the club are happy for him to leave as they have not resolved his contract situation, telling Football Insider: “I find it strange that Rangers haven’t sorted this.

“The fact that they have let it run down this far is a concern. They must know he can agree a pre-contract in January. Maybe Rangers are happy for him to move on, otherwise it makes no sense why they haven’t offered him a deal.”

Gio must axe Goldson

New manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst could win Rangers fans over instantly by brutally axing Goldson in the January transfer window. If the 28-year-old does not want to be at Ibrox in the long-term, he should be shipped out of the club as quickly as possible, which is why the Dutchman should look to sell him in the winter to make some money before he leaves on a free transfer.

The £27k-per-week defender came out after the 3-1 defeat to Hibernian on Sunday and admitted that the team has lost ‘a bit of hunger’.

He said: “We need something to change. We need a spark. I don’t want to say this, but we’ve lost a bit of hunger. We are champions and some think they don’t need to work as hard. That’s crept in all season.”

Former Scotland international Kris Commons labelled his comments as embarrassing and accused him of a defeatist attitude.

Football Scotland quote him as saying: “Connor Goldson’s comments after the game yesterday were an absolute embarrassment. He’s supposed to be one of the leaders in this Rangers squad.

“He claimed the match was as good as over at half-time, with Rangers trailing 3-1. Two goals down at half-time and he’s waving the white flags to surrender? Seriously?”

It is difficult to argue with his assessment of Goldson’s quotes. The centre-back is one of the senior players in the squad and he is coming out with worrying comments like those, whilst his contract is running down and nothing is being done to resolve the issues around his future.

Supporters will surely want players who are 100% committed to playing for Rangers and giving their very best out on the pitch. Goldson’s contractual situation and his recent comments both appear to suggest that he does not fit into either of those descriptions, and that is why Van Bronckhorst could appease plenty of the fanbase by cashing in on the 28-year-old in January.

AND in other news, “I’m told”: Journo drops inside claim on Gio which will leave Rangers fans fuming…

The Transfer Tavern’s EFL spy has suggested that Birmingham consider signing Cardiff centre-back Curtis Nelson.

Despite ending the last campaign with two heavy defeats, Blues boss Lee Bowyer has already made a huge impact during his short spell at St Andrew’s.

And having led Birmingham to Championship safety, Bowyer will now be hoping to strengthen in the transfer window in hope of improving on their 18th-place finish.

The Blues manager has already been a busy man this summer, adding nine players to his squad, but the majority of those have been in attacking areas following their serious struggles in front of goal in 2020-2021.

Birmingham scored just 37 times, although they suffered equally as much in a defensive sense, shipping 61 goals in the Championship.

With that in mind, the EFL insider exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that Nelson, who’s been a regular for the Bluebirds since moving from Oxford, could be a good addition for Bowyer’s squad:

“With Birmingham changing a lot of things behind the scenes you could see them surprise a few this season with Bowyer.

“Good centre-backs at Championship level cost very good money but with Birmingham being a big attraction, you can see you Premier League players looking to get game time there.

“However, Curtis Nelson from Cardiff is an experienced one, and could fit well.”

A major update has emerged about Sunderland target Clark Robertson, regarding where he wants to play next season.

What’s the talk?

According to The Daily Record, Sunderland transfer target Robertson wants to stay in England. Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen were showing an interest in signing him on a free transfer from Rotherham, but the centre-back is now likely to join an EFL club instead.

Football Insider reported last month that Sunderland are one of the English sides looking to sign the defender this summer. His contract at Rotherham expires at the end of the month and he could become a free agent in July unless Paul Warne can tie him down to an extension.

Rotherham boss Warne hailed the defender as “unique” upon his arrival at The Millars in 2018 due to him being a left-footed centre-back. He told Rotherham’s official website: 

“He’s a really good kid and he really wants to learn. He played a lot of games last year and the couple before that and I think he’ll fit in a treat. He can step in and play out from the back, which the league we’re going into will allow a little bit more and he’ll bring us a bit of calmness.

“I’ve known him for quite a while and he’s a left-sider, which is pretty unique. He can play and he was a huge part of the Blackpool team last year. He’s a good, strong, competitive centre half which fits in with what we’re looking for here.”

Get it done

Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman must now sanction a deal for Robertson and get it done before any of their League One rivals can make a move. Speakman has to take this opportunity to snap up Robertson and bolster Lee Johnson’s squad, with Robertson wanting to stay in England a major boost for the Black Cats as it has ruled Aberdeen out of the race.

This means that there will not be any top-flight football clubs for Sunderland to have to compete against, with Robertson seemingly set to join a Championship or League One side.

Johnson is in a difficult position in regards to the centre-back position as it stands. Dion Sanderson has returned to Wolves at the end of his loan spell and Luke O’Nien is out of contract at the end of the month with no update on his future since the end of the campaign. This has left Bailey Wright as the only first-choice centre-back left at the club heading into next season, which is why Speakman must seal a swoop for Robertson.

The £3.4k-per-week enforcer can come in from Rotherham and be a reliable option at centre-back for Johnson. Robertson averaged an impressive WhoScored rating of 6.86 when starting at centre-back in the Championship, which shows that he is a solid defender in the EFL. He has also played in League One for Rotherham and Blackpool, earning promotion with the former back in 2020. He could be an excellent signing for the Black Cats and Johnson would love having him in his squad for the aforementioned reasons.

AND in other news, Stance revealed on £3k-p/w Sunderland target with “real talent”, Speakman must act now…

Nottingham Forest have been handed a major boost in their bid to keep Brennan Johnson at the City Ground this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Daniel Taylor’s report for The Athletic, with the journalist claiming that Brentford have all but ended their pursuit of the 20-year-old attacking midfielder, as the Premier League side failed to tempt Forest into parting with the youngster with a number of bids – the latest of which was thought to be worth around £7m.

Taylor went on to state that Dane Murphy was not willing to sanction the sale of the Wales international unless Thomas Frank’s side offered a package worth £12m, which was comprised of a £10m upfront fee plus £2m in add-ons.

Hughton will be delighted

Considering the sheer amount of potential Johnson appears to possess, the fact that Murphy held firm on his asking price for the Forest forward will undoubtedly have delighted Chris Hughton, whose life would have been made much more difficult if the club decided to cash in on the youngster this summer.

Indeed, while the 62-year-old has seen his side get off to a disastrous start to their 2021/22 Championship campaign – having picked up a single point over their opening five-fixture of the season, leaving the Garibaldi rooted to the foot of the table – Johnson has nevertheless impressed for the club.

Indeed, over his five appearances in the league thus far, the £360k-rated man has scored one goal, registered one assist and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.2 shots and making 1.2 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the player Sabri Lamouchi dubbed an “unbelievable” talent earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.84, ranking him as Hughton’s third-best performer in the second tier.

As such, the fact that Brentford appear to have admitted defeat in their pursuit of the £2.5k-per-week forward not only looks to be good news for Forest’s Championship hopes this season, but also for the future of the club – as, if the 20-year-old continues at his current rate of development, the Reds will undoubtedly be able to command a much more substantial figure than the £12m they were looking for this season further down the line.

In other news: Dane Murphy has offer accepted for “rare” £14k-p/w beast, Forest fans will be buzzing

Arsenal will be without Ben White for their lunchtime trip to Manchester City today…

What’s the latest?

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta delivered the fresh setback during his pre-game press conference. He said, via football.london:

“Well from COVID we still have Ben out, Alex Runarsson that has been out. The rest of the players that are missing – hopefully, because we are going to be testing today – are injuries and long term injuries that we don’t have them back yet,” he said.

The Spaniard later added:

“[White is] asymptomatic, he’s been feeling good. As quick as we can we’re going to bring him back to training and he’ll start to play games with us again.”

Gutting setback

The north London outfit have got off to a disastrous start so far in 2021/22, having lost back-to-back matches against newly-promoted Brentford and local rivals Chelsea.

It’s not going to get any easier either as Arteta and his squad have to face the defending champions in their own backyard – a side that was able to spend £100m solely on Jack Grealish.

Pep Guardiola’s men bounced back from an opening day defeat by thrashing Norwich City 5-0 last weekend, so they will be buoyed by huge confidence heading into this encounter.

Against Chelsea, the Gunners’ backline was a complete shambles, particularly Pablo Mari, who was absolutely bullied by their new signing Romelu Lukaku.

“Mari was an embarrassment, he didn’t know what to do,” claimed Rio Ferdinand to his FIVE podcast. “The way they defended against him – where’s Per Mertesacker or someone like that who’s in the building? Please tell them what to do.”

Arsenal made a considerable investment in White, paying Brighton and Hove Albion around £50m, according to The Athletic, so to not have him available for a game like this, especially after their capitulation at Stamford Bridge, will surely leave Arteta hugely worried.

Gunners fans may well want to expect another drubbing here this afternoon.

AND in other news, Forget Auba: £100k-p/w Arsenal flop with 98 touches just gave Arteta one huge headache…

Andy Carroll is set to leave the club as a free agent this summer and despite managing to score just one goal in two seasons on Tyneside, former Newcastle United defender Steve Howey wants to see the academy graduate remain at the club.

After managing to finish the season in an unexpected, yet very respectable 12th in the Premier League, Steve Bruce will be looking to improve his squad this summer, despite reports suggesting he has just £12 million to spend.

If Bruce’s budget is set to be extremely limited and he still wants to sign Joe Willock, then he may look to offer extensions to several players who are set to become free agents when their current deals expire this summer.

Carroll has managed to keep himself relatively fit this season having missed just 19 days through injury, and Howey believes that Newcastle could do worse than offering him a new deal, he spoke exclusively to Football FanCast:

“I’m surprised that Carroll will be out of contract because me personally, I would keep him for another year, I really would. He’s been fit this season but just hasn’t been given the opportunity to play so that’s not his fault.

“It’s not his fault that he’s not played, that’s the manager’s fault because all Carroll can do is be fit. I still think he’s a threat and that centre backs still won’t like playing against him.”

The striker has experienced a frustrating season on Tyneside having been handed just four Premier League starts as well as an embarrassing 30-second cameo appearance against West Brom earlier in the year.

The Magpies are set to lose both Dwight Gayle and Carroll this summer which would leave Bruce with just Callum Wilson and Joelinton as options in the strikers’ department heading into next season.

Manchester United are always the trending topic in football.

Whether it’s the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson and their subsequent collapse in recent years, the controversial nature of Paul Pogba or Cristiano Ronaldo, United are never far from the back pages.

Now that they’ve hired Erik ten Hag, you can expect them to dominate the tabloids even more.

What’s the word?

This summer will play host to several transfer sagas. There is, of course, the futures of Erling Haaland, Mo Salah and Kylian Mbappe to address.

However, in Portugal, a certain Darwin Nunez deserves just as much attention.

The striker has caught the hearts and minds of many throughout the European continent this season and as a result, there is a fierce race for his services. Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle are interested in praising him away from Benfica.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-man-united-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-more-nunez-ten-hag-nkunku-richarlison” title=”Read the latest Man United news!”]

Yet, the Red Devils are also in the hunt and fresh reports, via AS in Spain, suggest that Man United’s new manager is in love with the forward and has personally requested that he be signed this summer.

The trouble is he may cost somewhere in the region of €130m (£111m) if anyone can stump up the cash.

A major coup

Considering that not only Liverpool, a potential quadruple winning side, but their top-four rivals Arsenal are both in the picture to sign Nunez, this would be a considerable coup from United should they complete a move.

Combine that with the fact that the 20-time English champions are currently in free fall and it would be a hefty surprise if Nunez was wearing red in Manchester next season, as opposed to Merseyside or north London.

Valued as highly as he currently is, it would take a rather brave sporting director and owner to pay what’s required but given his potential and already mesmeric ability, he’d surely be worth the cash.

If anything, it’s United and Ten Hag who are most in need of him too.

Ronaldo has found the net on 22 occasions this term but there is a lack of help beyond that with the club’s second top scorer – Bruno Fernandes – scoring nine times.

Therefore, in Nunez, the new Dutch coach would seal somebody who is capable of improving their offence tenfold.

In Liga NOS this season, the Uruguayan attacker has racked up a mammoth haul of 25 goals in 26 outings, while across all competitions he has found the net 33 times from 39 outings.

Furthermore, the young centre-forward ranks in the top 1% among similarly positioned players across Europe for goals per shot on target. He also ranks in the top 5% for progressive carries and then in the best 1% again for carries into the penalty area. Based on that it’s safe to say that Nunez is considerably tricky when in possession.

Of course, the Portuguese top-flight is somewhat off the Premier League in terms of overall quality but it’s hard to disagree with the statement that the 22-year-old would be a seriously impressive capture.

With United in decline, it is imperative that ten Hag gets his recruitment spot on. If he is already drawing up a shortlist of targets then Nunez must surely appear right near the very top.

Described as a “diamond” by Steve McManaman, he’s certainly the rare item of splendour that United require to get themselves back on track.

AND in other news, MUFC plot bid to sign “unstoppable” 30-goal “nightmare”, he’d become ten Hag’s Salah…