All posts by z3u9t.icu

When attempting to think of Leicester City’s most creative wideman this season, most minds would go instantly to Harvey Barnes.

That is justified considering that the Foxes youngster has scored 13 times and notched four assists in all competitions this season.

However, there is a player who is actually creating more and he is not actually at the King Power Stadium in 2020/21.

Rachid Ghezzal, who is out on-loan at Turkish Super Lig side Besiktas, is having a wonderful campaign.

Whilst he has only scored one goal, the Algerian managed to rack up 12 assists from the right-flank. It is, in fact, the first time that he has got to double figures in his entire career and he just needs three more direct goal involvements in the closing stages of the campaign for it to be the most productive season of his career.

The turnaround is stark considering that in Ghezzal’s only full season in the East Midlands following his arrival from AS Monaco, he only managed three goals, whilst only registering a solitary strike on-loan at Fiorentina last term.

His form this season could well see Ghezzal catapulted back into contention under Brendan Rodgers next season.

With Demarai Gray having departed for Bayer Leverkusen in the January transfer window, and Cengiz Under’s loan deal from AS Roma expiring in the summer, Leicester’s wide options will be somewhat limited.

They will soon be left with just Barnes, Ayoze Perez and Marc Albrighton heading into 2021/22, which, with a potential European campaign on the horizon, will simply not be enough.

This may lead Leicester into the transfer market in the summer in order to recruit a wideman but the Foxes could certainly do worse than re-introducing the £8.1m-rated Ghezzal to their squad if he’s able to transfer his form in Turkey to the Premier League.

AND in more news, read how Kelechi Iheanacho has now finally announced himself as a viable replacement for Jamie Vardy…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who is a Wolverhampton Wanderers Hall of Famer, believes that next season their attacking players could be as good as Liverpool’s front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.

Wolves haven’t been able to field their strongest very often this season with Raul Jimenez being out of action since November, while Daniel Podence has been dealing with a niggling injury of late.

Nuno Espirito Santo has a lot of firepower within his squad in the form of Adama Traore, Pedro Neto, Podence and Jimenez who will be looking to make up for lost time next season.

Liverpool have long had the front three which every other team in the Premier League would love to have with Salah, Firmino and Mane scoring goals and setting each other up for fun all season.

Speaking on what he expects from Wolves’ attacking players next season and what standard they should be aiming for, Bull told FFC:

“I would say potentially we’d have a strike force as good as Liverpool have with Mane, Salah, Firmino and Jota.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/exclusive-andreas-sondergaard-wolves-premier-league” title=”Exclusive! Andreas Sondergaard talks all things Wolves”]

“We will have our four pushing for places in Podence, Neto, Jimenez and Traore, who will be banging them in and they’ll be chomping at the bit next season.

“If you get too many on the books then one or two will have to go, but I would like Wolves to keep them all.”

Wolves had two strong seasons after getting promoted back to the Premier League finishing seventh for two seasons running, however, this year has been much more of a slog for them.

Nuno Espirito Santo has had to deal with a number of injuries this season to the likes of Willy Bolly, Jonny, Jimenez and Podence.

Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League campaign came to an end on Wednesday evening at the hands of Real Madrid.

The Reds were not able to overturn their 3-1 deficit from the first-leg, eventually earning a stalemate against Los Blancos at Anfield.

We take a look at how Jurgen Klopp’s men rated:

Starting XI

Alisson – 7/10: Whilst not forced into too many saves by Zinedine Zidane’s men, the Brazilian performed at exactly the right time for Liverpool by denying both Vinicius Jr. and Karim Benzema in quick succession in the second-half.

Andrew Robertson  – 6/10: It was a solid if unspectacular night from the left-back. He coped well with the threats of Ferland Mendy and Marco Asensio down the Real Madrid right but his final product ended up disappointing on one too many occasions.

Ozan Kabak – 6/10: The Turk did not do all too much wrong having kept Los Blancos quiet in his time on the pitch. He was replaced somewhat out of consequence with Liverpool pushing for a couple of goals after a steady hour.

Nathaniel Phillips – 7/10: The 24-year-old produced what was arguably one of his most impressive performances in a Reds’ shirt by keeping the likes of Karim Benzema, Marco Asensio and Vincius Jr. quiet. He was evaded late on by the French striker but in the end was not punished for that. Phillips eventually produced a team-high four interceptions.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8/10: By far the best of Liverpool’s defence, the Reds’ academy graduate was hugely impressive going forwards and in defence. According to WhoScored, he produced two tackles and three interceptions, whilst also contributing a huge six key passes. Alexander-Arnold will certainly have felt unfortunate to have not at least notched a couple of assists.

Fabinho – 6/10: Whilst the former Monaco man was an ever-solid presence in the Liverpool midfield, he did not stand out too much. His defensive awareness was probably not what the Reds needed.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-liverpool-news%2c-transfer-rumours-and-more-gravenberch-keita-mane-williams-kabak” title=”Read the latest Liverpool news, transfer rumours and more…”]

James Milner – 5/10: Retaining his spot in place of Thiago Alcantara, the veteran midfielder did not contribute all too much but for a booming effort from range that was well tipped over from range. He was the victim of a crunching challenge from Casemiro in the first-half and did not appear to regain his footing, eventually being replaced by Thiago.

Georginio Wijnaldum – 6/10: Having previously starred against another Spanish club in the form of Barcelona a few seasons ago, the Dutchman could not replicate that performance against Real. Wijnaldum was tidy on the ball with his 87.9% pass accuracy but simply did not threaten enough going forwards.

Sadio Mane – 5/10: Another hugely quiet evening for the Senegalese as his inconsistent run in front of goal continues. Mane certainly looked off-colour again versus Real having had just one shot and lost the ball on five occasions with poor touches. The £90m-rated star was eventually replaced late on after his shocker.

Mo Salah – 6/10: His impressive Champions League record has finally come to an end. Having scored in each of his last four games in the competition, he looked the most likely to find the net having had three shots but he was not accurate enough. His evening was summed up with a second-half left-footed effort that drifted harmlessly over.

Roberto Firmino – 6/10: Another of the Liverpool attack to have an under-par evening, Firmino also did not seem to have his shooting boots on. He really should have scored midway through the second-half but was replaced by Xherdan Shaqiri.

Substitutes

Thiago Alcantara – 5/10: As has been seen in the past, the Spaniard really did not affect the game all too much against Real Madrid. He played some nice cross-field passes but that was the limit of his contribution after he replaced Milner.

Diogo Jota – 6/10: Initially looked a threat after his introduction with his pace and was somewhat unfortunate to maybe not have scored but faded towards the closing stages.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6/10: Despite not being on the pitch for long enough to really get a fair rating, the former Arsenal man turned one of his typical performances, being full of effort and endeavour.

Xherdan Shaqiri – 5/10: Did not have enough time on the pitch to have a contribution.

AND in more news, Liverpool made the wrong choice in signing Kostas Tsimikas last summer…

Manchester City made the decision to sell young centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo to Fulham in a deal that will see the Citizens receive up to £2 million and considering his recent performances for Scott Parker’s side, it looks as if they may have let him go far too easily.

The 23-year-old has made 24 appearances for Fulham in the Premier League this season, averaging an impressive 6.92 rating for his performances.

Although the West London side endured a difficult start to the campaign, they have given themselves a real chance of staying up after losing just twice in their last 10 games, which the defeats coming at home against top four-hopefuls in Leicester City and Tottenham.

Adarabioyo has been a big part of this improvement in form, as Fulham have managed six clean sheets in those 10 games, including shutouts in impressive away wins against both Everton and Liverpool.

The 6 foot 5 centre-back has already seen his value increase to £4.5 million on Transfermarkt, and you imagine that it will only increase further if Fulham stay up this season, and he continues to impress in Parker’s side.

Considering City have persisted with Eric Garcia at times this season, despite him refusing a new contract and agreeing to join Barcelona at the end of the season, it seems strange that they were willing to keep him in the squad whilst getting rid of Adarabioyo for such a small fee.

The former England U19 international was touted for big things at City and would go on to make just eight appearances for the Citizens’ first team, as well as enjoying loan spells at West Brom and Blackburn Rovers in the Championship.

It seems baffling, therefore, that City’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain was willing to let him go for so cheap in the summer, as he is still just 23 and if he continues to star in the Premier League, you would imagine he would be worth a lot more in the future.

And, in other news… 100% duels lost: “Remarkable” Man City beast let Pep and KDB down with awful display vs MUFC

David Sullivan should be all over a bargain deal to sign Watford defender Craig Dawson permanently as West Ham United strive to clear a path for Jesse Lingard’s arrival.

What’s the word?

According to talkSPORT, the Irons could explore activating their option to purchase Dawson after seemingly winning the race to sign Lingard on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window.

Lingard is said to be keen on leaving Old Trafford this month after being cast into the wilderness by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, which sparked a number of Premier League and European clubs to monitor his situation.

West Ham are ready to finalise their deal for Lingard to move to the London Stadium ahead of Monday’s deadline, in an initial six-month agreement that could feature an option to buy the £9m-rated maestro at the end of the season.

The Irons must first clear a hurdle before their deal for Lingard can be ratified, as Premier League rules dictate clubs can only have two domestic loan signings and David Moyes’ side currently have Dawson and Brentford-owned playmaker Said Benrahma.

It has been speculated that West Ham are ready to move forward their £20m obligation to buy Benrahma in the summer to the January transfer window, though talkSPORT claim that Dawson’s situation is the most likely option to be resolved this month.

Reports at the time of Dawson’s move to east London during the final week of the last transfer window claimed the Hammers took hold of a £2m option to purchase the centre-half, having failed with a £30m bid for Burnley defender James Tarkowski.

Should West Ham purchase Dawson?

Dawson’s move to West Ham was met with a lot of pessimism from corners of the fanbase at the time of his unveiling, and had to wait a long while to make his debut with Moyes not fielding the 30-year-old until his side’s 0-0 draw with Southampton last month.

Moyes even opted against naming Dawson on the bench over the first seven available Premier League games before seating the Rochdale-born enforcer in the dugout through until matchday 16.

But Dawson has been a rock at the back for West Ham since stepping foot onto the field, to help the east London outfit go five-games unbeaten in the Premier League and win their last four to now sit fourth in the standings after beating Crystal Palace on Tuesday night.

Rarely does he put a foot wrong beside Angelo Ogbonna, either, with Dawson’s efforts at Everton shackling England international Dominic Calvert-Lewin and again locking down Christian Benteke this week with the Belgian silenced in the air.

Dawson even struck his first top-flight goal in claret and blue at Selhurst Park to help seal the turnaround after Wilfried Zaha’s early opener, to demonstrate yet another aspect of how he has made a genuine difference at West Ham after the Irons conceded twice to Brighton and three at Chelsea last month.

If West Ham are to sign Lingard and thus need to free a loan slot, Sullivan should absolutely be jumping at Dawson’s £2m clause and locking up the no-nonsense centre-half Moyes feels is “sensational”.

That fee would also allow West Ham to spend on a striker to replace Sebastien Haller, with the Irons yet to add depth behind Michail Antonio this month.

AND in other news – Exclusive: Pundit drops verdict on West Ham’s links to £7m-rated striker.

Many Liverpool fans reacted in their droves as Takumi Minamino scored once more for Southampton.

The 26-year-old made the move from Merseyside to the South Coast in pursuit of playing more first-team football, following his bit-part role in Jurgen Klopp’s side.

From his first three games for the Saints, the Japan international has scored twice. His latest effort came during his side’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Saturday, running onto a through ball from Nathan Redmond and calmly slotting the ball home.

Klopp decided to stick with Divock Origi instead of Minamino, who has become deeply unpopular with segments of the Kop faithful in recent months.

Because of this, supporters were flabbergasted by the club’s decision to offload Minamino rather than sell Origi during the January transfer window.

Fans fume at club decision-making

“Minamino scored a goal today. #LFC didn’t, Had to bring Origi on again. No excuses on that, should’ve kept Minamino.”

Credit: @LfcFan258

“Every time Origi comes off the bench, it is a painful reminder that we sent Minamino on loan.”

Credit: @Zonal_Marker

“It’s his fault why did he let Minamino go instead of Origi. I blame him for lacking options.”

Credit: @fatsolexx

“Who is better to replace him? Origi? We should have kept Minamino”

Credit: @Mensana88

“Minamino getting loaned out instead of origi is absolutely criminal”

Credit: @alex_twiss

“I completely agree how he let minamino go over origi I’ll never know”

Credit: @qwertyuiop672

In other news, Liverpool in four-horse race to sign 138-goal star in blockbuster deal – report.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Dean Windass has dubbed Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as “disgusting” following his lateness ahead of Sunday’s north London derby.

Aubameyang was dropped from the starting line-up, having been previously set to start the match against Tottenham, and ended up being an unused substitute, with Nicolas Pepe and Willian deployed as Arsenal’s two attacking changes.

It was a brave decision from Arteta, with the Gabonese striker not only the club’s captain, but is Arsenal’s top goalscorer in all competitions and best source of goals.

But it paid dividends after goals from Martin Odegaard and Alexandra Lacazette cancelled out Erik Lamela’s outrageous opener to move the Gunners four points behind their arch rivals.

And Windass told Football FanCast that it was a strong move from Arteta, who he thought addressed it perfectly.

He said: “It tells you a lot about the manager. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you’re the captain, or you’re the biggest earner, rules are rules. As a footballer I was always early, there’s no excuse.

“Fair play to Arteta, he’s stamped his authority on it, but he’s done it in the right way. He’s not hammered him, yes he’s left him out, yes he’ll get fined, but it will hurt him for leaving him out the team. He will probably have had a meeting, even though they won the game.

“You don’t know if he’s been in a traffic jam, which isn’t an excuse, nobody knows what goes on. But it’s disgusting you can be late for a football match, when you’re earning so much money. That’s your job, that’s your profession. Can you imagine if Roy Keane was in that changing room?”

Aubameyang will be hoping to make a return to the XI for the second-leg Europa League clash against Olympiacos on Thursday.

Leeds haven’t been too embarrassed over the last year or so but on Sunday evening, they were demolished at the hands of League Two opposition.

Marcelo Bielsa got things wrong and he shouldn’t be afraid to admit that.

On the chalkboard

Heading into Sunday’s encounter it had Leeds win written all over it. Bielsa fielded his £30m signing in Rodrigo, while the experienced heads of Helder Costa, Pablo Hernandez, Kalvin Phillips and Kiko Casilla all started.

Yet, after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Crawley Town, none of them covered themselves in glory. A bizarre trio of substitutes at half-time arguably cost them the tie as three inexperienced men all entered the fray.

However, it was the likes of Phillips and Casilla who cost them the most with dire individual mistakes.

The brunt of the blame cannot be directed entirely at the defence, though, because Costa was also pretty shambolic going forward.

What happened?

Costa spent last season on loan at Leeds but after scoring just five Championship goals, hardly set the world alight. Unfortunately, they were tied down by an obligation to buy the player for £15m.

Truth be told, he has not been worth that and when you consider his yearly salary, it takes the amount paid to around £18m.

He has cost the club £3m per goal and his performance against Crawley typified why the club should think about axing him already.

It was a display that should have left Bielsa raging because Costa’s quality in the final third was extremely poor.

The winger failed to find a teammate with any of the four crosses he attempted, while he also missed two big opportunities to find the back of the net. It’s no surprise that Leeds Live journalist Beren Cross said he offered “nothing” in his player ratings.

On top of that, the Portuguese lost possession of the ball 15 times and made just a solitary key pass. Against considerably weaker opposition, Costa should have been a shining light.

Instead, he somehow managed to make himself look out of his depth.

The 26-year-old has been bleeding the club dry for nearly two seasons now and has become a mere passenger in Bielsa’s team. He is not good enough.

AND in other news, “A good fit for him” – EXCLUSIVE: Pundit makes claim on potential Leeds return for £140k-p/w ace…

Glasgow Rangers manager Steven Gerrard probably has several other positions that are higher on his agenda but one player who shouldn’t be overlooked in the winter transfer window is Jack Wilshere…

What’s the word?

According to The Scottish Sun, Ally McCoist has backed Rangers to bring the free agent to Ibrox.

Wilshere finds himself without a club after being released by West Ham United on transfer deadline day and has been linked with the Light Blues since he first became a free agent in the summer.

Pictures have begun to circulate on social media reportedly showing an unidentified male and female being shown around the Govan stadium earlier this week amid fervent rumours that Wilshere is on his way to reuniting with his former England teammate. He’s currently valued at £3.6m via Transfermarkt, but won’t cost Ross Wilson a penny.

So, the Rangers chief must strike while the iron is hot, before it’s too late, as Wilshere has attracted interest from the Premier League as well as places as far afield as Australia, if recent reports are to be believed.

Seize the moment!

If the Gers want to regain the Premiership title whilst juggling the Europa League, it’s high-profile names like Wilshere that they have to secure at all costs.

Wilson made a bit of a blunder in the summer, bringing in Cedric Itten on a four-year-deal for an undisclosed fee, but he has turned out to be a bit of a damp squib, at club level at least, with just two goals in 12 games in all competitions so far this season. However, he could land an absolute bargain in Wilshere who is in a different league to Itten despite his injury woes.

Per WhoScored, the 28-year-old arguably enjoyed some of the best football of his career during his last year at Arsenal, as he scored one goal and supplied two assists in the Europa League, whilst he averaged 1.2 shots, 1.8 key passes and a staggering 3.2 dribbles per game. By comparison, even Scott Arfield is only managing 1.3 key passes and 0.3 dribbles per game in the Europa League this season, via WhoScored.

Granted, Gerrard is hardly short of options as the Gers have a stacked midfield at the moment, as Steven Davis, Joe Aribo, Ryan Jack, Glen Kamara, and Bongani Zungu can all play alongside Arfield, as a two or part of a midfield three, but Wilshere can also be deployed out wide or as sit as an attacking playmaker just behind the striker who would almost certainly be an upgrade on some if not all of the aforementioned options – injury permitting, of course.

Once lauded as an “exceptional” talent by his former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, his struggles with injuries are well-documented, but he has been working on his fitness levels with a personal trainer as he looks to get back into the game. He just needs to be given the time to shine, as it’s fair to say that he could take the Scottish Premiership by storm, if he is given such an opportunity to do so.

There will doubtlessly be some concerns about his injury record, which makes for pretty grim reading. But Gerrard has shown he can carefully manage injury concerns like Ryan Jack. Who’s to say that he wouldn’t be able to do the same with Wilshere? Get it done, Gers.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Marlon Harewood makes claim about Jermain Defoe’s Rangers future at Glasgow Rangers…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Premier League striker Dean Windass has backed Leeds United to secure a deal for a new centre-back in January.

Marcelo Bielsa has been dealt one huge nightmare as he’s set to be without all of his senior options going into their festive Premier League clash with Burnley on Sunday.

Whites skipper Liam Cooper was the latest name to be withdrawn through injury having hobbled off during their 6-2 thrashing by Manchester United at the weekend – he joins Diego Llorente, Robin Koch, and Gaetano Berardi on the treatment table.

Young and rarely-seen starlet Leif Davis may have to partner right-back Luke Ayling in a makeshift backline until January, at the very least.

Leeds have been linked with a loan move for Chelsea outcast Fikayo Tomori, and Windass believes he’d be the perfect addition – irrespective of their current defensive injury crisis.

Football Insider claim Bielsa is keeping tabs on the £27m-rated central defender ahead of next month’s transfer window, although it is believed he’d command a ‘huge’ loan fee to make the switch.

Speaking to FFC, Windass backed the move.

He said:

“He catches pigeons. He can run, by the way.

“That would be good if Frank can [agree]. There’s obviously no love lost between them with the old spy [situation] a few years ago.

“Tomori would be good – I’m not criticising Liam Cooper, but he will find it tough, coming to 33/34 [years of age] now. He was never the quickest anyway, and when you’re in the Premier League as a centre-back, you’ve got to be an athlete. You’ve got to be able to run.

“They need that pace at the back. You know what the Premier League is like – especially when everyone sort of plays 4-3-3 and the three up front are all lightning quick, so Tomori would be a great signing.”

A temporary switch could well be the perfect move for all parties involved as the 23-year-old isn’t getting enough game time sat behind both Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, and even Antonio Rudiger.

Indeed, Tomori has played just once in 20 matches across the Premier League and Champions League this season. However, he did pick up his first England cap under Gareth Southgate in November 2019.

Another loan spell out could be beneficial to Frank Lampard after enjoying a successful stint at Derby County, in which he kept Patrick Bamford silent in that infamous playoff encounter at the end of the 2018/19 campaign.

Victor Orta and Andrea Radrizzani will, however, have to fork out the majority of his reported £75k-per-week wages if they are to land the English colossus at the Yorkshire outfit next month.

AND in other news, Leeds ace who lost possession 36 TIMES vs Utd will have Bielsa FURIOUS…