All posts by z3u9t.icu

Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been handed a late boost ahead of their Premiership meeting this afternoon.

What’s the latest?

Speaking in his pre-match press conference (via Daily Record), St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson revealed that all three of Scott Tanser, Greg Kiltie and Ryan Flynn once again look likely to miss out today, as none of the trio have recovered from their respective injuries.

Regarding the current state of his squad, the Buddies manager said: “We’ll have the same bodies as we did last week. We’ve got a really small squad, only 17 in it with three injuries. We don’t think Greg Kiltie or Scott Tanser will make it. Ryan Flynn will likely be back the week after.”

Van Bronckhorst will be buzzing

While Rangers should – on paper, at least – have enough to get past the 10th-placed St Mirren without too many issues, the news that Tanser, Kiltie and Flynn will once again be unavailable for selection this weekend will nevertheless have left Giovanni van Bronckhorst buzzing.

The continued absence of Tanser will come as a particular boost to the Light Blues, as the left-back has been one of St Mirren’s standout performers so far this season.

Indeed, over his 26 Premiership appearances this term, the 27-year-old has scored two goals, registered four assists and created eight big chances for his team-mates, along with making 1.5 key passes, one interception, 1.2 tackles and 1.9 clearances and winning 5.3 duels per game.

These returns have seen the £360k-rated defender average a very impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.03, ranking him as the Buddies’ third-best player in the Scottish top flight.

As such, it is clear to see that the unavailability of Tanser will provide Rangers’ chances of leaving the SMISA Stadium with all three points this afternoon with a huge boost – a result that Van Bronckhorst’s side desperately need following Celtic’s 7-0 drubbing of St Johnstone on Saturday.

AND in other news – Forget Balogun: Van Bronckhorst must axe £10k-p/w Rangers liability today, he “doesn’t cut it”

If Celtic fans have been casting their eye across the pond at the MLS in recent times, then they might have seen a very familiar face in Victor Wanyama.

The Kenya international was of course on the books at Parkhead for a number of seasons having been signed by Neil Lennon back in 2011.

The then 20-year-old almost immediately endeared himself into the hearts of Celtic supporters when he paid tribute to the Lisbon Lions at his unveiling, saying: “It has always been a dream of mine to play for a club like Celtic. After reading the club’s history, I have chosen 67 as my squad number to show appreciation to the 1967 squad.”

Wanyama would make 91 appearances in total for the Hoops during his spell in Scotland, scoring 13 goals and providing nine assists too – his most famous strike of course being the one against Barcelona in the Champions League when Celtic pulled off the unthinkable in beating the European giants.

The Kenyan’s tough-tackling nature and ability to drive forward from box-to-box saw him nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2012/13, and it was no surprise to see him attract admiring glances from south of the border.

Sold to Premier League side Southampton for a fee around £12m, Wanyama went on to make 97 appearances in all competitions for the Saints, netting four goals in total and helping the club achieve three top-eight finishes in the Premier League.

That then earned him a move to Tottenham where he would make the exact same amount of outings, but his time in north London ended rather acrimoniously.

He would then later say: “I was frustrated and when I came back from injury I didn’t get enough chances to play and enjoy my football.When I came back, the club should have trusted me and given me more chances to play again.

“I was fit and training well. I never argued with Pochettino but I wanted to speak to him. I went to his office but he was busy. I saw his assistant Jesus (Perez). He told me be to be patient, that my chance would come blah, blah, blah. I didn’t go to see them again. That’s why I left the club. I’m a football player and I wanted to play football.”

Since arriving in the MLS on a free transfer back in March 2020, things haven’t quite worked out for the Kenya international.

Montreal lost in the play-in round in his first year at the club, having finished ninth in the Eastern Conference (out of 14), and 18th overall (out of 28).

Then just last season, Wanyama’s side fared even worse, finishing tenth in the conference and thereby missing even the play-in bracket, let alone finding themselves in the play-off proper or even making a run for the MLS title.

To think that just a few years ago, Wanyama was shining on the global stage by helping to beat Barcelona, then playing Premier League football with the likes of Southampton and Tottenham.

Now, Transfermarkt see his value down at just £4.5m, and it paints a real picture of how his career has panned out.

Things have gone downhill for the 6 foot midfield machine, and it’s safe to say Celtic played a blinder by cashing in on him at the right time.

AND in other news – £4.7m down the drain: £12k-p/w Celtic liability rinsed Peter Lawwell for 140 weeks

West Ham United could sign a perfect upgrade on Michail Antonio in Bayer Leverkusen sensation Patrik Schick.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent days and weeks have suggested that the Hammers are interested in the Czech Republic international as David Moyes looks to strengthen his attacking options.

And, after hearing about the London side’s links to the striker, Carlton Palmer delivered his backing behind a potential move.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he said: “He’s a top player. He’s second to Lewandowski in the goalscoring charts. I think he’s the right age at 25, £40 million is good money for him.

“When I say it’s not massive money, he’s not like your £200,000, £300,000-per-week player, he’ll fall into their budget. They need some backup for Michail Antonio, they’re too heavily reliant on Michail. When Michail’s out the side, they tend to struggle a little bit.”

Upgrade on Antonio

Schick is no doubt best known for his exploits at Euro 2020 last summer, with his incredible long-range strike against Scotland in the group stage actually being the furthest distance from which a goal has been scored on record in the tournament.

This season in the Bundesliga with Leverkusen, he has simply been in stunning goal-scoring form, smashing in 18 goals in just 16 Bundesliga games and provided another three assists too, including scoring against the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich too.

The Czech ace is as clinical as they come, having a superb 32% goal conversation rate this campaign in the German top flight – to put that into context, Antonio’s is far down at just 14%.

Therefore, it’s hardly a surprise that new Leverkusen boss Gerardo Seoane described the 25-year-old as a player with “incredible finishing qualities”.

The £34m-rated star would be a more than adequate cover for Antonio and even be an upgrade on him in the starting line-up too.

Meanwhile, West Ham are interested in this Premier League defender…it’s not Nat Phillips.

Newcastle United suffered a third successive Premier League defeat on Sunday, going down 5-1 away to Tottenham Hotspur.

Fabian Schar had put the visitors in front on 39 minutes, but goals from Ben Davies, Matt Doherty, Son Heung-min, Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn ultimately made it an emphatic victory for Antonio Conte’s side.

The result leaves Newcastle 15th in the table, still nine points clear of the relegation zone.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/newcastle-news-4/” title=”Newcastle news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Here at The Transfer Tavern, we delve into the three worst-rated starting outfielders for the Magpies as per statistical specialists SofaScore, with players required to feature for at least 45 minutes to feature. Collectively, this trio lost 71% of their ground duels and mustered a crossing accuracy of just 17%.

Joelinton – 5.8/10

Joelinton made his second consecutive start after missing a couple of games with a knock last month, but he only lasted 59 minutes before Eddie Howe took him off.

The manager may not have been impressed with a performance which saw the Brazilian lose six out of his seven ground duels, commit two fouls and pick up a yellow card.

Joelinton lost possession nine times overall, failing to complete the single cross and dribble that he attempted.

Dan Burn – 5.9/10

On a run of eight successive starts, the towering defender was also cautioned yesterday and didn’t fare much better than his Brazilian team-mate.

The 29-year-old lost all three of his ground duels and was also penalised for fouls on two occasions. In addition, he turned the ball over eight times and couldn’t find a team-mate with either of his long passes.

Matt Targett – 6/10

Targett has been selected every time that he has been available since making a loan switch from Aston Villa in January, but he completes the below-par trio of Newcastle players from Sunday’s defeat in north London.

He performed better than the aforementioned duo when it came to ground duels, winning three out of four, but he failed to enhance his team’s attacking threat, with four of his five crosses going astray on a less than stellar afternoon for him or his team. He was also guilty of losing the ball on seven occasions.

In other news, Keith Downie drops an update on Jonjo Shelvey

The focus will be on West Ham United’s Felipe Anderson and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah on Monday night when the Hammers welcome the Reds to the London Stadium in an important league clash for both sides.

Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping his team can put in a more disciplined performance against the league leaders following a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers last week.

This will require a better showing from Pellegrini’s main players, like Anderson, who has been a standout performer for the East London club this campaign.

Three defeats in as many games have seen West Ham struggling for consistency and despite the commitment from Marko Arnautovic to remain at the club for the remainder of the season, at least, a player like Anderson has failed to take responsibility when the team has had its back against the wall.

But, the quality of the 25-year-old will have any team in the competition a bit worried and Liverpool will need to be at their defensive best to keep him quiet come kick-off.

Anderson could particularly be dangerous to the Liverpool defence who are currently without Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez and if Jurgen Klopp decides to play Jordan Henderson at right-back again, Anderson could really fancy himself on the left-wing to cause them trouble.

With Manchester City breathing down Liverpool’s neck, following their 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday,  Klopp will be ever reliant on the brilliance of Salah from now on to guide Liverpool through this challenging part of the season and maybe the Premier League crown.

Liverpool struggled to get going against Leicester City last week and will need the likes of Salah and Roberto Firmino to step-up and put West Ham to the sword.

However, it could be Anderson who has the last laugh.

Aston Villa will look to sign a new left-sided centre-back this summer to replace club captain Tyrone Mings, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Summer rebuild

Villa have struggled in recent weeks, losing their last four Premier League games. They have dropped down to 15th in the table as a result, and it looks as if Steven Gerrard is planning a major rebuild ahead of his first season in charge.

Recent reports have claimed that NSWE are expected to spend over £150m this summer, with the futures of eight players thought to be in doubt.

One of those is Mings, who has been a regular at Villa Park this season, and a further update regarding the England international has now emerged.

The Latest: Source shares update

Football Insider shared a story on Monday morning after being informed by a Villa source. They led with a title suggesting that Villa want a new defensive star to replace Mings, with Gerrard not convinced about the 29-year-old.

Mings has just over two years remaining on his current contract and is actually represented by the same agency as Gerrard.

The Verdict: Busy summer

Should Mings and Ezri Konsa move on as reports have suggested, Villa would be in desperate need of marquee defensive signings with just Calum Chambers and Kortney Hause remaining.

It looks as if Villa will have the funds to make some big-money signings, and you’d expect that could grow beyond £150m with funds brought in by possible departures.

The likes of Joe Gomez, Stefan de Vrij and Matthias Ginter are just three centre-backs who have been linked with a move to the Midlands in recent months, and at this rate, all three could be needed.

In other news: Gregg Evans: AVFC chiefs very excited over midfielder now set to sign at Villa Park

Sunderland maintained their spot in the play-offs with a 1-1 draw at home to Rotherham in League One on Tuesday night.

The Black Cats are fifth in the table and one point ahead of seventh, as it stands, and know that a win on the final day of the season against Morecambe, who are battling against the drop, will seal their place in the top six.

It was an eventful night for Michael Ihiekwe at the Stadium of Light as he went from hero to zero for The Millers. He opened the scoring in the 17th minute before turning the ball into his own net in the 88th minute to gift Alex Neil’s team a point.

Sunderland did not register a single shot on target in the match as they struggled to break Paul Warne’s well-structured side down.

The home side were, therefore, a tad lucky to come away from the game with a point to show for their efforts as they did not trouble the opposition goalkeeper at all. Neil’s attackers struggled on the night and one player, in particular, who let the head coach down was centre-forward Nathan Broadhead.

Off the ball, he was a lightweight. As per SofaScore, he lost four of his six (66.6%) individual battles and this shows that he was dominated from a physical standpoint. He made one tackle in the match whilst failing to make a single interception, clearance, or block as he failed to help the defence out when Rotherham had the ball.

On the flip side of the game, he offered no attacking quality. As per SofaScore, he did not register a single key pass or shot on goal, whilst also failing to complete a single dribble. He only had 19 touches of the ball, with goalkeeper Anthony Patterson having 32, and completed just nine passes.

Broadhead struggled to get into the game in the final third as he let Neil down on and off the ball throughout the match. The Everton loanee has been sublime this season, with nine goals in 14 starts, but this was a performance to forget from the Welshman.

He must now dust himself down and work hard in training ahead of the crunchtime clash with Morecambe on Saturday. Neil will need the striker at his clinical best to ensure that the Black Cats are competing for a spot in the Championship via the play-offs next month.

AND in other news, Speakman howler: SAFC may now be on the verge of repeating brutal Hugill disasterclass…

Liverpool are expected to add to their squad depth in the attacking areas of the pitch this summer, even after signing Luis Diaz in January for £37.5m from Porto.

With Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah all currently set to be out of contract at the end of next season, it seems likely that Jurgen Klopp will be on the lookout for potential replacements, with Ismaila Sarr being the latest name linked with the Anfield club.

What’s the news?

The 24-year-oldhas become hot property once again after his agent Thierno Seydi told Afrique Sports: “It’s clear there are chances he leaves this year from Watford.”

According to Italian publication Corriere dello Sport, Liverpool have since reignited their pursuit of the Watford winger, after Goal reported earlier in the season that the Merseyside club didn’t follow up on their interest last summer.

The report added that the Reds could face competition from Serie A giants AC Milan, who are also keen on the Senegalese attacker with a price tag of £41m.

Liverpool’s future match-winner?

The 24-year-old has scored five Premier League goals in 16 appearances this season, having struggled with injuries and missing part of the campaign due to the Africa Cup of Nations, which left the likes of Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster wishing for his return.

The English veteran said of Sarr’s ability earlier this year: “It’s scary, isn’t it, really? It’s almost like everything seems to just be off the cuff. Every single time he gets the ball, even he doesn’t know what he’s going to do, but it will end up being good either way.

“Once he can start to really drill down on what he knows he can do, yeah, the world is his oyster. Honestly, like I say, the speed and the awareness, the touch, the precision, he’s got all of it. He just now needs all of it to connect and be in control of it too.”

“It’s great to have him back, he’s a game-winner, it’s as simple as that. He’ll win us games, but it puts the opposition on the backfoot as well and I think that’s the important part.”

Having scored important goals against the likes of Manchester United and Aston Villa, along with a brace in a 3-2 victory against Norwich earlier in the season, it’s understandable why Foster views the 24-year-old as a match-winner; and in a Liverpool side who create plenty of chances per game and excel with pacey attackers, Sarr could thrive.

In the 2019/20 season, he single-handedly ended the Reds’ incredible unbeaten run with the performance of his career, scoring two goals and setting up another in a shock 3-0 win over the runaway league leaders, also completing two dribbles and winning more than half of his duels.

Klopp probably still has that performance from February 2020 in the back of his mind ahead of the summer, and FSG must try to ensure that Sarr does the damage for Liverpool rather than to them by bringing him to Anfield as a long-term successor to their current attacking behemoths.

In other news: Klopp could unearth the “new Zlatan” as Liverpool make bid to sign £58.7m star

Aston Villa right-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden suffered a muscular injury for the club’s Under-23 side on Monday evening.

Reliable reporter Ashley Preece shared the news on Twitter, which led to a number of Villa supporters giving their thoughts on the update.

The 19-year-old recently returned to the club following an impressive loan spell with Swindon Town in League Two. He made 21 appearances for The Robins and has since featured on the bench under Steven Gerrard in Villa’s Premier League meetings with Manchester United and Everton.

Kesler-Hayden started in Villa’s 4-1 Premier League 2 win over Reading on Monday evening, but the full-back needed to be replaced by Jayden Barber just before the interval due to injury.

The youngster was making his first Premier League 2 appearance for the season, but he may now be facing a spell on the sidelines depending on how severe the issue is.

Villa fans react

The AVFC Faithful relayed Preece’s injury claim on Twitter. This is what these fans had to say in reply, with many venting their frustration.

“Are you joking?”

Credit: @catrinavfc

“crying rn”

Credit: @_AVFCOlly

“I mean if it’s just a knock, good thing he has 2 weeks off”

Credit: @Neaarii

“Literally hate everything. Recall Guilbert then imo if it’s bad”

Credit: @ViIlaI_

“Typical”

Credit: @SelveyLogan

“how bad is it?”

Credit: @ZM_AVFC

In other news: ‘Some breaking transfer news’ – Sky Sports drop live TV update on Aston Villa and 9-trophy beast. 

Wolverhampton Wanderers are interested in signing Napoli’s Mexican winger Hirving Lozano in the summer transfer window.

That’s according to reports from Italian outlet Napoli Today (via Sport Witness) who claim that Bruno Lage’s side have been “following” the Napoli winger “for some time.”

26-year-old Lozano is about to enter the final two years of his contract at Napoli as reported by Sport Witness, the Serie A outfit would like to extend his stay in Naples.

Though if they are not able to find an agreement, they could “decide to separate from the player.”

An upgrade in attack

It is no secret that Wolves have struggled to find the back of the net in Bruno Lage’s first season at the Molineux. The Old Gold are the fourth-lowest scorers in the league this season ahead of just Brighton, Watford, Burnley and Norwich.

Though, their most worrying attacking stat is through the Premier League xG (expected goals) table, in which Wolves rank second bottom with just 36.5xG, having scored a total of 33 goals in total.

This shows that Wolves are failing to create chances, which can again be referenced by their 17th place position in the big chances created table.

They need some reinforcements in attack, particularly with Daniel Podence’s lack of goal returns in a season that has been almost a direct copy of the last, with just three assists in the league this season.

£25m-rated Lozano – who has been described as “entertaining” by football analyst Statman Dave – could offer Bruno Lage a more significant amount of goal returns with his 0.54 goal-creating actions per game dwarfing Podence’s total of 0.23 GCA.

This season Lozano has an impressive 50% of Napoli’s games this campaign due to a shoulder injury that ruled him out for a month.

Though, he proved his prowess in front of goal last season with a tally of 11 goals from the wing.

Podence has never been close to those numbers throughout the entirety of his career, leaving Lage no option but to look for a goalscoring winger.

In other news: Wolves now plot bid for “exceptional” 96-goal machine, he’s far better than Trincao…