All posts by z3u9t.icu

Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore could be on his way out of Molineux this January.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Luke Hatfield, with the Express & Star journalist stating in a recent interview with GIVEMESPORT that, with contract talks between the 25-year-old and Jeff Shi remaining at a stalemate, the Spain international looks as if he could be a player Wolves decide to cash in on in the upcoming transfer window.

Speaking about the future of Traore, Hatfield said: “For me, I think it’s one where, in the summer, we probably look and wonder whether he’s going to be off. January might be an option as well.”

Shi must act

While it is undeniable that Traore has been a crucially important player for Wolves as they re-established themselves as a Premier League side, with the forward’s contract set to expire at the end of next season, as well as interest reported to be high in his services this January, now would appear to be the perfect time for Shi to make a decision on the 25-year-old.

Indeed, while the £27m-rated man is yet to contribute to a single goal this season, he has nevertheless impressed over his 14 Premier League appearances for Bruno Lage’s side, taking an average of 1.5 shots, making 1.1 key passes and completing a whopping five dribbles per game – by far and away the most of any player in the top flight.

These metrics have seen the £43k-per-week winger average a SofaScore match rating of 7.11, ranking him as Wolves’ second-best performer in the league.

As such, while it may seem slightly unusual to suggest that a team who are pushing for European qualification in the league should sell one of their star players in January, the 25-year-old’s impressive form means that now is very much the optimal moment for Shi to cash in on Traore, as his value is only going to go down as the end of his contract gets closer.

In other news: Lage could transform Wolves with “superb” 21 y/o beast who has “the world at his feet”

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.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has tipped John McGinn to become central to Dean Smith’s plans if Jack Grealish does end up leaving Villa Park this summer.

Grealish has been Villa’s go-to man this season but continues to be linked with a move away from the Midlands club, with Manchester City said to be extremely interested in acquiring his services.

The 25-year-old attacking midfielder has scored seven goals and provided 10 assists in the current Premier League campaign, making him a player that would undoubtedly be hard to replace.

Internally, though, Hendrie expects £25.2m-rated McGinn to take on more responsibility and perhaps be the individual who Smith builds around if Grealish does depart.

When asked who is Smith likely to turn to in a Grealish-less Villa side, the retired midfielder told FFC:

“It’s a good question. McGinn’s one of our best players by a million miles. He’s certainly a seven, eight out of 10 without a shadow of a doubt every other week, if not better.”

While you would expect Villa to dip into the transfer market and bring in a like-for-like replacement for Grealish, McGinn is certainly a player who can help the Villans to move forward.

Last season, the Scotland international averaged 1.9 dribbles per league game, second only to his English team-mate, and made 1.3 key passes per league game – again, out of the players currently in Villa’s squad, only Grealish managed to record a better average (via WhoScored).

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…

Dean Windass has exclusively told Football FanCast that he expects Georginio Wijnaldum to leave Liverpool this summer following months of speculation regarding his future at Anfield.

The Dutch midfielder has entered the final six months of his deal on Merseyside, and has been locked in contract talks for a number of months, with Wijnaldum yet to accept Liverpool’s offer.

And with Wijnaldum’s deal set to expire this summer, strong reports have suggested that the former Newcastle man is now expected to join Barcelona on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Wijnaldum, rated at £36m by Transfermarkt, has been one of the many success stories of the Jurgen Klopp era, helping Liverpool to both Champions League and Premier League glory in recent seasons, most notably scoring a three-minute brace in the Reds’ incredible comeback against Barcelona at Anfield in 2019 in the semi-finals.

But with his career with the Reds appears to be drawing to a close, Windass admitted that if the Dutchman was going to extend his contract with the Liverpool that a deal would have been agreed by now.

He told Football FanCast: “It’s been going on for a few weeks. If he was going to sign, he would have signed by now, so he won’t be there. Whoever signs him has got a wonderful sitting midfield player. They can’t entice him to stay, maybe he doesn’t think Liverpool can get back to where they were.

“Liverpool players have let the manager down this year. You go and win the title by playing extremely well all season and it looks as if they’ve gone ‘well we’ve won the league, we can go back to not winning it for another 30 years’. Liverpool Football Club will want better than that, and he’ll be a big loss.”

Manchester United have reportedly made an improved bid for Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho as they close in on their long-term target.

What’s the story?

According to Sky Sports, the Red Devils have tabled an offer in excess of £75m for the England international, with a change of structure also included in the proposed bid.

United’s initial approach for Sancho was believed to be £67m upfront plus around £8m in add-ons. The German giants are yet to respond, although it’s believed all parties are keen to get this deal over the line.

Fans will be buzzing

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have been pursuing Sancho for the last 12 months after his move to Old Trafford collapsed last summer.

It seemed as though the Dortmund ace would be arriving at Old Trafford prior to the 2020/21 campaign until Ed Woodward baulked at the £108m asking price.

However, a move to the 20-time English champions now appears to be inevitable. While on England duty at Euro 2020, he was asking if United’s current flock of national team stars have been quizzing him over his potential arrival while on international duty.

“Of course, all the boys have a lot of questions, you know,” Sancho told talkSport (as reported by Sky Sports).

“I feel like that’s with a lot of players because we’re all such great young talents and, you know, when you do well – again, like I said – speculation is always going to come around.

“Again, I just tell the boys, ‘look, I’m just focused on football at the moment’ and we just focus on the Euros, step by step.”

News that United are making progress with their attempts to sign Sancho will surely have the club’s supporters buzzing.

He’s been in sensational form since arriving at Signal Iduna Park back in 2017, bagging 50 goals and providing 64 assists in 137 appearances and winning the DFB Pokal along the way.

His arrival in the red half of Manchester could help propel the Red Devils back to their former glories and spark a title challenge for Solskjaer’s charges next season.

And, in other news…Woodward could deliver dream Lindelof upgrade for Man Utd in “sensational” £51.5m gem 

West Bromwich Albion fans have been reacting to the news that they spent the least in agent fees from February 1st 2020 to February 1st 2021 amongst sides in the Premier League.

Throughout this campaign, the Baggies have spent £37.93m on new acquisitions (Transfermarkt). While that fee is not the lowest in the top flight, they have still managed to spend the least on agent fees. They parted with £4.2m, which was less than the likes of Burnley, Crystal Palace and Brighton, all of whom spent less on transfers during the summer and winter windows.

However, that may well be corroborative with the fact that they are where they are in the Premier League table. The top four biggest spenders on agents are Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool – three of those sides are currently in the top four of the table.

The news was shared on Twitter by journalist Joseph Masi, and it attracted plenty of attention from the Baggies supporters. The fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the update from Masi below

“Shows in our league position”

Credit: @robertupton9

“Madness that we’ve managed to spend less than Burnley!”

Credit: @AshDavies21

“Proud of that”

Credit: @albion_gaming

“Good, I’m really happy we aren’t throwing money at middle men who are fleecing the game. Well done WBA more should follow your lead .”

Credit: @AdKido44

“If your not willing to pay the money don’t be surprised when were going straight back to the championship.”

Credit: @sicoop01

“No surprise is it looking at the amount we spent on transfer fees”

Credit: @steaksworth

In other news, West Brom are interested in this 24-year-old.

Jordan Henderson has been pictured back on the training pitch ahead of Liverpool’s final game of the season against Crystal Palace.

Reds captain Henderson has been out since the end of February, when he sustained a groin injury in the Merseyside Derby.

Henderson had to go undergo surgery, sidelining him during the run-in with his team-mates scrapping for a top-four finish.

But he trained with the group in Kirkby on Thursday and tweeted afterwards that ‘it’s been a good day’ and that he is ‘so happy’ to be back.

It’s unclear if Henderson will be cleared for involvement against Palace, but victory at Anfield would seal Champions League football for Jurgen Klopp’s side barring an inexcusable collapse by Tottenham at Leicester.

Klopp would of course love to have his skipper available for such a fixture but may be wary of rushing him back to action.

Henderson’s training return is also good news for Gareth Southgate as he prepares to name his England squad for the European Championships.

Here’s how Liverpool fans responded to the images of their captain’s return.

These Reds go wild at Henderson post

“My Skippoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo”

Credit: @C_ynthia_4

“WOAHHHHH”

Credit: @TheAnfieldTalk

“If king jordamessi plays on sunday then that’ll guarantee top 4”

Credit: @ash_r_d

“Welcome back kinggggg”

Credit: @h3_m_my

“HENDO LAAAA”

Credit: @LfcLatch

“Oh my”

Credit: @LFCMaxs

“WHAT A DAY IT’S BEEN”

Credit: @Covid19_vax

“Our skipper is back, YESSSSSS”

Credit: @iamBoyfresh

In other news, fans were also buzzing after this update on what would be a monumental transfer. 

Plenty of Aston Villa fans have been giving their thoughts on right-back Frederic Guilbert on social media regarding his future at Villa Park.

The 26-year-old spent the second half of the 2020/21 season on loan at Ligue 1 side Strasbourg. Guilbert made 14 appearances for the French side, scoring once and registering four assists.

He’s now set to return to Villa, where he has just over two years remaining on his current contract, worth £40,000-a-week.

The right-back took to Instagram to thank the Strasbourg supporters, with Birmingham Live relaying his post in a story.

They suggested that Guilbert is expected to return to Bodymoor Heath and challenge Matty Cash for the 2021/22 campaign, with Ahmed Elmohamady set to leave on a free transfer.

Villa fans react

@AVFC_News shared Guilbert’s social media activity in a story on Tuesday evening, asking fans if they feel the full-back has a future in the Midlands.

The responses seemed to be split, with a selection of replies available to view below.

“No. Smith doesn’t like him”Credit: @Harry34740948″He really should have a future at VP did nothing wrong was let down by the management way better than Elmo. Should come back and fight it out with Cash next season.”Credit: @DavidWinter81″No, it’s time to sell Guilbert”Credit: @Trev_villaboy”Definitely. We need someone to compete with Cash and Fred was coming along nicely until we sidelined him. And we know that Cash is a bit injury prone and not a stranger to a yellow card, so we need a good alternative.”Credit: @stevesanderstax”Defensively he’s shocking.”Credit: @will_avfc”Yes 100%. I think he was let down truthfully, Elmo needs to go and he needs to come.”Credit: @escapeinpixels

In other news: Many AVFC fans buzz at Emiliano Buendia latest, find out more here. 

Taking to Instagram, Tottenham Hotspur defender Joe Rodon has dropped a four-word message in a possible boost for Lilywhites boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Lowdown: Rodon yet to feature…

The Wales international impressed for Tottenham last season when given his sporadic chances under both former manager Jose Mourinho and interim coach Ryan Mason.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-developments/” title=”Tottenham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Over his 12 Premier League appearances, the starlet averaged a cool and composed 88.1% pass accuracy out from the back with only Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg racking up a higher success rate (WhoScored).

He also turned heads at international level, with Wales Online journalist Ian Mitchelmore branding him a ‘special player’ and ‘flawless’ after his performance against Belgium in March (Twitter).

The 23-year-old is still yet make his debut under Nuno due to a thigh injury picked up at the start of the season, but going by his Instagram post, the Portuguese could soon be able to call upon him.

The Latest: Rodon drops four-word message…

Taking to his social media, the centre-back has published a four-word message as he returns to the training pitches for Wales following successful rehabilitation.

After his most recent setback, Rodon simply stated ‘good to be back’ as he drops an Instagram update for both Spurs and Welsh supporters.

The official account for Wales’ national team also posted their own update on Twitter confirming his return from injury.

The Verdict: Boost for Nuno…

Amid the plethora of unwelcome international news regarding Tottenham players, this Rodon update arguably comes as a breath of fresh air.

As explained by Alasdair Gold, it’s hard to remember a worse international break than this one with Ryan Sessegnon, Son Heung-min and now Oliver Skipp all succumbing to injury issues.

Davinson Sanchez, Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero are also stuck abroad and must complete a ten day training camp in Croatia before their expected return to London around September 16 (Dan Kilpatrick).

Indeed, it appears Nuno and Spurs are in need of a much welcomed positive update.

In other news: ‘So excited’, ‘Start him against Palace’…Many Tottenham fans wowed by another ‘generational’ talent, find out more here.