All posts by n8rngtd.top

Celtic may have reason to worry after their Champions League exit in midweek, which is why Nick Hammond is acting quickly in the transfer market…

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, the Scottish champions are eyeing up a move for Preston North End centre-back Ben Davies as a potential replacement for Kristoffer Ajer.

It’s claimed that doubts are growing over the future of the Norweigan colossus at Parkhead as he’s thought to be one of the stars who want an exit this summer.

Davies, who is entering the final year of his contract at Deepdale, is seen as an ideal successor and whilst it remains to be seen how much the 25-year-old could cost, he was linked with a £10m move back in January.

Bye-bye Ajer?

Ajer returned to the starting XI in midweek but was surprisingly left on the bench for the Bhoys’ matches against KR Reykjavik and Dundee United.

And now his representatives have reportedly asked the Celtic hierarchy for their valuation which could see him depart Scotland this summer, as per the Glasgow Times.

Davies would be an interesting successor to the Hoops giant as he’s not quite as imposing in height but has still been a rock for the Championship outfit this term, where he has averaged 4.5 clearances, 3.2 aerial duels won and 0.9 tackles per game, via WhoScored.

It’s led to his Lilywhites boss Alex Neil lauding him as a defender with “really good pace,” adding that he also “reads the game well and has the determination to get better”.

This all spells good news for Lennon, who is seemingly going to need a new option at the back sooner rather than later – and it’s not like it wasn’t coming as Ajer has been courted by AC Milan, Arsenal and West Brom in recent months.

Perhaps Davies would be a most welcome addition at Celtic Park.

AND in other news, Neil Lennon has to unleash “special” Celtic sensation…

Arsenal have doubled back on their decision to let Rob Holding leave the club this window on loan.

According to Sky Sports (via Metro), Mikel Arteta has changed his mind over allowing the Magpies to temporarily sign the centre-back ahead of the new season.

Holding was prepared to join Newcastle for the 2020/21 season after making the transition this week. However, the Gunners have had a last minute change of heart over their plans for the 24-year-old.

According to the report, Arsenal are willing to let fellow centre-backs Sokratis Papastathopoulous, Calum Chambers and Shkodran Mustafi leave instead, which could indicate offers have already come in for one or more of the trio.

Holding was due to leave in order to receive more game time, however, he could be looking at a season on the bench for Arsenal instead.

Two of Newcastle’s centre-backs are currently sidelined due to injury, including team captain Jamaal Lascelles. Adding Holding to their ranks would have ensure they had enough defenders on-hand in case of further injuries across the backline.

Steve Bruce is said to still be interested in bringing the £8.55m-valued Englishman to Tyneside, but after playing all 90 minutes in the Community Shield, Holding could be set to stay with his parent club.

Is it a good decision to keep Rob Holding at Arsenal? Join the conversation in the comments below…

Leeds United’s saga over Rodrigo De Paul could be ended if they instead revisit one of their former mooted transfer targets before next month’s deadline…

What’s the word?

According to David Anderson of the Mirror, the Yorkshire giants are unwilling to meet Udinese’s £36.5m asking price for the box-to-box midfielder and appear ready to play the waiting game as the player himself wants the move.

However, with the window closing in three weeks time, it could be wise to look elsewhere and one man could fall into their hands if the club plays their cards right.

One-time target Emi Buendia has revealed that he wants a transfer to the Premier League following Norwich City’s relegation and last month, the Whites were told it would cost £25m to clinch him. A much cheaper fee than De Paul.

Forget De Paul

Whilst De Paul’s qualities are abundantly clear, there’s no guarantee that he could come to England, adapt and then become a hit. That’s always the gamble with foreign imports.

However, Buendia is tried and tested in the Premier League and if anything, was one of the few bright sparks in the Canaries’ shocking season.

Per WhoScored, the 23-year-old contributed to eight goals whilst averaging 2.8 dribbles, 2.3 key passes and 1.1 shots per game.

Only three top-flight stars managed to create more chances (83) than the Argentinian maestro last season – namely Kevin De Bruyne (136), Jack Grealish (91) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (87) – so he’s in some illustrious company.

That’s more than Joao Moutinho, James Maddison and Mo Salah too.

United legend Noel Whelan believes he’s a great fit for Elland Road too, speaking to Football Insider, he said: “He could be the man to replace Pablo long-term but I am sure Orta will be looking at many options.”

Whilst Norwich teammate Max Aarons believes Buendia is “tenacious and very strong,” which only emphasises why he can compete at the very top.

Victor Orta must consider a £25m move for Buendia if the De Paul rumours continue to rumble on.

AND in other news, Leeds ace who lost possession 17x badly let Bielsa down…

Sheffield United have now played their first two games of the Premier League season and it has not gone to plan as they have lost both and are yet to score.

This highlights why the club are keen on bringing another striker to the club, and despite their heavy interest in Rhian Brewster, they still have their eyes set on other targets and this has seen them turn their attention to another young forward in the division.

It was reported earlier in the window that the club had made an enquiry over Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogun, but since then nothing else had been reported.

However Yorkshire Live highlight that their interest in the striker is still there and ‘United are in conversation with the London club and remain hopeful of a breakthrough in proceedings.’

This is a very interesting transfer as they also report that he only has one year left on his contract and has not shown any intention of signing a new deal, meaning that unless they accept an offer in this window or the next, they risk losing him for a fee to be set by a tribunal.

This type of signing would be a good one for the Blades if they could get him for a cheaper price as he is a young prospect and he could have gained a lot from experienced forwards David McGoldrick and Billy Sharp, and with them being in their 30’s, Balogun could have been seen as the future replacement for the two.

The player has a very good goal scoring tally for the youth sides at the Gunners, as he has managed 51 goals in 73 appearances, per Transfermarkt,

With Brewster reportedly available but for a fee close to £20 million, Balogun is definitely a cheaper alternative and with Yorkshire Live reporting that Wilder said you ‘go through the dance in terms of how much money and what it’s going to cost you.’, it looks like Balogun looks like a more likely option that the club can sign.

He definitely has some potential, so it would be interesting to see how he would fare playing in England’s top flight.

Blades fans, what are your thoughts on this news? Comment below!

West Bromwich Albion’s summer business is going right down to the wire with the domestic transfer window deadline set to pass later this evening.

The Baggies have finally landed themselves a new striker with Karlan Grant walking through the door at the Hawthorns, but there could yet be departures.

One of which will surely be Kenneth Zohore – that’s if Albion chief Luke Dowling makes a cut-throat decision on him before it’s too late.

The 26-year-old is wanted by Championship duo Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday with the latter side thought to be the front-runners to secure his signature.

Although there has been one major hold-up with West Brom wanting more than half of his £50k-per-week wages (The Sun, 27 September, page 61) accounted for, according to Alan Nixon.

However, at this point, the Midlanders should take what they can for their three-goal flop as clearly they’re not going to get an improved deal and that’s going to be far better than having him sit in the reserves, playing down his contract without playing again.

Dowling ought to accept his mistake and cut his losses before it becomes an even bigger financial nightmare – the very fact that a couple of clubs still want Zohore after a shocking season in front of goal is a miracle in itself.

Now valued at a meagre £3.15m by Transfermarkt, the Danish forward hasn’t even been named in a single matchday squad for Albion this season yet is under contract until 2023.

He was even once lauded as a “manager’s dream” by former Cardiff boss Neil Warnock, though clearly he’s been far from that for Bilic.

The best thing that can happen here is that he goes out on loan, puts himself in the shop window and then Dowling can recoup whatever he can for him at a later date.

Zohore’s move to Wednesday must be sanctioned before the end of the day.

AND in other news, Bilic favourite has just given the Baggies boss plenty to think about in woeful showing…

Leeds United’s transfer policy over the past few years has focussed heavily on signing young players for the U23s outfit.

Millions have been spent on bringing in young stars such as Sam Greenwood, Cody Drameh, Stuart McKinstry and Mateusz Bogusz, and it may be time for Leeds to start harvesting the fruits of their labour.

One man who could soon be ready to step up to the first-team is Liam McCarron. The young winger has been making waves over the past 12 months earning his first Scotland U21s call-up over the summer, and it’ll be interesting to see what he can offer the first-team in years to come.

His former coach at Carlisle gave him a glowing review earlier in his career, and it seems as though he could be a perfect Bielsa player.

“At 15 he was blessed with loads of pace, which is why we took a chance on him, but he was a young boy who would get very frustrated very quickly,” Darren Edmondson said.

“As he’s matured and come into full-time football, that’s been the biggest change in him. If he makes a mistake now, his work rate is unbelievable.”

One interesting thing to note is that the teenager was proactive in his pursuit of improving his work rate, and it wasn’t just something that came naturally to him.

In July 2017, McCarron was asked to answer a few questions for Carlisle’s website, and he revealed that one area he needs to improve was tracking back and helping the team defend, and within a couple of years he was in the first-team being praised for how hard he works.

This is exactly the type of player that Bielsa can mould to become a star. The Argentine has been lauded as one of the best coaches in the world, so it won’t take long for him to spot areas on McCarron’s game that need some work, and if the former Carlisle man can approach those issues with the same sort of attitude he had when faced with wanting to improve his work rate, he could become a star under Bielsa.

You only have to look at the way he has transformed the likes of Kalvin Phillips to know that the ex-Lille manager is someone who can get the best out of young talent.

Just how do you explain a series of results that has seen Aston Villa go from thumping Premier League champions Liverpool 7-2, to losing back-to-back games against Leeds and Southampton, conceding at least three in each?

Dean Smith’s side produced a woeful first-half performance on Sunday afternoon against the Saints, and the visitors caught them cold in spectacular fashion.

First, Jannik Verstergaard put Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men in front, before a pair of James Ward-Prowse specials saw them go 3-0 up at the break. After Danny Ings seemed to have put the gloss on Southampton’s win, Villa scored three in the final half-hour to claw back some pride.

But when Smith looks back at the video on Monday morning to assess how things fell apart, he certainly won’t have too much to praise about his team. Apart from Trezeguet.

The Egypt international, who was benched in favour of summer signing Bertrand Traore, came on mid-way through the opening period, and provided the injection of work-rate and fearlessness that Villa desperately needed.

Whilst he didn’t pick up a goal or an assist, the winger was his side’s most dangerous player over the course of the game. As per Sofascore, he fired off four total shots on goal, with three of them drawing saves from Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

He also attempted five dribbles and sent in two crosses over the course of the game, although the one area that may concern him is the fact that his teammates didn’t look to give him more of the ball.

He had just 30 touches in total after coming on, and made only eight passes. Trezeguet was the one real spark for Villa – excluding the final few minutes when they really turned up the heat – and Smith will have been left suitably impressed by the way his substitute came on with the right attitude.

He’s now got a major call to make as to whether he brings him back in from the start next week against Arsenal.

Wolves defender Max Kilman has been the talk of the town in the west Midlands in recent weeks but his display on Friday evening displayed why many shouldn’t jump the gun on him.

After all, he’s still only 23 with a handful of Premier League appearances to his name. He ought to be careful, though, as Romain Saiss will be crawling down his neck now that Marcal and Rayan Ait-Nouri have made their impacts felt.

Nuno Santo’s side defeated the Eagles with ease winning 2-0 at Molineux, but the young centre-back struggled to combat Andros Townsend, Michy Batshuayi and Jairo Riedewald.

Per SofaScore, Kilman won just one of five duels (20%) and failed to register a single tackle, long ball, key pass or shot. He also committed one foul and only had 46 touches – almost half the number he managed against Newcastle a week earlier.

His skipper Conor Coady was full of praise over him last month, claiming his fellow Englishman is “outstanding” and is a “brilliant professional” to have around the place.

But on Friday, he was under par – but that has to be expected given it was only his 16th ever appearance for the club and just his eighth in the top-flight.

It gives Nuno plenty to think about as Saiss, who stepped up into the role of a centre-back following the injury to Willy Boly last season, hasn’t done a lot wrong.

The Express & Star’s Joe Edwards claimed the decision to select the youngster over Saiss was a “pretty big call from Nuno” after the match.

He’s been that valuable to Wolves that he’s even played at left wing-back. He’s their utility man right now, though his strongest position has been in defence.

The Morroccan international has averaged more tackles (1.3), interceptions (two) and long balls (3.5) per game this season, via WhoScored.

Perhaps it should be his spot to lose with Kilman gradually being integrated throughout the season – there’s no denying that he’s the future in the position, but evidently, he’s not quite ready.

The 23-year-old failed to repay the faith put in him by Nuno on Friday.

AND in other news, Wolves’ £36m beast outshone Ait-Nouri and stole the show against Palace…

Leeds are trying their luck on the transfer market but it isn’t a new player they’re after. Andrea Radrizzani and co have eyed Steven Gerrard as their hot pick to replace Marcelo Bielsa at the hilt of the club.

That’s according to Football Insider, who report that this is now the third time the Whites have had the Rangers boss on their radar. The Scottish outfit are currently leading the way in the Premiership and are ahead of Celtic by nine points. If Gerrard leads Gers to their first title in nine years, he will undoubtedly have a lot of clubs circling him.

The Anfield icon is a very popular man already and league success will only further propel him into the spotlight. Leeds must act fast if they want to be the ones to snap up the 40-year-old.

Would Gerrard be a good fit for Leeds?

As it stands, Bielsa is only contracted at Elland Road for this season and will be free to walk way next summer if he so wishes. The Argentinian has been with the club since 2018 and helped guide them to their long-awaited return to the Premier League. However, his recent short extension paints more of a worry than a boost for Whites fans. Just how long will he stay with the Yorkshire outfit before he makes another of his trademark moves?

Bringing Gerrard in to replace Bielsa would not only add a fresh mentality, but it will raise the status of the club as a whole. Former Rangers player Thomas Buffel believes that the ex-Liverpool midfielder is a “demanding” manager who gets results.

“He’s brought his football knowledge and his experience of a physical game to the team, which is key away from home, and it works,” the Belgian told DH. “I met him a few months ago. He’s a gentleman and a winner. I would have liked him to be my manager… and even more my teammate.”

Gerrard’s popularity in the Premier League will be a beacon for Leeds, especially coming in and facing former rival Frank Lampard in a battle of the English managers. If Bielsa opts not to stay at Elland Road, this would be a very strong avenue to go down.

In other news, Harry Wilson’s Wales performance will have Orta and Bielsa green with envy…

Everton are set to face an enormous battle to keep one of their most promising youngsters…

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mail, some of Europe’s heavyweights, including Bayern Munich and Juventus, are keen on signing 16-year-old defender Thierry Small.

It’s claimed that the Toffees are doing all they can to keep hold of him having offered a bumper three-year deal, but it could be too little too late now that there are a plethora of teams chasing his signature.

Small features regularly for the U23 squad after being poached from West Brom aged 11 whilst Puma are said to have tied him down to a sponsorship deal.

Could lose the next Baines?

It seems as if Everton have always had decent options at left-back, going from Leighton Baines to Lucas Digne is pretty impressive, and Niels Nkounkou is even staking a claim in the cup competitions.

But just because the club already have two firm options doesn’t mean they should let their teenage sensation depart. In fact, it would be a massive mistake to see him leave as they’re not just missing out on a piece of the future, but also, potential profit.

And we’ve seen this before under Marcel Brands. He left Antonee Robinson join Premier League rivals Fulham for just £2m. His exposure to the top-flight and continuous impressive displays will only make that seem like a bargain on Scott Parker’s part.

The aforementioned report from the Mail goes onto suggest that Small is ‘regarded by many as the best left-back in the country of his age’ as well as comparing him to Alphonso Davies.

Although, he very much appears to be another Baines as the official Everton website notes his crossing and one-on-one abilities.

Whether he’s the next Baines or merely Robinson 2.0, it would be a catastrophe to see him depart Goodison Park.

AND in other news, Everton could secure Ancelotti his new Robben this January…