All posts by z3u9t.icu

Many Everton fans have been left to buzz as a transfer update from Sport (via Sport Witness) emerged on Philippe Coutinho.

As per the news outlet, it will be up to FC Barcelona whether they accept a ‘low cost transfer’ of around €40m (£35m) from the Goodison Park faithful to sell the attacking midfield player in the summer window, but the Toffees’ interest is legitimate.

Liverpool are due a sum of money if he makes 100 appearances at the Nou Camp, and he is currently on 90, and so the La Liga giants are willing to sell him in order to avoid this payment.

It has not quite worked out for Coutinho at Barca, but the Merseyside club will remember his exploits in the Premier League while playing for their local rivals, scoring no fewer than 54 goals and making a further 45 assists in 201 matches in total across all competitions over six consecutive campaigns at Anfield (Transfermarkt).

Carlo Ancelotti could well be the manager to spark some life back into the Brazil international, who one would hope can still be world-class on his day.

Everton fans on Coutinho transfer update

These Toffees supporters buzzed upon reading the transfer update after it was shared on Twitter, with one Blues fan even going as far as to claim that the price quoted would be a ‘bargain’:

“Yes please”

Credit: @efc87

“Coutinho would be a top quality signing if we can get him, a bargain at that quoted price.”

Credit: @ChohanRajesh

“All day”

Credit: @AlanTaylor4056

“Imagine if we actually signed him, it’d be a class signing”

Credit: @jamiefc1878

“Great signing for me”

Credit: @joshhodge81

“I would be all over this”

Credit: @Tiernancusack21

In other news, find out what transfer update has been flocked to by EFC fans here!

Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos is happy at Ibrox despite rumours linking him with a move away, according to journalist Michael Bridge.

The Lowdown: Morelos a modern Rangers hero

The Gers have had numerous heroes down the years, whether it be Richard Gough, Ally McCoist or many other iconic Ibrox figures.

Morelos has arguably been the star man at the club in recent times, with his feisty personality complimented by goalscoring prowess.

The 25-year-old has scored 105 goals in 208 appearances for the Gers, playing a key role in them winning the Premiership title last season.

The Latest: Journalist makes key claim

Morelos has been linked with a move away from the Gers, but speaking to Give Me Sport, Bridge claimed that his future looks set to belong at Ibrox.

The journalist said: “He’s always linked with other clubs, but he’s never moved away. He seems happy, he’s kind of settled down. There was one season where he had five red cards.”

The Verdict: Huge player moving forward

Losing Morelos would be a huge blow for Giovanni van Bronckhorst, with the striker being such a regular source of goals and leading the line superbly, having been hailed as ‘fantastic’ by his former manager Steven Gerrard.

Granted, the Colombian hasn’t always been a saint, but the hope is that he is maturing with age and will become an even more rounded individual in years to come. Having been sent off six times in the 2018/19 campaign, he has been shown just two red cards in almost two-and-a-half years since (Transfermarkt), so it seems that he has cleaned up his act.

Morelos will likely have a massive role to play in the title race between now and the end of the season, as he looks to add to his six league goals in 2021/22.

In other news, one player is ‘definitely’ a Rangers transfer target. Read more here.

A significant number of Liverpool players signed new contracts at Anfield over the summer, including club captain Jordan Henderson, Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Virgil van Dijk among others, showing just how keen FSG were on securing their futures at the Merseyside club.

One player who didn’t put pen to paper on a new deal in that time is James Milner, whose current contract is set to expire next summer. With this in mind, we feel that FSG should offer the midfielder a new contract to keep him at the club for the foreseeable future.

Liverpool secured Milner on a free transfer from fellow Premier League club Manchester City back in the 2015 summer window.

Since then, the 35-year-old – who is currently valued at £2.7m according to Transfermarkt – has made a total of 258 appearances for the Reds, more than any other club in his career. In that time, he has scored 26 goals and provided 43 assists, winning the Premier League and Champions League with Klopp’s side.

So far this season, Milner – who has been labelled a “massively important” player for the Reds by his manager in the past –  has made eight appearances for Liverpool across all competitions and playing in a number of different positions, further proving how significant he is for Klopp and the team given his versatility and how much the German loves having him at Anfield.

Additionally, the veteran has been no stranger to playing in many different positions across the midfield and defence during his time with the Reds.

Speaking of new contracts, it has been heavily reported over the past few weeks and months that Liverpool are trying to secure a new deal for Mohamed Salah, which makes sense given the attacking numbers he has racked up over the years in terms of goals and assists.

However, we feel that it is equally as important for FSG to offer Milner a new deal as it is for Salah to pledge his future at Anfield, as even though they are very different players, they have both proven themselves to be vital figures for Klopp in different ways.

In other news: Klopp could save LFC millions with “super talented” 19 y/o prodigy, he’s Robbo’s heir

Celtic have been dealt a major injury blow ahead of their upcoming Scottish League Cup semi-final.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to a report by Football Scotland, who revealed that Celtic centre-back Stephen Welsh had to be withdrawn late on in Scotland U21s’ 2-0 defeat to Belgium on Tuesday evening.

The report went on to state that the 21-year-old looked to pick up a knock in a collision with one of his Belgian counterparts, before limping out of the UEFA U21 Championship qualifier at Tannadice.

Ange will be fuming

Considering the fact that Carl Starfelt is already a doubt for Saturday’s Scottish League Cup semi-final clash against St. Johnstone, the news that the Sweden international’s stand-in now also appears to be ruled out of the fixture is sure to have left Ange Postecoglou fuming.

Indeed, not only does Welsh’s injury leave the 56-year-old manager extremely short of options at the back, the Bhoys boss also appears to have lost one of his most promising young talents at Parkhead.

Over his five Scottish Premiership appearances this season, the £1.08m-rated man has helped his side keep two clean sheets and registered one assist, as well as making an average of 1.2 interceptions, 0.8 tackles, 2.2 clearances and winning 6.2 duels per game.

These returns have seen the Scotland U21 international average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.12, ranking him as Postecoglou’s joint 11th-best performer in the top flight of Scottish football.

As such, the 21-year-old’s injury will undoubtedly come as a major blow to the Greek-Australian’s chances of securing a victory against St. Johnstone, a result that Postecoglou will be desperate for in order to have a shot at picking up the first trophy of his tenure as Celtic manager.

In other news: Ange could repeat Josh Adam disaster with 15 y/o Celtic prodigy, it’d be a big blow

According to a report by The Daily Mail, Tottenham players have been left baffled behind the scenes following Jose Mourinho’s treatment of Gareth Bale and Dele Alli – with there allegedly being several ‘disillusioned’ members of the squad.

The Portuguese boss is allegedly facing mounting pressure following his side’s stumble to ninth in the Premier League table, but he is somewhat shielded by the fact chairman Daniel Levy would face huge costs for his early dismissal (The Daily Mail).

Tottenham players baffled by Jose call

Exiting Europe and losing more ground in the top four race, however, would increase the pressure on Mourinho ten-fold – with The Daily Mail now claiming there are ‘several’ disillusioned players behind the scenes.

While some players are generally supportive of their boss, some squad members in particular have been taken aback by Mourinho’s call to shun both Alli and Bale to the fringes.

The Spurs duo have started just three Premier League games combined this season (WhoScored), leaving players who were particularly close under Mauricio Pochettino’s reign surprised by this move not to play them.

Alli and Bale breakdown

Bale was signed in the summer from Real Madrid on a season-long loan, with Levy having dreamed of bringing him back to north London (Eurosport).

Alli, meanwhile, was heavily linked with a move to Paris-Saint Germain in the January transfer window but Tottenham would not let him go without finding a replacement (Fabrizio Romano).

Time will tell whether Mourinho will feature the pair in his plans as he looks to climb back up the Premier League table.

In other news: Tottenham are eyeing this Premier League ace, find out more here.

Despite the result, Alex Iwobi let Carlo Ancelotti down on his return to the starting line-up as Everton beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on Thursday night.

The Nigerian forward had featured for just seven minutes over the Toffees’ previous two Premier League fixtures, after falling out of the side for last month’s 2-0 Merseyside Derby win away to rivals Liverpool.

Ancelotti sought to offer the 24-year-old a recall at the Hawthorns as Everton played their second of three fixtures in the space of eight days, with James Rodriguez not risked and Gylfi Sigurdsson initially rested after featuring against Southampton on Monday.

Opening the action away to Sam Allardyce’s relegation-threatened Baggies marked Iwobi’s 13th start in 23 outings during the top-flight campaign to date, having been a staple of the Blues line-up over the festive period.

But his night would end in only the 58th minute as Ancelotti sought to put Everton in control of the midfield battle, with Allan introduced from the bench to instigate a shift in formation from the 3-4-1-2 with which the Toffees initially took to the field.

Iwobi was an easy choice for the Italian tactician to haul off early in the second period, having wasted a handful of promising opportunities in the first half to deliver a cross into Sam Johnstone’s penalty area.

The £22.9m-rated attacker, operating in a right-midfield role, was off the pace in most scenarios and delivered a performance akin to the displays Everton saw throughout last season which sparked Darren Bent to question where his qualities are.

“For all his endeavour – he does work really hard and he tries really hard – there’s no end product, there’s no quality there,” the former England international told Football Insider last July.

“He works really hard, you’ve got to give that to him, he puts a shift in but when it comes to that real bit of quality where it’s the final delivery, scoring a goal or the final pass, he hasn’t quite got that.”

During the 57 minutes in which Iwobi featured, Everton registered eight shots with just two on target. Three of those efforts came from Richarlison, two from Andre Gomes and one from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Bernard and Ben Godfrey, per WhoScored.

As well as not testing Johnstone, Iwobi additionally failed to create a chance for a Blues player to shoot, despite Calvert-Lewin (2), Bernard (1) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (1) – those closest on the field to the £50,000-per-week forward – registering at least one key pass each.

Part of Iwobi’s struggles stemmed from issues getting on the ball, with every outfield Everton player except Richarlison (22) and Calvert-Lewin (28) registering more touches than the ex-Arsenal playmaker (29).

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who took 28 touches, also outpassed Iwobi, with 14 accurate balls from 19 attempts to the Nigerian’s 11 from 15. Iwobi averages 19.8 passes (16.2 accurate) and with an 82% success rate per top-flight game this season, per SofaScore.

The 24-year-old further averages 0.6 key passes and 0.4 crosses (14% accurate), but failed to find a teammate with his only attempt against West Brom.

Ancelotti may not have expected Iwobi to create a haul of chances for himself or Everton as a team, but would have hoped to see the 44-cap international help set the pace far more often.

AND in other news, Everton eye a £22.5m-rated speedster who is “hungry for success”…

West Bromwich Albion have sealed their first signing of the summer transfer window.

What’s the word?

That is according to their manager Steve Bruce, who has claimed that a deal to sign Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Jayson Molumby is “done.”

After Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Coventry City Bruce revealed all when asked about Molumby’s future. He said: “Molumby’s done.

“Molumby was done weeks ago. The deal was kicked in weeks ago, so he’s our player now.

“He’s a young player who’s got a lot to learn still, but he wants to win; he’s got a bit of an attitude with him, which I like, so, yeah he’ll be here next year.”

Fans will be delighted

The capture of Molumby is promising for a West Brom side who will be eager to demonstrate their ambition to the Baggies faithful, with their Championship play-off hopes gone.

The 22-year-old, who was initially on loan from Brighton, has failed to assert himself as a Baggies regular this season, starting just 38% of their 44 games in the Championship.

Though he will surely start the final two games of the campaign with Alex Mowatt out for the season.

His statistics also demonstrate why supporters will be excited to see him sign on the dotted line, with the 22-year-old remaining composed in possession, completing 84.5% of his passes and producing 1.1 tackles per match.

Now that he has signed permanently, he will be looking to leave a lasting impression on Bruce who acknowledges that the Republic of Ireland international “has a lot to learn.”

The fact that Potter has allowed the youngster to leave on a permanent deal serves as a shock, as he spoke well of him in an interview with The Argus as recent as 2020: “Jayson is a good guy, he is ambitious and he wants to play which is a good quality to have and we enjoy working with him.”

After previous Championship loan spells with Millwall and Preston North End, Molumby boasts exceptional amounts of experience in the league, considering the fact that he is not even 23-years-old yet.

His experience can benefit the Baggies, whilst Molumby himself will mutually benefit through a platform that will aid his development.

Both parties will have big ambitions of playing Premier League football in the near future, and the fact that West Brom have made the deal permanent shows the potential that they see within the No.14 midfielder.

In other news: Bruce could now save WBA millions with £9m-rated “monster”, he’ll be key next season – opinion

Abdoulaye Doucoure stole the show against Leicester City on Wednesday night with an “absolutely magnificent” display as Everton claimed a 2-0 win at the King Power Stadium.

The ex-Watford enforcer earned his 13th-straight start of the Premier League season since leaving Vicarage Road for £20million to become one of Carlo Ancelotti’s most-favoured Toffees figures.

Everton took the lead in the East Midlands through Richarlison when the Brazilian penned his fifth across all competitions by cutting in from the left and slotting the ball home with a low strike past Kasper Schmeichel.

Mason Holgate doubled the visitor’s lead midway through the second half when the centre-back turned poacher to prod the ball home on the rebound after a sublime double save from Schmeichel at a corner.

Doucoure’s workload in the core of the engine room was sent into overtime shortly before Holgate rippled the back of the net, having seen midfield partner Allan limp off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury just before the break.

The Brazilian’s absence was felt but managed well by Doucoure, who earned rave reviews from former Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City defender Michael Dawson.

“They [Everton] have worked their socks off. Doucoure, in front of Everton’s back-four, has been absolutely magnificent,” the 2008 EFL Cup winner said, while speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Special [16/12, 19:48].

Dawson was certainly right, with Doucoure stealing the show at the King Power Stadium to send Everton above Chelsea and into fifth place in the Premier League table, sitting just a point behind Leicester for fourth.

Doucoure was anywhere and everywhere as he strove to thwart Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes with composure on the ball and a brute force off it, while proving to be a particular thorn in Jamie Vardy’s side when the former England international broke with a chance to level the score.

The 27-year-old titan ended the game with a team-high 60 touches of the ball as Everton struggled for possession with Leicester commanding 60.7% of the game, per WhoScored.

Doucoure further topped the Toffees’ charts for total passes (49) and accurate passes (43), as well as recording one shot, two successful tackles from two attempts and two interceptions.

Only Alex Iwobi in a stellar night for the former Arsenal attacker registered more successful dribbles (4) than Doucoure (1), with the pair plus Holgate the only Everton players who started to boast a 100% dribble success rate.

Of Doucoure’s total passes, he further found teammates with each of his three long balls, per SofaScore, and left the field having won four of five ground duels and never committing a foul.

It was the perfect performance from the titan-like Doucoure on a night his responsibilities went up a gear with Allan forced off through injury, and showing every reason why Everton sought a deal with Watford this summer.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti would tarnish his Everton record by luring one of his former stars to Goodison Park in January…

West Ham United could make their third signing from Slavia Prague in the space of 18 months.

According to a report from insiders Claret & Hugh, Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal ‘could easily be joined’ by striker Abdallah Sima this summer.

19-year-old Sima has scored 19 goals in all competitions this season. Four of those goals came during Slavia’s run to the last eight of the Europa League, in which he scored at the King Power as they stunned Leicester at the end of February.

‘Clubs notice’ talents like Sima

Premier League legend Petr Cech claims ‘there aren’t many players like’ Sima in Europe.

“When a player appears who, at such a young age, succeeds in senior football, starts scoring goals and produces in Europe, clubs notice,” he said, speaking to iSport.

The Senegalese international is valued at £9.9million by Transfermarkt, and Manchester United are also said to be monitoring him.

Transfer Tavern verdict

It’s clear that West Ham are looking to repeat the trick here – Soucek and Coufal have both been revelations since they moved to the London Stadium.

The former made his move permanent in the summer for a fee of £15million and he’s impressively netted 12 goals from defensive midfield in 49 appearances for the club (via Transfermarkt).

Coufal joined at the end of the window for just £4.5million and the right-back has been almost an ever-present, playing 90 minutes in all but one match, and has contributed five assists (via Transfermarkt).

Breaking The Lines’ James Lloyd wrote that the right-back could be considered ‘the bargain of the summer’.

The Irons may just have hit on a hugely effective recruitment strategy.

In other news, West Ham have made an enquiry for this ‘keeper.

Everton have been tipped to make a stunning summer swoop for Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale.

El Chiringuito TV report that Carlo Ancelotti wants a reunion with Bale at Goodison Park, having worked with him at the Santiago Bernabeu – Bale has spent the 2020/21 season on loan at Tottenham Hotspur, having fallen out of favour with Zinedine Zidane after Ancelotti’s exit.

How has Bale performed at Spurs?

A hat-trick against relegated Sheffield United at the weekend took the Welshman to nine Premier League goals for the season.

That’s more than any Everton player excluding Dominic Calvert-Lewin (15).

In total, Bale has scored 14 goals in all competitions, posting an impressive minutes per goal record of 105 (via Transfermarkt).

Bale, who will turn 32 in July, has just over a year left on his Real Madrid contract and is valued at £18million by Transfermarkt because of this.

He said during the March international break that his plan was to return to the Spanish capital at the end of the season, so it a long-term deal to stay in north London appears unlikely.

Ancelotti has already reunited with James Rodriguez and Allan on Merseyside – could he do the same with Bale?

Twitter fan feed The Toffee Blues relayed the rumour, and here’s how fans reacted.

These Everton fans urge club not to pursue Bale

“We going for the oldest team in the league ?”

Credit: @Stu17666455

“Does he want to sign Father Ted’s over 75’s too”

Credit: @efcshaz1878

“Hell we are becoming a retirement home”

Credit: @toddlonsdale

“Big no thanks”

Credit: @rowleydan

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Credit: @alandean1878

“Is he really worth it? No”

Credit: @matthew_nestor

“At this rate we’ll be linked with Inzaghi, Kaka and Dida”

Credit: @mannie_efcIn other news, this ex-Everton star revealed what Carlo Ancelotti told him before he left.