All posts by z3u9t.icu

Tottenham Hotspur have endured quite a horrid time ever since their defeat in the Champions League final in 2019.

Mauricio Pochettino was sacked soon after, Jose Mourinho has been and gone. Ryan Mason even returned in a caretaker capacity.

And the north Londoners are yet to break back into the top four – a stark contrast from their run of three successive top-three finishes under the Argentine.

The squad had got very stale, with several players way overstaying their welcome. It was only this summer that the likes of Erik Lamela and Moussa Sissoko were finally moved on.

Player recruitment has always been questionable throughout chairman Daniel Levy’s time at the helm but he does deserve plenty of credit for perhaps their biggest shining light throughout these tough few seasons.

Last summer, the Spurs supremo managed to haggle Southampton for their skipper, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who only cost £15m. The Saints had been wanting over double that (£35m) beforehand.

He has arguably been one of their best signings of recent times, an ever-present figure under Mourinho, Mason and now Nuno Santo. And in that time, his value has skyrocketed.

As per CIES Football Observatory, the Danish powerhouse is now worth €50m (£45m) – an increase of 200% from their initial investment. A true Levy masterclass.

In the 14 months he has been at the club, Hojbjerg has already amassed 64 appearances, scoring four goals and providing five assists, as per Transfermarkt.

Back in December, Mourinho lauded the central midfielder as a “phenomenal player”.

“Pierre is, first of all, very intelligent. He reads the game very well. He’s going to be a coach one day, for sure,” the Portuguese told reporters (via Goal.com). “Physically he’s very, very strong and technically he’s much better than people think. Because sometimes people think the guy that is good technically is the guy that does the backheel. The guy that is good technically is the guy that does something wonderful. But these are not my words. These are words from coaches of 30, 40 years ago. Simplicity is genius.”

Also dubbed a “monster” by one-time Denmark and Derby County midfielder Morten Bisgaard, Hojbjerg has been a real success story for Spurs and Levy in particular, especially when you contrast it to the investment in Tanguy Ndombele.

The Lilywhites chief certainly played a blinder over signing the 26-year-old beast last season.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano drops exciting Spurs transfer claim ahead of the January transfer window…

Manchester City could be set for a busy summer transfer window as reports linking them with a move for Erling Haaland have ramped up in recent weeks.

However, it seems as though the reigning Premier League champions could be also looking to complete another big-money move this summer for a player much closer to home.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from the Daily Mail, City have made contact with West Ham United to let them know that they are interested in signing midfielder Declan Rice this summer.

After working his way through West Ham’s youth ranks after leaving Chelsea in 2013, the 23-year-old made his senior debut for the Hammers back in May 2017 in a Premier League win over Burnley.

Since then, the midfielder has gone on to make himself a crucial player for the east London club, racking up a total of 189 appearances across all competitions.

In those appearances, the Englishman has scored ten goals and provided nine assists along the way.

To highlight what a vital figure the midfielder is for David Moyes’ side, no other player in his squad has managed to equal the number of tackles (67), blocks (53) or interceptions (87) that Rice has in the league this season.

Pep would love him

With the England international racking up more passes (1687) than any of his current teammates, this shows how capable he is of moving the ball around the pitch and how he could fit into Pep Guardiola’s side.

With City having made more passes in the league than any other top-flight side, it’s easy to see why Guardiola would love to have a player like Rice, who he has praised in the past, in his squad.

Speaking about him in November, the Spanish boss said: “Declan Rice is an exceptional player.”

Also labelled as “sensational” by The Athletic journalist Adam Crafton, Moyes claimed that it would take a minimum transfer fee of £150m for the club to consider selling their midfield star this summer.

However, with the player reportedly turning down a third contract offer from the Hammers recently, it seems as though he could be available on a free transfer in the summer of 2023.

Although, given how impressive he’s been, it could be worth City diving in to secure his signature this summer, even if it could cost them a club-record fee to do so.

In other news: Fernandinho heir apparent: Pep could save Man City millions with “aggressive” 17 y/o – opinion

Celtic have been linked with a move for Union Berlin’s Niko Gießelmann, according to German newspaper Sports Bild, relayed by 67 Hail Hail.

The Lowdown: Gießelmann profiled

Gießelmann is 30 years of age and is primarily a left-back who can also turn out at centre-back or even as a left-midfielder. [Transfermarkt]

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He’s been with the Bundesliga side for 18 months and has made 37 appearances for the club, 22 of which have come this season.

Gießelmann has registered 34 assists during his career and is valued at £1.62m by Transfermarkt, making him the biggest star of his agency, GMBH, who will no doubt want to extract every penny out of any possible deal.

The Latest: Hoops interest

67 Hail Hail relayed a report from Wednesday’s print edition of Sports Bild, who claimed that Celtic and a number of unnamed English sides are keen on Gießelmann.

The German is out of contract at the end of the current campaign, meaning the Hoops could look to secure a pre-contract agreement in the New Year, while it also puts the player and his representatives in a strong negotiating position.

The Verdict: Left-back competition?

Celtic have been heavily linked with Reo Hatate, who can also play as a left-back, however, the Hoops reportedly see him as a midfielder.

In that case, bringing in Gießelmann could be a smart idea to rival Greg Taylor at left-back. Ange Postecoglou had to use right-back Josip Juranovic, youngster Adam Montgomery and even outcast Boli Bolingoli during Taylor’s absence earlier in the season.

Bringing Gießelmann in who has plenty of experience to challenge Taylor may be a masterstroke by Postecoglou, so this link could be one to keep a close eye on.

In other news: Possession lost 40x, 21 duels lost: Celtic’s 3 worst players v Betis who didn’t take Ange chance. 

Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United side went into Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Burnley knowing that three points would considerably increase their chances of remaining a top-flight side come the end of the current campaign – with the Whites sitting just five points above the Clarets in 18th place prior to kick-off.

And, thanks to a fortunate first-half strike by Jack Harrison, a second-half stunner from Stuart Dallas and a 92nd-minute header by Daniel James, Leeds would go on to secure the much-needed win against Sean Dyche’s side – with the match ending 3-1.

However, despite the positive result, there were nevertheless a couple of Bielsa’s players who will be hoping to put the fixture behind them as quickly as possible, with Raphinha and Tyler Roberts being two of the more notable disappointments on Sunday afternoon.

Although, it will undoubtedly be the latter of this duo who will be most frustrated with his display against Burnley, as the 22-year-old forward was incredibly ineffective over his 58 minutes on the pitch at Elland Road.

Roberts should’ve played his last game

Indeed, the £7.2m-rated man was once again fielded as Bielsa’s lone striker against Burnley, and the Wales international offered very little in the role, hitting the target with just one of his six shots and the opposition goal, completing a mere 11 passes and missing his one big chance – somehow steering a free header wide of the far post in the first half.

The £22k-per-week forward also lost both of his two duels – a failure rate of 100% – lost possession of the ball on four separate occasions and committed one foul – for which he was booked – before picking up an injury midway through the second half and being withdrawn by the Argentine coach.

These returns saw the 22-year-old receive an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.6, ranking him as Leeds’ joint-worst performer against the Clarets.

As such, with it being reported that Roberts could be on his way out of Elland Road in the January transfer window, albeit on a temporary basis, the Welshman’s display on Sunday – coupled with his poor performances over his 18 further Premier League appearances so far this season – lead us to believe that Bielsa should instead look to make the attacker’s move away from the club a permanent one this month.

It is looking more and more as if the youngster is simply not of the standard required for the Whites.

In other news: LUFC must avoid disaster on £22k-p/w gem who “transmits security”, MB would be furious

West Bromwich Albion have learned the latest regarding the future of on-loan striker Jordan Hugill as they look to put together a promotion charge in the second half of the Championship campaign.

What’s the latest?

West Brom will maintain the services of Norwich City loanee Jordan Hugill for the remainder of the season after Canaries manager Dean Smith revealed that there is no recall option in the 29-year-old’s contract at The Hawthorns.

Speaking to the Eastern Daily Press, Smith said: “I don’t believe there is a recall option. I’ve spoken to Andy [Hughes], who’s our loans’ manager who keeps in touch with all the loan players. I’m going to be speaking to Jordan over the next 24 hours to see how he is finding it there.

“I don’t believe there’s a release clause but I’ll have a chat and see how he is.”

The Englishman was benched for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Brighton and then left out of the matchday squad entirely on Saturday as Albion were beaten 1-0 late on at QPR.

After the defeat in West London, Baggies boss Valerien Ismael stated: “Yes it was my decision,” when asked post-match about Hugill’s absence. “I spoke to him about the situation, he came to me. I think now for him it’s a new situation. We spoke openly about the situation.”

However, finding a new situation may not be as straightforward as hoped with the complications regarding Hugill’s recall possibilities.

Ismael will be furious

Naturally, both parties will want the best for Hugill with there still four-and-a-half months of the season to be played. However, it does appear that the 29-year-old’s spell in the West Midlands is up.

The Norwich striker has scored just once in 20 appearances during his loan spell with Ismael’s side and has recently fallen further down the pecking order with the West Brom manager reuniting with former Barnsley loanee Daryl Dike.

The 21-year-old scored nine goals in 22 appearances for the South Yorkshire side last term as they reached the Championship play-off semi-final. However, a permanent move didn’t materialise and the American returned to his parent club MLS outfit Orlando City.

Now, the striker has finally made a permanent move to the Championship, following Ismael from Oakwell to The Hawthorns and signing a four-and-a-half deal with the West Midlands club.

If Hugill is no longer in Ismael’s plans, then West Brom and Norwich City will have to find a solution with the future of the Englishman in their best interest. Ideally, Norwich will recall the striker and send him on loan elsewhere, however, solving the predicament doesn’t appear to be that straightforward.

As a result, Albion are left with a player who clearly adds nothing to their side; an eventuality that won’t suit them at all in the back end of the campaign. Ismael will rightfully be frustrated as a result.

In other news: West Brom handed worrying transfer update that will have fans sweating

According to The Mirror, Southampton are likely to bid again for Birmingham’s Che Adams, after having their first £8m bid rejected. 

The Saints are clearly set on landing a new striker this month, and the 22-year-old Adams seems to be top of their list. That is no surprise given the fact that the forward has already amassed 14 goals and three assists in 28 Championship games this season.

However, seeing as Birmingham are standing strong at the moment, therefore causing Southampton to pay more, Ralph Hasenhüttl could turn his attention elsewhere. If so, here are two more options in the Championship that Southampton could look at:

Neal Maupay

Sitting in fourth in the Championship’s scoring charts with 16 goals, Brentford’s Neal Maupay is obviously a good option for The Saints. At 22 years of age, this is also a great investment for the south coast club.

However, what makes this such a good signing is that he also has six assists in the Championship so far this season. He has proven that he is also a creative force, which could prove hugely beneficial given the other strikers already at Southampton. If Maupay can work with them, there could be a huge amount of success at St Mary’s this season.

Finally, Maupay’s, and indeed Brentford’s form took a hit when manager Dean Smith left for Aston Villa earlier this season. Had the manager remained, the France under-21 international may have had more goals to his name.

Jarrod Bowen

As far as players go, there isn’t a huge amount that separates Jarrod Bowen from Adams. Both have 14 goals this season, both have three assists and both are 22. Furthermore, Hull and Birmingham are more or less in the same place in the Championship table.

However, what makes Bowen a slightly more attractive proposition is that he only has a year and a half left on his contract, whereas Adams has three and a half years, meaning The Saints may not need to spend as much.

It may have been pouring with rain at full-time at Old Trafford on Sunday evening but for Liverpool, all they could see was sunshine and rainbows.

This was a blisteringly good performance from Jurgen Klopp’s men as they completely demolished one of their biggest rivals on their own patch.

The Reds struck five unanswered goals past Manchester United as a devastating hat-trick from Mohamed Salah really put the gloss on what is proving to be a fine season for the Egyptian.

There have been cries in recent weeks that he is the best player on the planet and despite United’s woeful defending on Sunday, he was still mesmerising in the opposition’s penalty area.

None of his goals were of the pure ingenuity we saw versus against Manchester City and Watford but he was still a class apart.

However, we want to focus on the player who provided the goal that sealed his match ball; Jordan Henderson.

The midfielder’s future in Merseyside appeared to be in doubt at the beginning of the campaign but after penning new terms at Anfield, he is continuing to deliver consistent performances on a regular basis for the Reds.

It was a timely performance from the England international who with Thiago Alcantara injured and Curtis Jones only regaining his fitness, was one of the stars of the show for Klopp.

His ball for Salah’s third and final goal was stupendous. He took the ball in midfield and then sprayed a quite delightful pass in behind that left Liverpool’s most important player to prod the ball home.

It was a piece of play that rolled back the years to a former Liverpool captain, one that goes by the name of Steven Gerrard.

Henderson might not like those comparisons but on the biggest of stages, he handled the pressure just as Stevie G did on so many occasions.

He ran the game in the middle of the park and put in a near-perfect display that will undoubtedly have sent the supporters home happy.

As well as providing that delicious ball in behind for Salah to add the club’s fifth, the 31-year-old completed 128 passes at a success rate of 96%.

That is a mind-boggling number, especially when you consider that he made more passes over the 90 minutes than Fred, Scott McTominay, Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba put together.

His touch count of 144 was also more than McTominay and Fred combined, exacerbating just how good he was this weekend.

What made Henderson’s impact even better were the three key passes that he provided for his teammates.

Incredibly, the experienced midfielder only conceded possession on six occasions. Given how many times he picked up the ball, that is a phenomenal tally, one that proved just how composed he was in the middle of the park.

Liverpool’s attackers will deservedly grab the headlines in tomorrow’s newspapers but Henderson deserves praise too. He laid the platform with a delicate display from the base of Klopp’s XI.

AND in other news, Signed for £0, now worth £7.2m: Klopp has struck gold on “unbelievable” LFC beast…

West Bromwich Albion succumbed to a first home defeat since February as Steve Bruce’s side lost 3-1 to Stoke City in the Championship this afternoon.A Jake Livermore own goal in the first half got the Potters underway before Jacob Brown doubled the visitors’ lead in the second half.There were hopes of a comeback when Callum Robinson halved the deficit with 17 minutes to go but those were ultimately extinguished when Lewis Baker scored the clincher for Michael O’Neil’s men deep into added time.It was a lacklustre display from the Baggies, who will probably be desperate to see the back end of the campaign given their 11th-placed position, with any chance of sneaking into the play-offs all but over.Having spent last term in the Premier League, Albion’s first season back in the Championship has certainly been a disappointment, particularly with results like today’s.What has also been a disappointment is the West Brom tenure of winger Grady Diangana so far.The 23-year-old West Ham youth product was sold by West Ham at the start of last season after the winger impressed on loan at The Hawthorns in the 2019/20 campaign.The transfer gained plenty of attention, not for the fee or context of the move but for the public outburst from West Ham captain Mark Noble, who tweeted: “As captain of this football club I’m gutted, angry and sad that Grady has left, great kid with a great future!!!!!”

However, the signs of a great future have still yet to be shown at West Brom by Diangana, who endured a tricky afternoon against the Potters today and let his manager down.

According to SofaScore, the 23-year-old had fewer touches of the ball (30) in his 58 minutes on the pitch than goalkeeper Sam Johnstone (42). Moreover, the winger lost the ball on 12 occasions, an average of every 2.5 touches, had no shots and attempted just two dribbles, completing neither.

There was little defensive contribution either, with the 23-year-old failing to make a single clearance, block or interception and winning just one tackle. Furthermore, Diangana lost six of his eight duels (75%).

On a more positive note, the winger’s passing was mostly accurate, with an 88% success rate, whilst he also completed two long balls. However, it was largely an afternoon to forget for the Englishman.

That’s a phrase which has been thrown around frequently about the winger since making his move to West Brom permanent, with Diangana scoring just three goals since leaving east London for good.

Two of those have come this season, along with just one assist, in 37 Championship appearances, so there needs to be more end product from the player.

The season appears to be all but over for Albion, with 2022/23 being Bruce’s first full campaign in charge of the Baggies.

Whether or not that will end positively will become clear over time, but what is certain is that Diangana will need to show signs of improving his contributions for West Brom, as otherwise he may well be on the move again.

In other news: West Brom now set for big disaster over “unbelievable” £7.2m-rated gem

An update has emerged on Rangers’ pursuit of a centre-back signing to add to Gio van Bronckhorst’s squad at Ibrox…

What’s the talk?

According to the Daily Record, the Gers are set to intensify their interest in Hearts beast John Souttar and are poised to enter talks over a deal to sign him this month.

The report claims that the defender is considering offers from English Championship sides Sheffield United and Blackburn, but he wants to seal a move to Ibrox in January if he opts against a transfer south of the border.

Gio will love it

Van Bronckhorst will surely love this news as it shows that the club are serious about working to bring Souttar to the club this month. Rangers are prepared to firm up their interest and enter negotiations, in which they could attempt to persuade him to reject a transfer to England in favour of remaining in Scotland.

The Dutch head coach will be delighted with this as the defender has been in magnificent form for Hearts in the Premiership and could be a terrific signing for the Gers. He has averaged a brilliant SofaScore rating of 7.43 this season, showing that he is consistently delivering top-quality displays at this level.

Former Hearts boss Craig Levein once heaped praise on the defender, saying: “I’ve known him since he was 12 years old and he’s just got better and better. When he came here from Dundee Utd, we just needed to give him time. He’s grown into the player that I hoped he would be and for me he’s the best centre back in Scotland.

“Just for the fact that he can do wonderful things. His passing of the ball Saturday was fantastic, but he is also now capable physically of competing with any centre forward. His pace is very, very good and he’s strong, focused and aggressive.”

This suggests that his passing out from the back could suit the way Rangers want to play as they dominate possession, whilst his aforementioned statistics prove that he can defend his own goal. James Tavernier (7.87) is the only Gers player with a higher average rating than Souttar, suggesting that he could come in and be a key player for the club.

Therefore, van Bronckhorst will love Ross Wilson’s efforts to sign him in the coming weeks and, hopefully, they can get a deal over the line for him.

AND in other news, Imagine him and Morelos: GvB could form scary Rangers duo with 20 y/o “bag of tricks”…

Leeds United are reportedly interested in making a move for Reading midfielder John Swift, with a host of other clubs also in the mix.

The Lowdown: Swift impresses for Reading

The 26-year-old has arguably been one of the standout players in the Championship so far this season, despite the Royals sitting 16th in the table. He has scored eight goals and registered seven assists in 17 appearances, bringing a huge amount of end product from the middle of the park.

His performances may soon lead to him getting a move to the Premier League, if a fresh report is to be believed.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375277″]

The Latest: Leeds linked with move

According to The Sheffield Star, Leeds are one of the clubs who are ‘considering bids’ for Swift, who won 13 caps for England’s under-21s in the past.

Burnley and Wolves are also credited with interest, but Sheffield United have pulled out of the race, acknowledging that interest from the Premier League trio would make it near-impossible for the Blades to capture him.

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The Verdict: Good squad addition

It can be easy to turn your nose up at the thought of Leeds signing a Championship player, but Swift is in a rich vein of form and he could provide Marcelo Bielsa with greater squad depth.

His aforementioned goal and assist contribution is highly impressive and could give the Whites an added threat in the final third, something they have perhaps lacked this season with 2020/21 top scorer Patrick Bamford being laid low with injury. Also, at the age 26, the Reading maestro still has time to improve even further.

Much like Leeds-linked winger Lewis O’Brien, Swift might not necessarily come in as a key player straight away but he could be a handy addition in January, being described as ‘fantastic’ by Veljko Paunovic recently.

In other news, Leeds are reportedly keen on signing a striker – find out who it is here.