All posts by n8rngtd.top

Just when you thought Tottenham’s links to Beijing Guoan’s Kim-Min jae had died down, they start to resurface once more.

Reports in recent weeks had suggested that Spurs were very much interested in luring the South Korea international to north London this summer, but any talk of a potential move seemed to quieten.

Is it Mido or Pedro Mendes? This Spurs quiz will separate the loyal from the fake…

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Now, according to Italian journalist Nicolo Schira, both Lazio and Spurs are in negotiations with Beijing over their centre-back, and that the Chinese Super League side are demanding a fee of around €15m (£13.3m) to part ways with him.

After hearing the latest update on their chase for Kim, Spurs fans took to Twitter to share their reactions.

Some Spurs supporters couldn’t believe Daniel Levy seemed to be going all out now for transfers, with Wolves’ Matt Doherty putting pen to paper on a deal to join the Lilywhites.

One fan meanwhile pointed to how they would virtually be getting Kim for free, seen as they are looking to offload players like Serge Aurier for that kind of money.

Just as confirmation of Doherty arrives, reports claim that Spurs have turned their attentions to a new centre-back.

Having already also snapped up Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton, it does feel like Levy and co are finally getting into action over reinforcing Jose Mourinho’s side ahead of the new season.

The quicker they can get these deals done, the better the chance Mourinho stands of making sure the new players are ready to hit the ground running.

As Tottenham Hotspur effectively seal a £27.5 million move to sign Sergio Reguilon from Real Madrid, with personal terms agreed and the player accepting to join Jose Mourinho’s side (Fabrizio Romano), some critics could be wondering where that leaves left-back Ryan Sessegnon. 

The Englishman, who endured a difficult first campaign in north London after completing a £25 million move from Fulham in the summer of 2019, starting just four Premier League games all season, now faces an even bigger challenge as Reguilon enters the fray.

By comparison, the Spaniard enjoyed a stellar breakthrough season on loan at Sevilla while Sessegnon was left languishing on the sidelines – helping Los Palanganas to a Europa League title and a finish in the top four. 

This prompted intense interest from the likes of Man United and Tottenham, with the latter club going on to agree a move, and now Sessegnon may face an even bigger battle to get into the first team.

Left-back Ben Davies had been preferred over the 20-year-old before Reguilon’s developments, with the Daily Mail also confirming that Sessegnon is ‘certain’ to be shipped out on loan once the transfer has been completed.

After splashing a significant investment on the youngster last season, Levy going over that Sessegnon fee to land Reguilon for £27.5m could spell warning signs for the defender.

Now, given the club are reportedly looking for a winger, a slight glimmer of hope would be potentially playing further forward on the left side in coming seasons – with teammate Danny Rose describing him as a ‘big threat’ in the past.

Valued at around £22.5 million by Transfermarkt, it’s also a possibility that Levy could be looking to recuperate the funds spent on Sessegnon whilst cutting the club’s losses – with Reguilon seemingly putting huge question marks around the player’s future.

Spurs fans, does the Reguilon news spell danger for Sessegnon? Have your say in the comments below…

Aston Villa have received a triple blow ahead of their Premier League encounter against Liverpool on Saturday at Villa Park.

Dean Smith’s side are due to welcome the Premier League champions this weekend in their bid to maintain their perfect start to the 2020/21 campaign.

Having avoided relegation on the final day of last season against West Ham United, Villa will be hoping to finish much higher up the standings this season. Their good start can certainly contribute to that.

But their stunning run could be hampered by the latest news that could concern the Villa Park faithful.

Birmingham Live reported that three players will be missing for the crucial clash against last season’s league-toppers. Having been knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of Stoke City on Thursday, Kortney Hause picked up a groin injury and will not be available for selection.

Bjorn Engels is still struggling with a thigh strain and the game against Jurgen Klopp’s side just comes too soon for him, looking at the Leicester City match after the international break as his targetted return date.

With Wesley still recovering from knee ligament damage, Orjan Nyland will also not be in the matchday squad at the weekend.

Playing against the reigning champions is difficult enough. But when your side has to face them with injury problems makes it even more challenging.

Villa will be in for a game. With Liverpool also being knocked out of the Carabao Cup on Thursday, they will be wanting to turn their fortunes around almost instantly.

That being said, none of the players listed above started during their 3-0 victory against Fulham in their last game. Whether this will influence Dean Smith’s thinking of his tactics, remains to be seen, but it will certainly impact his options off the bench.

Whatever happens, the Villains will have to go toe-to-toe with the Reds to prove they have what it takes to secure their Premier League status once more.

Will Villa struggle against Liverpool with their injury woes? Join the conversation by commenting below…

Newcastle United may beat Valencia CF to the signing of Juventus ace Daniele Rugani, according to a tweet from Italian football journalist and transfer guru Alfredo Pedulla.

Indeed, Rugani would arguably be a good signing to make by the Tyneside club, even if he only came on loan for the rest of the 2020/21 term.

The Italy international has a wealth of experience at the highest level, playing in a total of Transfermarkt.

Looking at his stats in Italy’s top flight in the 2019/20 season, Rugani won a rather impressive 4.1 of his duels per match, and also averaged 1.5 clearances and 1.1 interceptions a game (via Sofascore).

At 26 years of age too, the central defender has arguably not quite hit his prime years as of yet, and so he may be able to develop and improve under Steve Bruce at St. James’ Park should the Magpies wish to put in a firm offer to get his signature over the dotted line before the summer window shuts.

However, there may be a slight concern over his lack of experience playing in English football, but members of the Toon Army will be hoping that Rugani could quickly adapt to the pace and physicality of England’s highest division should he make the move to the North East.

Nonetheless, a deal will have to be done sooner rather than later before the market officially closes.

Geordies, would Rugani be a good signing? Comment below!

There’s surely no doubting that these past couple of months have been among the greatest in Aston Villa’s recent Premier League history.

Dean Smith’s side survived relegation back to the Championship on the final day last season, and then embarked on an exciting spending spree that has seen them start the new campaign like a house on fire, with three wins from three, and sitting pretty in second.

The one new boy who has yet to really break into the starting eleven on a regular basis early on, is Bertrand Traore. The Burkina Faso international arrived from French giants Lyon, and has played just nine minutes of Premier League football thus far.

But when the 25-year-old does get fit and firing eventually, Smith will have a big call to make in terms of who Traore comes into his starting line-up for.

And that’s where things could spell trouble for Trezeguet. The Egyptian wing wizard has started all three of Villa’s opening Premier League games, and has arguably been the least influential of the side’s attack, failing to score at all and picking up one assist.

Despite being able to play on the left-hand side, the 44-cap international has mainly featured off the right this season – the position Traore has seemed to be most comfortable in during his career.

Competition for places is always a good thing for keeping players on their toes and ensuring they don’t take their foot off the gas, but inevitably, there will be casualties.

Trezeguet’s place in Villa folklore is already secured after bagging that crucial winner against Arsenal in the final weeks of last season, but Traore’s big-money arrival surely sees his place most under threat, given that Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins are highly unlikely to be shifted out.

Smith has never shied away from praising Trezeguet for his performances, saying this after his match-winning display against Crystal Palace: “His attitude is spot on, he worked his socks off and he deserved his goals. Trez has earned his place for his performances and is starting to look a player accustomed to play in the Premier League.”

And speaking last summer, Smith revealed the process behind actually signing the winger: “Trezeguet, for example, myself and Suso went out to Egypt to watch him in the AFCON and we spoke to him. He’s got a real hunger and desire to prove to everyone that he’s a Premier League player. He’s fitted in very well so far, he knows Elmo already so the integration has been quite easy.”

What’s clear is that it will be an interesting battle between Traore and Trezeguet for that starting spot on the right-hand side, but if the former can get to full fitness quickly, then the Egyptian may be sitting on the substitutes bench sooner rather than later.

In other news, Villa should be ruthless with this Dean Smith favourite.

Barry Douglas left Leeds United on loan this week, but with the way the club have handled his departure, you’d be excused for thinking he’d been forced to retire prematurely due to a career-ending injury.

The Whites have gone well over the top in paying tribute to Douglas in every way imaginable and to be honest, it’s quite frankly embarrassing.

The left-back played just 44 games for the club in two seasons and he’s being treated as though he’s the second coming of Billy Bremner or John Charles, when in reality, he was a fringe player in United’s promotion push, not a key component in it.

Leeds have made a tribute video for social media set to emotional music designed to pull at the heart-strings, while both Victor Orta and Marcelo Bielsa paid tribute to Douglas with Bielsa claiming that the situation has made him ‘very sad’.

This is a man who started six league games last season, and played 44 times in total for the club, and while we don’t doubt that he’s a nice guy and people at the club will miss him, this is all a bit over the top isn’t it?

Pontus Jansson, who was the definition fan favourite and cult hero at Leeds got nothing like this when he left the club for Brentford last summer and neither did Kemar Roofe – a man who played three-times as many games for Leeds as Douglas did.

Ok, those two didn’t win promotion with Leeds, but they certainly contributed more during their time at the club than the Scot did.

Douglas never reached the heights expected of him at the club, he assisted just five goals in two campaigns after setting up 14 for Wolves the season prior to his arrival, but for some reason, the club are treating him as if he’s an academy product who has been on a decade-long journey to help get Leeds promoted, not a £3m flop who played just 644 minutes in United’s promotion season.

Liverpool are currently in a delightful dilemma that sees them torn between who to field up at the top of their attack. Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota are currently at the forefront of a lot of debate as the Reds move forward in their holding Premier League campaign.

The Portuguese attacker has proven to be a superb signing already after scoring six goals in four appearances. Jota bagged his first hat-trick for the Reds against Atalanta in the week and has matched the record of Anfield legend Luis Garcia, scoring a goal in his first three Anfield appearances.

However, despite his impressive start, Chris Kirkland believes that Firmino is still the man for the job.

Firmino is still the man for Klopp

Speaking to Football FanCast, the former Liverpool goalkeeper said that he believes “Jurgen backs him [Firmino] to the hill”. Indeed, despite his irregular run of goalscoring performances and struggle to find the net, the Brazilian has established himself as an integral part of this title-winning team.

“As long as the team’s winning, the problems will become if they start drawing games or losing games and your striker’s not scoring goals,” Kirkland continued. “That’s when he’ll look at it. But while the team’s winning and while they’re successful like they are, no he won’t be worried about it at all.”

The beauty of Liverpool’s front three is that Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah’s clinical eye for a goal allows Firmino to free roam and drop deep to create chances. Adopting the lesser seen ‘false nine’ role, the Reds boast a unique but extremely effective attack.

With Jota now also in the ranks, a new Klopp formation could be unearthed. The 23-year-old has shown his confidence on both wings and up front as a No.9. Both his and Salah’s versatility could make for a very exciting relationship on the pitch, without the need to cast aside Firmino.

“We know what Firmino does for the team and eventually he’ll start banging the goals in, there’s no doubt about it at all,” said Kirkland. The £64.8million-rated striker has one goal and two assists in the Premier League so far this season, but those stats are just a slice of the bigger Firmino picture.

Under a new and exciting attacking formation, the 29-year-old will undoubtedly flourish and prove a lot of recent doubters wrong.

In other news, Liverpool given boost ahead of potential Ozan Kabak signing…

Glasgow Rangers manager Steven Gerrard must give Nathan Patterson the time to shine at Ibrox amid interest in James Tavernier.

What’s the word?

Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson recently revealed that the club are pleased with Patterson’s progress as he has become a fully-fledged member of the first-team squad.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Danny Mills believes that Tavernier will not go down without a fight. The former England international insisted that the captain will relish the competition for the right-back slot but won’t be prepared to give up so easily.

He said: “You need strength in depth and of course, as a young player you look up to senior players and see what they’re doing and they can learn for them.

“I’m sure he will give him tips, but Tavernier will want to make sure that he continues to play at the level he’s at so the younger generation don’t get a chance.

“When younger players are coming through you think ‘you want my shirt, I’m not going to give it to you, you’re going to have to rip it off my back, you’re going to have to be playing so well that the manager has no other option but to leave me out.’

“It will not be something Tavernier will be prepared to give away easily. Competition for places drives players.”

Reports in recent times revealed that the £4.5m-rated ace is still a target for Leeds United, despite Rangers rejecting approaches for the skipper in the summer and they are expected to rebuff any similar attempts in the coming months ahead too.

Time to shine

Patterson’s appearances have been limited to just 52 minutes of playing time in total in all competitions so far this season but he will probably be denied a temporary switch away from the Ibrox outfit in the winter transfer window as Gerrard has a shortage of viable right-back options following the departures of Matt Polster and Jon Flanagan.

Meanwhile, Tavernier has played in every single game in the Scottish Premiership this season, scoring eight goals and supplying six assists, which has led to calls from fans and pundits alike like Alan Hutton for Gerrard to give the club captain a well-earned rest.

It’s notable that Patterson didn’t hesitate to accept a call-up by Scott Gemmill’s Scotland U21 international side, having spent a considerable amount of time on the bench at his boyhood club, so it’s perhaps hardly surprising that he struggled to make much of an impression when played out of position on the right of the midfield.

The Ibrox boss surely must realise the 19-year-old needs to be playing on a consistent basis to continue to grow and improve as a player rather than giving him a few minutes here and there as that will be detrimental to his development.

Former Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foderingham has spoken highly of Patterson’s “superb” ability in the past, saying (via quotes by FourFourTwo): “Nathan has done really well, he performed really well in Dubai and in training he has looked very strong, so I think he deserved his chance tonight.

“He grabbed the opportunity with both hands and was superb up and down the line and crossing into the box. I think the club will be really excited with Nathan.”

Gerrard has recently raved about the full-back and says he can push Tavernier for a place in the starting line-up.

“It’s interesting to watch Borna [Barisic] and James because they’ve now got big competition for places,” he said, via The Scottish Sun. “The way he’s looking in training, I wouldn’t think twice about putting Patterson in to start a game.

“And [Calvin] Bassey has already proved that he’s capable of stepping in as well. Both James and Borna know they have a challenge for their positions, which is good.”

Despite Gerrard’s comments, his chances have been few and far between, so if Tavernier does end up leaving the club in the near future and Patterson fails to live up to his obvious potential, Gerrard will only have himself to blame. Giving him a cup run, at least, would be a good start. One thing’s for sure, the Gers have a real talent on their hands – they just need to get the best out of him.

AND in other news, Dado Prso 2.0: Glasgow Rangers must regret not signing Lyndon Dykes…

Manchester United return to Premier League action for the first time since the international break when when they welcome West Bromwich Albion to Old Trafford on Saturday night.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have struggled for consistency so far this season, claiming the scalps of Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig, before suffering back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Istanbul Basaksehir respectively. But the Red Devils bounced back in emphatic style with a 3-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park.

Solskjaer faces a shortage of defensive options, with both Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly sidelined due to injury, whilst Victor Lindelof remains a doubt with a back complaint.

However, United are confident Marcus Rashford will have recovered from a shoulder injury he sustained whilst away on international duty in time to start Saturday’s game, and they are also hopeful that Mason Greenwood will able to line-up alongside Anthony Martial against the Baggies.

Here, Football FanCast has taken a look at how Solskjaer could set his side up for the contest, which sees him make three changes to the team that beat the Toffees.

As is often the case, David de Gea should return in goal, which means that Dean Henderson will still have to play second fiddle to the Spaniard.

It’s hard to imagine Solskjaer will want to make many changes to the back four but it looks like he will be left with no other option as it’s unlikely he will want to risk Lindelof with the away fixture at Southampton playing on his mind.

Luke Shaw limped off the pitch with a hamstring injury in the second half at Goodison Park, having been replaced by Axel Tuanzebe, but the 23-year-old will most likely slot into place alongside club captain Harry Maguire, as Alex Telles is available for selection after testing negative for coronavirus.

Elsewhere, Solskjaer has started the likes of Scott McTominay and Fred in the midfield in recent weeks, which means that Paul Pogba will have to settle for a place on the bench, whilst Donny van de Beek will be hoping to earn a recall after being left as an unused substitute against Everton before the international break.

Pogba is reportedly growing frustrated with his lack of game time but we can’t see that changing anytime soon despite Solskjaer’s insistence that he still has an important part to play at Old Trafford.

Bruno Fernandes has become the first name on the team sheet since he arrived at the Red Devils in January, whilst Greenwood is in line to partner Rashford either side of Fernandes on both flanks with Anthony Martial leading the line once again.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Carlton Palmer makes stunning prediction about Paul Pogba’s future at Manchester United…

Abdoulaye Doucoure was the unfortunate victim of Carlo Ancelotti’s tactics in Everton’s draw with Burnley on Saturday.

The Italian coach persisted with a three-man defence for the Toffees’ trip to Turf Moor, a similar set-up to the one he used when Everton lost 1-0 at home to Leeds United a week ago, with Ancelotti seemingly feeling the pressure to field three central defenders as he is without first-choice full-backs Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman.

Doucoure opened the action alongside Allan in the core of Everton’s engine room in both fixtures as he stretched his run of 11-straight Premier League starts in Royal Blue, having yet to be benched since joining in a £20million summer deal.

Ancelotti lauded Doucoure following the midfielder’s arrival on Merseyside from Watford, feeling the 27-year-old would add dynamism to a unit he considered a major flaw in the side he adopted last December.

“Abdoulaye is a fantastic midfielder, a complete midfielder,” said Ancelotti, via quotes by FourFourTwo. “He can defend well. He is a box-to-box midfielder. He can bring energy to the club and a different quality.

“We don’t have midfielders with his kinds of characteristics. We have midfielders with quality and midfielders who are tactically good. He is a player with strong character and he uses that in games. These are the reasons he is a good signing for us. He is going to improve the quality of our squad.”

But Ancelotti let Doucoure down on Saturday, as his decision to persist with a 3-4-3 saw the Frenchman struggle to establish himself in a positive light, and even an early tactical change failed to prevent the former France U21 international from being replaced by Gylfi Sigurdsson as Everton chased a go-ahead goal.

It was only the fourth time since his arrival at Goodison Park that Ancelotti sought to replace Doucoure prior to the full-time whistle, feeling the need to inject an attack-minded focus despite the Frenchman providing as many key passes (2) as James Rodriguez, per WhoScored.

Only Richarlison offered a higher level of creativity among both sides at Turf Moor with three key balls, yet Ancelotti’s decision to partner Doucoure only with Allan saw the former Hornets ace labour until an early change of shape.

Doucoure registered fewer touches (22) than all of Everton’s starting defender,s plus wide men Fabian Delph and Alex Iwobi, before a change to a 4-3-3, with his total time on the ball also the same as goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

A change in the system helped Doucoure take more control of proceedings, yet he could still only attempt two dribbles, of which he was successful with one.

His ability to spread play wide helped Everton to create chances that on another day could have moved the Blues into the lead, yet Burnley’s relentless pressure backed the 27-year-old deep into his own territory and forced him to make two clearances, three and tackles, whilst he was dribbled past twice.

Ancelotti will surely need to start with additional support around the core of the field next time out if he is to claim only a second win in eight when Everton host Chelsea, or risk seeing another laboursome display from his “complete” player.

AND in other news, “If I’m the chairman…” – Exclusive: Pundit drops huge Everton January transfer window claim.