All posts by n8rngtd.top

Former Newcastle United man Steve Howey reckons there’s absolutely no reason why Nuno Espirito Santo shouldn’t play Harry Kane against Manchester City on Sunday.

The England striker hasn’t played competitively since the Euro 2020 final against Italy and is involved in a row with Spurs after missing training last week in a desperate bid to for a move to City.

Kane was meant to return last Monday, but reportedly missed training, although he came out four days later on Instagram and squashed those claims by suggesting that he would never refuse to train.

Kane has been at Hotspur Way quarantining since last Saturday, which means he’d only have had a couple of days to integrate with the rest of the squad before the champions visit north London this weekend.

But despite Kane’s no-show to training and lack of match sharpness having missed all five pre-season matches, Howey believes that Santo should play him.

He exclusively told Football FanCast:

“He comes across as the ultimate pro, so why would you keep out your talisman? Will Kane want to play? Yes. But he will be thinking what happens if he gets injured.

“But if you’re the manager, unless you’ve been told otherwise, I’m going to play my best player.”

Aston Villa confirmed on Wednesday that they have partnered with Monster as the club’s new official energy drink partner.

And, as to be expected, the club update had a lot of Villa fans talking on social media.

Villa’s Premier League rivals Wolves announced their partnership with the same company just last week, and Villa have now followed suit by agreeing on a two-year deal.

The energy drink company will promote their brand at Wolves on LED advertising boards during match days, so they may well end up doing the same at Villa Park as well as engaging with the club’s global fanbase.

Villa fans recently reacted to partnerships with Luke 1977 and Socios, and they were at it again following the club’s latest announcement.

Villa fans react

Villa shared the news regarding their partnership with Monster on their official Twitter page on Wednesday.

These Villa supporters weren’t exactly thrilled at the announcement, though, with one labelling it as ‘embarrassing’.

“New club needed asap”

Credit: @KeeganAv

“Nooo”

Credit: @RaiGurshaan

“That’s embarrassing”

Credit: @HarryUTV

“Bad move this stuff is horrible and bad for you.”

Credit: @laura25547405

“Not really a healthy option is it”

Credit: @scottavfc8

“Delete”

Credit: @JoshSmith2703

In other news: ‘The master’ – Ashley Preece drops teasing under-the-radar Villa transfer post on Johan Lange. 

Former Newcastle United defender Steve Howey believes that Freddie Woodman is a very good goalkeeper.

Woodman spent last season out on loan at Swansea City, where he kept 22 clean sheets in 52 games in all competitions. It was Woodman’s second loan spell with the Swans, as he spent the previous season also on loan at the Liberty Stadium, where he played 43 games and kept 12 clean sheets.

The 24-year-old was tipped to go out on loan again this season, with AFC Bournemouth touted as the destination for Woodman, but after injury to Martin Dubravka, which saw the shot-stopper require surgery, Woodman has remained at St James’ Park this summer.

Woodman featured in the Magpies’ first Premier League match of the season against West Ham United last weekend, saving a penalty, and Howey was full of praise for the shot-stopper

“I think he’s done his kind of work away from the club, I haven’t seen much of him at Newcastle, but apparently at Swansea last season he was excellent. Everybody has been touting him for years, he will be a very good goalkeeper and I think he is a very good goalkeeper,” Howey exclusively told Football FanCast.

When all are fit, Newcastle United have four good goalkeepers amongst their ranks with Dubravka, Darlow, Gillespie and Woodman, so there is going to be healthy competition for the number one jersey at St James’ Park this season.

Noel Whelan has told Football Insider that it’s ‘sad’ to see that Thierry Small could leave Everton.

The lowdown

The publication reported last week that week that Everton had given the 17-year-old the green light to speak with potential suitors after he rejected ‘very generous’ professional terms at Goodison Park. Southampton have become the first club to make an approach, and it’s thought that any deal could involve a compensation fee of as much as £5m.

The likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Arsenal are interested too, but Small wants to be playing first team football ‘straight away’.

The 17-year-old left-back has made 13 appearances for Everton’s under-23s and earned a senior debut in an FA Cup fourth round meeting with Sheffield Wednesday in January, becoming the Blues’ youngest-ever player.

The latest

Former Leeds United striker Whelan would prefer to see Small remain with the club who have been ‘nurturing’ him, but admitted that it ultimately comes down to the youngster’s starting prospects.

“It is a bit of a kick in the teeth but it’s at that stage where you know you could lose a player,” he told Football Insider.

“At the same time, a player needs to feel that he’s got a pathway through. Something that’s going to give him a better opportunity

“It is sad because you’d like them to stay with the club that has brought them up and spent time nurturing them to this point.

“It is a bit of a kick in the teeth. I’d much prefer to see a young lad stay at the club but there’s not much you can do at that age.”

The verdict

Is Small’s position understandable? Lucas Digne is the resident left-back at Goodison Park, and given that he’s only 28, he could have that berth tied down for another five years or do. Indeed, the Frenchman penned a new deal as recently as February.

Five years down the line, Small would still only be 22, but clearly he feels that he’s already too good to accept the role of Digne’s long-term successor.

He’ll no doubt have noticed 18-year-old Tino Livramento’s instant integration into the Saints’ starting line-up following his move from Chelsea and may view St Mary’s as the place where his ambitions can be realised.

In other news, Everton are on the trail of this defender.

Sheffield United failed in their bid to bring Alex Collado to Bramall Lane due to the winger’s representative’s unrealistic financial demands.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Andy Giddings, with the BBC journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that, despite both Barcelona and Sheffield United being happy for the deal to go ahead, the 22-year-old’s move to the Championship side broke down due to the financial demands of the player’s representatives.

In his tweet, Giddings said: “Understand SUFC pursuit of Barca midfielder Alex Collado broke down at the 11th hour due to ‘unrealistic financial demands’ from the player’s representatives. Told both clubs are happy for the deal to be concluded.”

Jokanovic will be fuming

Considering just how short Slavisa Jokanovic’s side is in the wide attacking areas of the pitch, in addition to the sheer amount of potential Collado appears to possess, the fact that the Blades’ move for the right-winger fell through at the 11th hour due to something as trivial as the demands of the player’s representatives is sure to have left the 53-year-old manager fuming.

Indeed, following the closure of the summer transfer window on Tuesday evening, Jokanovic has been left with no players who are natural options on either the left or right-wing in his first-team squad, meaning that, until January, the Serbian will have to make do with fielding one of his centre-forwards out of position on the flanks.

Furthermore, while Collado has struggled to break into the Barcelona first team, making just two appearances for the LaLiga side, the £4.5m-rated man’s form for Barcelona B clearly illustrates exactly why Jokanovic wanted to secure his signing.

Indeed, over the 22-year-old’s 83 appearances for the reserve side, who play their football in the third tier of Spanish football, the winger has scored 18 goals and registered 11 assists, while also bagging four goals and one assist over his 20 fixtures for Barcelona’s U19 team.

As such, it would certainly have appeared as if the youngster would have made a very useful addition to the Sheffield United side prior to Tuesday’s transfer deadline, however, after missing out on his signing, Jokanovic will now have to make do with the options he has been left with in his squad – something that would not appear to bode overly well for the club’s Championship campaign, considering how poorly it has started.

In other news: “Deal agreed”: Journalist reveals SUFC transfer development that’ll have fans buzzing

Paddy Kenny has claimed that Newcastle United will be ‘devastated’ that they missed out on signing Hamza Choudhury in the summer transfer window.

The Lowdown: Choudhury talks

As per Football Insider, talks between Leicester City and the Magpies had been terminated, and a source from the northeast claimed that a deal was close.

It is understood that the Tyneside club were not able to offload a player in order to make room for the 23-year-old’s arrival in the squad.

The Latest: Kenny on Choudhury

Speaking to Football Insider, former Premier League goalkeeper Kenny has claimed that Steve Bruce’s side will be feeling ‘devastated’ that they could not get a deal for Choudhury over the line before the window shut. He said:

“They’ll be devastated to lose out on deadline day like that.

“He’s a good player but why leave it so late? There’s just no need. Why leave things to the last minute like that when you’ve had all summer?

“They haven’t been able to get rid of a player out of the squad and that’s meant they can’t register him.

“It just makes things more difficult for them now because they haven’t been able to strengthen and get that player they wanted.”

The Verdict: It’s a shame

It is a real shame that the Magpies ended up losing out on Choudhury, given their lack of transfer activity throughout the window.

They only managed to bring in one player permanently in Joe Willock from Arsenal, and he had already spent the second half of last season on loan at St James’ Park.

Choudhury has plenty of experience at Premier League level and would have offered Bruce another combative option in the middle of the park, having won 1.2 tackles per game over the course of his career.

Nonetheless, it is a deal that Newcastle may look to explore once more in January, seeing as they left it too late this time around, as Kenny has suggested.

In other news, find out which five players NUFC could sign outside the transfer window

Juventus are willing to sell Weston McKennie to Tottenham Hotspur in January after breaching safety protocols whilst on international duty.

The Lowdown: Spurs keen on USA international

During the transfer window, it was reported that Spurs had held talks with the Italian side about signing McKennie for around £40million.

However, the move never happened and McKennie stayed at Juventus, where he has only started one league game this season,  in which he was dragged off at half-time and replaced by Alvaro Morata.

The Italian club are said to be furious with the midfielder for violating Covid protocols whilst away on international duty with the United States.

The Latest: What next?

According to a report by the Daily Mail, Juventus still consider the American an important player for Max Allegri’s squad, but his personality is not suitable for them.

As per outlets in Italy, via the Mail’s report, Spurs will now get the chance to rival Aston Villa for his services with a starting price of £25million, 37.5 per cent cheaper than the £40m reported earlier in the summer when Fabio Paratici held talks with his former side.

McKennie was previously in trouble for hosting a party during lockdown on the eve of a derby against Torino and has now hindered his relationship with the club even more.

The Verdict: Second chance for Paratici

Tottenham reporter Alasdair Gold has spoken in the past about Paratici’s never-ending phone calls, spending ’95 per cent’ of a pre-season clash against Colchester wheeling and dealing, and the Managing Director has already been in contact with Juventus.

Whilst Paratici didn’t manage to conclude a deal to bring the former Schalke midfielder in, the reported 37.5 per cent slash on the fee quoted in the summer will surely be very tempting, and perhaps he will be on the phone to Turin again before long.

The future of Tanguy Ndombele could have an influence on whether McKennie arrives at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as it frees up the wages to pay McKennie’s wages – he currently earns £2.5million annually.

In other news, Spurs defender rejected move to Serie A and moved elsewhere. Find out more here. 

Armstrong Oko-Flex continued his fine form for West Ham’s youth team this week.

The 19-year-old winger bagged the winner for the U21s against Ipswich Town in their Papa John’s Southern Group A opener on Tuesday night, which added to his three goals in four games in the Premier League 2 this campaign.

Oko-Flex was one of many signings this summer as David Moyes managed to secure him on a free transfer after his contract expired at Scottish giants Celtic.

Born in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland youth international is said to be ‘skilful, quick and sharp in front of goal’ and he cites players like Ronaldinho, the Brazilian Ronaldo and Jay-Jay Okocha as key influences growing up, so the Hammers could well have a very exciting starlet on their hands.

The teenager looked cool and collected as he stepped up to convert the winner from the spot in the final minute of regulation at Portman Road, and his impressive performance caught the eye of many supporters.

“Generational” and “star boy” were just two phrases used to describe him, whilst much of the Irons faithful were eager to see him promoted to the first-team, as relayed by Hammers.News.

And that’s exactly what Moyes should do.

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers was at Celtic Park when Oko-Flex arrived at the club and he lauded the youngster as “very talented” to the Celtic View (via The Scottish Sun).

We’ve seen in recent times that the former Chelsea coach knows a player when he sees one – you only have to look at the Foxes’ rise under his tenure to see that.

Oko-Flex caught the eye during pre-season and U23s head coach Dmitri Halajko waxed lyrical after his display against non-league Aldershot Town.

“His finishing is fantastic,” he said. “When he came on trial from Celtic, that was the first thing that really caught our eye in training, which was his finishing.

“He’s very clinical with really good technique and he’s shown that again tonight. He only had a couple of really clear-cut chances and he certainly made them count.”

A clinical player in front of goal, in a time that Moyes needs someone to provide the perfect foil upfront? It surely makes perfect sense to integrate the teenager into the first-team setup.

Having looked unfazed during pre-season with the senior squad, Oko-Flex must be promoted sooner rather than later. He could be a big help to the Hammers as the fixture congestion kicks in.

AND in other news, Moyes could save West Ham millions for years with 21 y/o who’s “one hell of a player”…

Sheffield United are interested in a deal to bring Michael Cooper to Bramall Lane this winter.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Football League World, who claimed that the Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper is attracting the interest of numerous clubs ahead of the January transfer window, including the likes of the Blades, Aston Villa, Southampton, Brentford and a host of Championship sides.

While there is no mention of whether or not the League One outfit would be willing to sanction the sale of the 21-year-old this winter, it is claimed that a number of the interested parties, including Sheffield United, appear very keen on the shot-stopper and have sent scouts to watch the youngster in action.

Ramsdale 2.0

Considering just how impressive Cooper has been for Plymouth so far this season, in addition to Sheffield United recently selling their first-choice goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale to Arsenal, it is not difficult to see why Slavisa Jokanovic is reported to be interested in the 21-year-old.

Indeed, over his eight League One appearances this term, the £900-per-week man has kept four clean sheets, saved one penalty and made an average of 2.6 stops per game.

These returns have seen the goalkeeper earn a remarkable average SofaScore match rating of 7.20, ranking him as Argyle’s fourth-best performer in the third tier of English football and helping them to get their 2021/22 campaign off to a fantastic start, with the Pilgrims currently sitting fourth in League One.

As such, considering his tender age and obvious potential, it would seem advisable for Jokanovic to do all he can to land the man who Argyle boss Ryan Lowe dubbed a “monster” in January. While AS Roma loanee Robin Olsen is a fine short-term option for the Blades this season, the 21-year-old could well prove to be Sheffield United’s next Ramsdale in the long-term.

In other news: Signed for £20m, now worth £9m: Sheffield United had a nightmare on £24k-p/w flop

A number of Liverpool supporters have bemoaned Paul Tierney’s appointment as referee for the weekend showdown with Manchester City.

The Reds face their biggest game of the season so far on Sunday, taking on the defending champions in the Premier League at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp’s men are currently top of the table and one point clear of their rivals, highlighting the importance of the result this weekend.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375258″]

It could prove to be a pivotal day in the title race and the performance of the referee could have a huge bearing on the outcome.

It has been confirmed [via Anfield Watch on Twitter] that Tierney will take charge of proceedings in what is a high-profile occasion for him, while Stuart Attwell is on VAR duty.

Liverpool were undefeated in four league matches with him as referee last season – two wins and two draws – which bodes well. However, he controversially blew for half-time in the 0-0 draw against Manchester United in January just as Thiago had played Sadio Mane through on goal.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-5/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Liverpool fans unhappy with Tierney appointment

Despite the good record in games involving Tierney last term, these Reds fans took to Twitter to show their unhappiness at his appointment for Sunday’s showdown against City.

“At least have Michael Oliver on it”

Credit: @nathan_brauner1

“Manchester born & bred. First L inbound boys”

Credit: @georgegould97

“Can’t stand this fella”

Credit: @RoyalElectrica6

“Great”

Credit: @Bow7Timmy

“Horrible pairing but then again they all are”

Credit: @sazzam31

“Paul Tierney and Stuart Atwell. This isn’t going to go well”

Credit: @TheFNundy

In other news, some Liverpool fans are fuming at a James Pearce injury update. Read more here.