All posts by z3u9t.icu

According to reliable journalist and northern correspondent Martin Blackburn, a Manchester City transfer development has come to light involving Brighton star Marc Cucurella.

The Lowdown: Guardiola eyes summer reshuffle…

Sky Blues boss Pep Guardiola, after guiding his side to a fourth Premier League title in five seasons, could be the architect of a serious summer shake up at Eastlands.

Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez, Ilkay Gundogan, Nathan Ake and Oleksandr Zincheko, as per The Times, are linked with a possible exit from City while Barcelona also eye a move for superstar Bernardo Silva.

City have their eyes on potential incomings after the signings of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez, perhaps most notably Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips and Cucurella.

Sharing news on the latter man, Blackburn of The Sun has an update for supporters.

The Latest: City prepared to double money…

According to his information, City are ‘prepared to double Brighton’s money’ for the Spaniard’s signing after they paid £15.4 million to sign him from Getafe.

Guardiola and co are also ‘confident they can fight off Chelsea’ to sign the 23-year-old but Etihad Stadium chiefs are currently looking to whittle down his £40 million asking price.

The Verdict: Priority target?

The left-back has been an untouchable for Graham Potter, playing the second-most league minutes behind goalkeeper Robert Sanchez last season (WhoScored).

Over that time, Cucurella was also Brighton’s third-best performing player –  averaging their second-highest rate of tackles per 90 whilst completing making the third-highest rate of key passes out of their squad (WhoScored).

ESPN journalist David Cartlidge has been quick to point out the defender’s ‘phenomenal’ evolution since leaving Barcelona and we believe he would be an ideal signing to balance Guardiola’s left-channel.

In other news: The Telegraph have just shared a major Man City update on Kalvin Phillips! Find out more here.

Wolves are finally on the cusp of signing Sporting CP midfielder Joao Palhinha, having been linked with him countless times in the past six months.

The Lowdown: Palhinha a long-time target

Wanderers are expected to make a number of new signings in the summer transfer window but no player has been tipped to move to Molineux more often than Palhinha.

Links dating all the way back to last June have suggested that Bruno Lage would make a move for the 26-year-old, eyeing him up as Ruben Neves’ natural replacement in Wolves’ midfield.

Now, the deal looks like it is closer than ever to going through, after transfer reporter Pete O’Rourke confirmed earlier this week the midfielder is a ‘long term target’.

The Latest: Transfer set to go through?

According to Correio da Manha on Thursday evening, Palhinha will be a Wolves player next season, with the transfer on the verge of being completed.

An agreement is believed to have been reached over a €20million (£17m) move, with another €5m (£4.2m) in achievable add-ons.

Wolves have already secured their first summer signing in the permanent capture of Hwang Hee-chan, so Palhinha looks set to become addition number two.

[freshpress-quiz id=“398117″]

The Verdict: Perfect Neves replacement

Neves is clearly going to leave a gaping hole in Wolves’ team if he goes, but this update is hugely exciting, with Palhinha appearing to be a tailor-made replacement, having been hailed as a ‘very good’ player by Jorge Jesus.

[freshpress-poll id=“399044″]

Classy with the ball at his feet, the Sporting CP man enjoyed an 87.8% pass completion rate this season in both the Primeira Liga last season and in World Cup qualifying for Portugal, which is actually higher than Neves’ in England.

A hugely impressive average of 4.5 tackles per game at Euro 2020 last summer also proves that he is tenacious off the ball, so Wolves are getting themselves a strong all-round package.

In other news, a transfer insider has made a key Wolves claim. Read more here.

The summer transfer window officially opens next week and Rangers boss Gio van Bronckhorst will likely be in the market to improve his squad.

He won one trophy in his debut campaign in charge of the Light Blues, lifting the Scottish Cup, and he will now be hoping to go all the way in the Premiership and in Europe in 2022/23.

In order to do so, he may feel that he needs to add to his team by working with Ross Wilson to bring fresh faces to Ibrox in the coming months.

One player for whom they have been linked with a swoop is Wales international winger Rabbi Matondo, as Guardian journalist Will Unwin revealed last month that the Gers are one of the clubs who are keen on snapping him up from FC Schalke.

He tweeted: “Rabbi Matondo has turned down a number of offers in Belgium and is most likely to return to England, I am told. Vincent Kompany was interested in him at Anderlecht prior to his departure.”

Unwin added: “He came very close to agreeing terms with Anderlecht before Kompany’s exit. Rangers and Celtic are both very interested in Matondo.”

Ryan Kent 2.0

The Welsh gem, who has been on loan at Cercle Brugge, can be Van Bronckhorst’s Ryan Kent 2.0, as he is a quick, direct winger who can score and create goals.

His former national team manager Ryan Giggs once heaped praise on the 21-year-old’s speed, saying: “Just like Dan James he has electrifying pace. And that always keeps you interested.”

Born in Liverpool – 37 miles from Kent’s birthplace Oldham – Matondo came up through the youth ranks at Manchester City before moving to Schalke 04 in Germany.

He struggled to break through in Gelsenkirchen before being loaned out to Cercle Brugge for the 2021/22 campaign, and this allowed him to make great strides in his development.

The Belgian club reportedly have an option to sign him permanently for €3.5m (£3m), although it remains to be seen whether or not they will take it up after an impressive year in the Pro League, where his 6.84 Sofascore rating made him the squad’s sixth-best performer.

The statistics in the above image show that the Welsh magician enjoyed a strong season out on loan as he made a big impact in the final third in the Pro League.

He also registered an assist against Poland in the UEFA Nations League this week as he showed that he can produce on the international stage, as well as at club level.

Meanwhile, Kent registered two goals and eight assists in the Premiership for Rangers this term, following on from 10 goals and nine assists in the campaign prior. He has proven himself in the Scottish top flight and shown that he can regularly contribute at the top end of the pitch, just like Matondo has for Cercle Brugge.

Therefore, Van Bronckhorst can find his new English-born wing wizard by striking a deal with Schalke to bring the Wales international to Glasgow this summer.

AND in other news, Big blow: Behind-the-scenes Rangers development emerges that’ll frustrate GvB…

Transfer insider Dean Jones has made a claim regarding Leeds United and the pursuit of Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Brenden Aaronson. 

The lowdown: Leeds nearing Aaronson swoop

This comes as Leeds edge closer toward making the USA international their first summer signing, having secured survival in the Premier League on the final day of the 2021/22 season.

The Whites are expected to make the 21-year-old a £28m addition to the Elland Road ranks as Jesse Marsch looks to bolster the ranks in Yorkshire.

Aaronson has already made 25 appearances under the 48-year-old during their time together in Austria, and one reputable journalist has pointed out the importance of a prospective reunion between the two…

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-44/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-03-10T184055Z_1834933207_UP1EI3A1FW561_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-AVA-REPORT-1-scaled-1.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The latest: ‘Very significant’

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones suggested that a reunion between Aaronson and Marsch could be pivotal to Leeds’ plans for the future under their current manager.

He stated: “Ultimately, if they can get Brenden Aaronson through the door quickly, that’s a player who’s very, very significant to where Jesse Marsch wants to take this team.”

The verdict: Smart business

Previously a target for Leeds under the stewardship of Marcelo Bielsa, it’s clear that the 18-cap USA international is a huge favourite with the Elland Road hierarchy, and director of football Victor Orta in particular.

The New Jersey native scored six times and provided 10 assists in 41 outings across all competitions for Salzburg this season and will be hoping to rekindle similar form if he links up with Marsch once more in Yorkshire.

The versatile ex-Philadelphia Union youngster won 4.6 duels, took two shots and completed 1.6 key passes per game during the Austrian Bundesliga campaign, earning an impressive overall rating of 6.88 from Sofascore.

Tipped to become a ‘top class’ operator by MLS journalist Chris Smith in 2019, Aaronson is clearly on an upwards career trajectory, and he would seem like a superb addition to the Leeds squad at the mooted price for a player with such a high ceiling.

In other news: Phil Hay claims Leeds are now working on move for ‘confident’ defender; club have already approved his sale

Celtic not only secured the Premiership title during Ange Postecoglou’s debut season in charge of the Hoops, they also ended the campaign with the best defensive record in the league.

In 38 top-flight matches, the Bhoys only conceded 22 goals in total, nine fewer than the next-best defence.

One man who played a massive part in the Hoops’ title-winning campaign from a defensive point of view is Carl Starfelt.

Throughout his debut season at Parkhead, the centre-back made 49 appearances across all competitions and ended up playing more minutes in the league than any other outfield player in Postecoglou’s ranks.

Starfelt ended the campaign with the second-highest number of interceptions (42) and tackles won (30), as well as the joint-second highest average of clearances (3.5) and joint-highest average for aerial duels won per game (4.2) at Parkhead.

Taking this into account, it’s safe to say that the summer recruit had a rather successful debut season with Celtic, who undoubtedly made the right decision in signing him from Rubin Kazan for a reported fee of £4m.

With the season now over and the Premiership title in the bag, the focus can now move to the upcoming summer transfer window as Postecoglou looks to improve on Celtic’s success from this campaign.

In terms of their potential summer recruitment, one man with whom the Hoops have been linked and who could slot seamessly into the team next to Starfelt is Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

Imagine him and Starfelt

A product of Manchester City’s youth system, the £6.3m-rated centre-back has had loan spells with clubs such as Blackburn Rovers, Anderlecht and Stoke City.

During his recent time with Stoke during the second half of the recently-concluded season, the 20-year-old ended the campaign with the joint-highest number of interceptions per game (1.9) and second-highest number of clearances per game (3.5) out of players currently at the Championship club.

Described as a player with “a defensive instinct” and a “warrior attitude” by his former Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray, Harwood-Bellis could be just what the Bhoys need in order to add some extra strength and depth to their squad at the back.

This shows just how important he quickly became for the Lancashire club and how capable a defender he is at such a young age.

It also makes us think that he could be a solid addition to Celtic’s squad, and he could give Postecoglou the opportunity to form a scary duo at the back next to Starfelt, which could make the Hoops even tougher to play against in 2022/23.

In other news: Big blow: Worrying behind-the-scenes development emerges, it’s bad news for Celtic

Wolves are plotting a bid for 18-year-old goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina as Bruno Lage looks to build for the future.

What’s the word?

Journalist Alan Nixon (via Birmingham Live) has stated that Wolves are reportedly closing in on the signing of Slonina in a deal that could be around £10m.

The club were first linked with the 6 foot 4 ‘keeper last month but fresh news claims that Wolves are close to securing a deal for the teenager.

Nixon believes they have “seen off major rivals Southampton” in the chase and this is news that will please Lage.

Slonina can be the future

Lage has steered Wolves to yet another top-flight finish in the Premier League, their third in four seasons and despite missing out on European football, there are high hopes the club can have a positive summer ahead.

With the ever-increasing likelihood that Ruben Neves will be leaving, and the out of contract Joao Moutinho unsure of his future, Lage faces a rebuild of sorts.

John Ruddy’s contract expires in the summer and Lage will be looking to add to his goalkeeping options, although Slonina may be one for the future.

He has been dubbed “impressive” by fellow Chicago Fire stopper Bobby Shuttleworth and the 18-year-old has a bright future ahead of him.

He became the youngest ever starting goalkeeper in MLS history when making his debut for the side in September last year at the tender age of 17.

In November, Slonina had made 3.36 saves from inside the box per 90 minutes, which was more than any other keeper at the time. This shows he was making a big impact and displaying his massive talent.

Although a USA youth international, he has been called up to the senior Poland squad and a move to Europe would be beneficial in terms of his international prospects.

A fee of £10m isn’t much in today’s transfer market and it’s one that Wolves could comfortably afford. This will be a deal that Lage will be desperate to get over the line.

AND in other news, Great news: Huge Wolves transfer development emerges; supporters will be ecstatic

Liverpool have been rather active in the transfer market recently. Having secured a January deal for Luis Diaz, the Reds will also be set to welcome Fabio Carvalho to their ranks this summer from Fulham.

While Jurgen Klopp’s side still have the chance to snatch the Premier League title away from Manchester City as well as potentially secure the Champions League, it seems as though the Merseyside club have once again been busy behind the scenes regarding another possible transfer deal.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from the Sunday Mirror (via TEAMtalk), Liverpool have agreed with Porto a first refusal option to sign midfielder Fabio Vieira.

It’s thought the young Portuguese has a release clause amounting to €15m (£12.7m) as the Reds close in on a potential swoop.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-liverpool-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-salah-gnabry-isak-romano” title= “Read the latest Liverpool news!”]

The next Mesut Ozil

As a product of Porto’s academy, the 21-year-old has made a total of 117 appearances for the club’s senior and youth sides.

In those appearances, the youngster has scored 23 goals and delivered 24 assists along the way, highlighting how much of an attacking and creative threat he can be.

With 27 league games under his belt this season, the Portuguese talent has found the net six times and delivered 14 assists, which is more than any other Porto player has managed to provide.

To further highlight how much of a dangerous attacking figure he is, no other player at Porto has managed to equal the number of crosses that Vieira (95) has made throughout this campaign.

He’s also listed in the top 10 for shots per 90 minutes in the Portuguese league.

His overall performances have earned him a season rating of 7.17/10 from WhoScored, making him the sixth-highest player currently in Porto’s squad.

This all shows why the midfielder has been likened to Mesut Ozil by football talent scout Jacek Kulig on Twitter, who also said that the player has a “left foot made of gold.”

Taking into account how Liverpool have racked up more goal-creating actions (148) in the Premier League this season than any other side in the top flight, potentially adding a young player like Vieira to their ranks could make them an even more dangerous outfit for many years.

Having negotiated with Porto over the sale of Diaz back in January, the Reds should definitely get in contact with the Portuguese club once again this summer to try and get them to relinquish another one of their vibrant attacking talents.

In other news: “He’s gonna leave”: Romano drops Liverpool update that’ll have supporters gutted

Newcastle United felt the full force of Manchester City’s wrath as the champions-elect ran out 5-0 winners in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Magpies have now lost their last two games – against Liverpool and City – by an aggregate score of 6-0, which is better than some teams have managed against those sides this season.

Eddie Howe’s men were second-best all over the park as Raheem Sterling (2), Aymeric Laporte, Rodri and Phil Foden got on the scoresheet.

The most preventable of the strikes came via a direct error from Martin Dubravka as the shot-stopper spilled Ilkay Gundogan’s effort and allowed Ruben Dias and Laporte to find the back of the net between them.

Whilst the Slovakian hardly covered himself in glory between the sticks, one player who let Howe down badly was central midfielder Sean Longstaff.

The £23k-per-week lightweight was handed an opportunity to come in and show that he deserves to be a regular starter. It was a chance to prove that he can compete at this level and follow Newcastle on the ride as they potentially aim to climb further up the Premier League table.

Instead, he struggled badly and looked out of his depth in the middle of the park. The mitigation is that Manchester City were outstanding and ran the show but Longstaff did not do anywhere near enough to cause them any issues or problems to deal with.

On the ball, he offered very little. Via SofaScore, he did not create any chances or complete any dribbles, whilst also being unsuccessful with three of his five long pass attempts. He did complete 18 of his 22 attempted passes in total but failed to accomplish much of note with them.

Out of possession, he was a passenger. As per SofaScore, he lost 75% (3/4) of his individual duels and did not make a single clearance, interception or block. He did make one tackle but was also dribbled past once, which means he had a 50% tackle success rate.

These statistics show that he made the game too easy for City’s midfielders as he did not get close enough to them throughout the match. Whereas, Bruno Guimaraes won six of his 11 duels and made a whopping five tackles, two interceptions and one block.

The Brazilian, at the very least, caused Pep Guardiola’s team some problems and attempted to disrupt the play. Longstaff, therefore, let Howe down as he failed to follow suit and was a lightweight throughout the 90 minutes for the Magpies.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Bruno: Howe must land NUFC swoop for £17.1m gem who “radiates calmness”…

According to a report from Spanish newspaper Sport (via Sport Witness), Liverpool are among the clubs interested in signing Valencia midfielder Valencia. 

The lowdown: Rise to prominence

A product of the La Liga club’s youth academy, the 25-year-old has broken through as a leading star over the last 18 months following an inauspicious start to life as a senior professional.

Last season, Soler directly contributed to 19 goals in 32 league outings and is now an established member of Pepe Bordalas’ side at the Mestalla Stadium.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-31/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

However, having made the grade in Spain, clubs from across Europe are now paying close attention to the versatile star.

The latest: Reds named

As per Sport, translated by SW, Liverpool, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Juventus are all keen on Soler.

The report claims that the six-cap Spain ace is ‘upset’ with his manager and could be prepared to agree to a new release clause in order to ‘open the exit door’ for a move away.

Currently under contract until 2023 (Transfermarkt), the man hailed as the ‘complete midfielder’ by ex-Bats star Curro Torres once held a remarkable €150m (£128m) release clause.

However, due to his dwindling deal, a current £42.2million get-out clause could drop even further to £33.7million on the agreement of fresh terms according to the Spanish newspaper.

The verdict: Smart signing

Whilst Soler may not be a particularly glamorous signing as Julian Ward gets his feet under the sporting director’s table in place of Michael Edwards, the Anfield club have developed an ability to pluck lesser-known players from across the continent and turn them into household names.

This season the Spaniard has scored 11 times and registered five assists in 28 league outings – earning a 7.15 average Sofascore rating in the process – no Valencia player scores higher.

Predominantly operating as a conventional central midfielder, Soler is a close match stylistically for Gini Wijnaldum according to the Fbref comparison tool and therefore could be the ideal addition to Jurgen Klopp’s squad to finally replace the Dutchman’s versatility, energy and skill-set.

In other news… an expert has delivered an update on the injury setback of Liverpool’s ‘unsung hero’.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte should unleash Steven Bergwijn in a new role as his side faces a daunting trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Premier League later this evening.

The Lilywhites remain in the race for a top-four finish and the prospect of Champions League football next season but currently sit two points behind arch-rivals and fourth-placed Arsenal, who they face later next week.

Meanwhile, the Reds sit one point behind defending champions Manchester City and need to keep the pressure on whilst the latter’s morale could be low following their agonising semi-final exit on Wednesday.

It leaves the Italian head coach with plenty to ponder heading into kick-off. One conundrum has to be at wing-back, where a mix of injuries and inconsistencies have caused something of a headache.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-much-more” title= “Read the latest Spurs news!”]

Without Matt Doherty, Conte has had to rely on summer signing Emerson Royal, but it is very evident that he’s just not fancied, with The Times suggesting back in January that the manager felt the 23-year-old wasn’t good enough to play the wing-back role as Tottenham targeted Adama Traore.

Some supporters around N17 think he’s a “liability”, while former Spurs centre-back Jonathan Woodgate has slammed him for being “horrendous” in recent outings.

There is a serious lack of options available to the Tottenham boss, though, which is perhaps why he has continued to persist with the struggling ex-Barcelona flop.

However, Bergwijn could provide an interesting solution to Conte, especially given the attacking demands from the position. Truth be told, he’s perhaps been unlucky to not be given more of a chance in north London.

On the left, he’s competing with a red-hot Heung-min Son and on the right, he’s having to battle January arrival Dejan Kuluseveski, who has already usurped the squad in assists (eight).

The £18m-rated dynamo, who earns a reported £73k-per-week, has started just one league game since his match-winning brace from the bench against Leicester City in mid-January.

It’s not too dissimilar to the role that Jose Mourinho asked from him last season, particularly against the Gunners, where he put in two tackles and two clearances, helping Serge Aurier out defensively.

It was a performance which saw the ‘Special One’ describe the Netherland sinternational as “incredible” for his energy and work rate.

As such, he could well have all the credentials to fill in for Emerson at right wing-back over the final four games of the season, starting with tonight’s tricky test.

Conte should give Bergwijn a chance in the surprise role – he could well unearth a vital secret weapon in the race for a top-four finish.

AND in other news, Conte now plotting Spurs for “refreshing” £34m-rated gem, he’d be a “great signing”…