All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Many Liverpool fans were fuming with the performance of Nathaniel Phillips during the first half of their Premier League clash with West Bromwich Albion.

Going in to the match, the Reds knew that three more wins could secure Champions League football next year, and in already relegated West Brom, they could hardly have asked for better opponents. However, things didn’t quite go to plan as they find themselves drawing 1-1 after Mohamed Salah cancelled out Hal Robson-Kanu’s opener.

Phillips was selected to play at the heart of the back four and he struggled during the first 45 minutes. The strike which put Jurgen Klopp’s men behind was partly down to him as he was unable to hold the offside trap, and he overall struggled to deal with the Baggies’ forwards.

Some Liverpool fans were far from happy with the former Stuttgart loanee, and they took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts on his display, with one angry Kopite even calling him a “joke”.

Let’s see what these fans had to say about Phillips

“Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips defensive partnership isn’t even Championship standard”

Credit: @virgil001x

“Williams overcommits and Phillips doesn’t cover. 2 useless players”

Credit: @archielfc

“Phillips is a joke”

Credit: @BassamLFC

“Williams and Phillips are not good enough, people need to wake up and realize we need Konate and Matip instead”

Credit: @Diogoal9

Shocking defending, Phillips playing him on as well

Credit: @strickyfootball

“Shock as Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams cost us another goal”

Credit: @BENditlikeLAKE

In other news, many Liverpool fans are livid over an update on this defender.

West Ham manager David Moyes has now made Torino star Andrea Belotti one of his side’s main transfer targets…

What’s the story?

According to WestHamFans.org, the Italy international has been identified by the Irons boss as one of his principal striker targets, and the 28-year-old has recently snubbed a move to the likes of Newcastle and Al-Hilal.

The report adds that West Ham would be able to sign him on a pre-contract deal for this summer due to his contract expiring rather than right now in this January transfer window.

Fans will be buzzing

If Hammers fans wanted a genuinely proven option up front to help compete with Michail Antonio, then Belotti certainly does fit that bill to a tee.

Vastly experienced with his time in Italian football, the forward was of course part of the Italy side that won last summer’s EUROs, and has got a phenomenal goal-scoring record, bagging 107 goals in just 238 games for Torino, and 137 goals over his senior club career.

Joe Hart, who played with Belotti in his time at Torino, praised him for his “instinct for goals”, and that kind of knack is something that you just don’t lose.

In the £25.2m-rated Belotti, they would be getting someone who has been banging in the goals in Serie A for a number of years now. The 28-year-old is the man who wears Torino’s armband, and has been hailed as a “real captain” for his performances for the club.

As well as the supply of goals that he would bring to the table, Belotti would bring some real leadership too, and fans will surely be buzzing at seeing him join.

Meanwhile, West Ham are also eyeing this “unplayable” winger…

Many Wolves fans have been left flocking to some transfer news involving Sven Botman.

L’Equipe (via Sport Witness) have now hinted that the Midlands club could return for the Lille central defender in the January transfer window, after being linked with a move for him in the summer.

Lille do not currently have plans to sell him, although the ‘courtiers have not disappeared’ with regards to attempts to secure his signature, which seemingly indicates that WWFC are still interested.

Having been a key part of Lille’s Ligue 1 title-winning side last season over PSG, only missing twice in the UEFA Champions League this campaign.

At just 21 years of age, the Dutchman is such a hot prospect, and so the Wanderers would do very well to secure his services.

Wolves fans on Botman transfer news

These Wolves fans flocked to the transfer news as it was shared on Twitter, as most seemed desperate to sign him, while others think that he is too unrealistic a target given the level that he is playing at:

“PLEASE”

Credit: @wwfcglover

“He would improve our starting line-up massively. Just pay the fee @Wolves please”

Credit: @Dang93_

“PLEASE”

Credit: @Brokeboi2000

“Well if we are interested pay them the money because if we don’t someone else will”

Credit: @mark_spruce

“Not getting my hopes up.”

Credit: @YasWWFC

“We won’t get him I’ll be very surprised if we do and I definitely think we’ve missed the boat when it comes to Renato too”

Credit: @Neilhomer14

In other news, find out what official club post Wanderers loved here!

Following Newcastle United’s first league win of the season last weekend against Burnley, Magpies boss Eddie Howe will be keen to have a fresh bill of health as they travel to face a Leicester City side who may be short on confidence on Sunday afternoon.

Newcastle defender Fabian Schär set up Callum Wilson’s winner against the Clarets as well as keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory. However, the 29-year-old required treatment during the game and missed training earlier in the week.

What’s the latest?

When speaking ahead of the trip to the King Power Stadium, Howe stated that there were a “couple of knocks and niggles” in the squad and that Schär “had a rib problem earlier in the week and missed a bit of training” but “hopefully he’ll be ok.”

The Swiss international has started all four of Howe’s games in charge of the Toon Army thus far, having previously not featured since late August, and has already proved to be a key asset for the new manager.

Granted, the defender had a quiet game against Burnley, making three clearances and blocking one shot according to SofaScore. Schär may have had an assist but also posted a passing accuracy of just 42% and lost possession 20 times in what was a mixed performance.

However, having played just six times this season, Schär is still bound to be rusty and could well be a key player for Howe once he reaches his peak form.

United are also set to welcome back Ciaran Clark from suspension after the Irishman was sent off early in the 1-1 draw with Norwich City, further boosting Howe’s defensive arsenal this weekend.

With Jamaal Lascelles also fit after his recent return from suspension, Howe suddenly has the welcome luxury of deciding which centre-back out of the three now available will be dropped, with the formation of a strong defensive partnership key to United’s survival hopes this season.

Either way, the Toon Army will be surely buzzing to hear that Schär could be good to go this weekend, especially given his recent resurgence under the new manager.

In other news – Forget Fraser: Howe must unleash £74k-p/w Newcastle beast whose energy is “infectious”

To suggest Albian Ajeti has had a torrid few years would be putting it lightly. The Celtic striker was a hero in Switzerland but he has been nothing short of abject for nearly two years now.

After signing for West Ham from Basel, he played on just 12 occasions and failed to score a solitary goal.

For a forward who had managed 21 strikes in 43 outings during the 2018/19 season, it was rather remarkable that he’d failed so badly.

However, since a £5m move to Parkhead, he has also been pretty dismal. Ajeti initially hit the ground running with five goals in his first ten outings but he has only found the net once since September.

A mini-revival looked as though it may take place towards the back end of Neil Lennon’s tenure. He fielded the Swiss attacker against Kilmarnock and not only did he win a penalty, but he also scored a quite brilliant strike after turning and then firing past the goalkeeper.

Unfortunately, Ajeti hasn’t been able to capitalise on that moment. In fact, he’s not played a single minute of football since John Kennedy was placed in interim charge and then he was left out of the entire matchday squad for the Old Firm derby.

It would appear that the writing is on the wall for Ajeti, a player who Alan Hutton described as “anonymous” a few months ago.

If there was ever a word to describe the 24-year-old’s last few years, it would be that. He has been hung out to dry by a number of managers now and clearly isn’t good enough.

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With his absence in mind, the £16k-per-week earner is now surely heading for the exit door. Lennon didn’t give him many opportunities and now he can’t even get in the squad.

We shouldn’t be too surprised though. After being an unused substitute against Aberdeen a few weeks ago, Noel Whelan claimed he could be leaving: “It is damning for Ajeti’s future”, he told Football Insider. “It seems as if he won’t be at the club next year,” Whelan concluded.

Ajeti has unfortunately been attracting criticism all season. Frank McAvennie suggested the striker doesn’t look as though he cares whether he plays after unleashing the following attack:

“I would love to have been in the room with whoever justified paying £5m for him. How can you justify spending £5m on a player like that, a player who strolled about at West Ham and is now doing the same at Celtic?”

Indeed, with just the six Celtic strikes to his name, he has nearly cost the Bhoys £1m per goal. On that evidence, you can certainly see why the hierarchy may look to cash in.

AND in other news, Better than Christie: Celtic made error selling “quick” Rodgers gem with 65 key passes…

Rangers’ unbeaten run in the Premiership continued as Steven Gerrard’s side earned a 1-1 draw against their Old Firm rivals at Parkhead on Sunday.

Mohamed Elyounoussi gave the hosts a first-half lead when he headed in Odsonne Edouard’s cross before Alfredo Morelos broke his duck in this fixture by heading home from a tight angle after Leon Balogun’s flick-on from a corner to equalise.

Both sides had chances to win it in the second half but the Ibrox outfit will be happy that their invincible status is still intact as we approach the final few fixtures of the season.

One Rangers man who impressed with his performance at Parkhead was Borna Barisic.

As per SofaScore, the Croatian international would earn an impressive 7.2/10 rating for his display, with only Alfredo Morelos (7.4) and Allan McGregor (7.9), of all the Rangers players who featured on Sunday, earning a higher rating.

The defender was a constant thorn in the home side’s defence, as he regularly pushed forward down the left-hand side and supplied dangerous crosses.

During the 90 minutes, Barisic would cross the ball 11 times, with five of these finding a Rangers teammate, although they unfortunately couldn’t find that second goal.

Perhaps most impressively, the 28-year-old, who joined Rangers for just £2.2 million in 2018, would play five key passes during his time on the pitch, which was more than every other Rangers player combined, which emphasises just how impressive he was on Sunday.

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For further comparison, the home side’s left-back Diego Laxalt made just one key pass during his time on the pitch, and wasn’t accurate in any of his three attempted crosses.

It wasn’t just his attacking play that made him stand out in the derby however, as he also contributed four clearances and one interception, whilst he wasn’t dribbled past once during the 90 minutes, which suggests that he had the better of his opposition for the majority of the game.

[freshpress-quiz id=“588789″]

Therefore, whilst Morelos might be the name on many Rangers fans’ lips after his equalising goal, it seems clear that Barisic was Gerrard’s star performer in the Old Firm.

And, in other news… Wilson can sign Rangers’ ideal Defoe heir with swoop for £6.3m-rated beast

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Ridvan Yilmaz to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Turkish media outlet Turkiye Gazetesi (via Sport Witness), who claim that Fabio Paratici has submitted an €8m (£6.75m) offer for the Besiktas left-back, with the player himself thought to be extremely keen on a move to the Premier League side.

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

The report goes on to state that the 20-year-old has asked his current team not to stand in the way of his proposed switch to Spurs, however, it is believed that the Super Lig outfit are hoping to receive an offer closer to €10m (£8.5m) before sanctioning the Turkey international’s sale this summer.

There’s no one “identical to him”

Considering how impressive Yilmaz has been since breaking into the Besiktas first team as a 17-year-old back in 2019, coupled with the fact that left wing-back has been something of a problem position for Antonio Conte this season, it is easy to see why Spurs would be interested in a move for the defender this summer.

Indeed, over his 25 Super Lig appearances this season, the £4.95m-rated full-back has been a constant threat for Valerien Ismael’s side, scoring three goals, registering four assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 0.8 shots and making 0.8 key passes per game.

The £3k-per-week dynamo has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, helping Besiktas keep four clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 1.3 interceptions, 1.7 tackles, 1.2 clearances and winning 3.9 duels – at a success rate of 56% – per fixture.

These returns have seen the player about whom was it was claimed in comments made to Breaking The Lines that “there isn’t really a well-known full-back that’s identical to him” average a SofaScore match rating of 6.89, ranking him as his club’s ninth-best player in the top flight of Turkish football.

And, with recent reports suggesting that Sergio Reguilon could be on his way out of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer, as well as Ryan Sessegnon continuing to struggle with injuries, the signing of a new left-back could very much be one of Paratici’s priorities ahead of 2022/23.

As such, considering his tender age, undoubted ability and huge potential – not to mention his extremely reasonable asking price – it would indeed appear as if landing Yilmaz this summer would be a fantastic piece of business for the Tottenham sporting director to get over the line – as the 20-year-old’s unique abilities would certainly be put to extremely good use in Conte’s left wing-back role next season.

AND in other news: “From what I understand…”: Gold drops transfer claim that Spurs supporters will love

Just when Leeds thought there was more positivity engulfing the club, they were rocked by yet another injury setback.

It’s been the story of their season, particularly from a defensive standpoint.

On the chalkboard

Leeds may have defeated Newcastle on Tuesday evening but after ten minutes they were dealt a crushing blow.

Despite coming through two sessions of murderball last week, Diego Llorente had to be substituted with an injury early on.

Phil Hay has since revealed that the Spaniard could miss up to a month of action after heading for scans on Wednesday.

As a result, Bielsa will have to scramble around to patch his defence together again.

The solution

The obvious answer to this conundrum would be to put Pascal Struijk at centre-back. The Dutchman came on during their win over the Magpies and performed well, standing out above a host of Leeds’ other players by winning 100% of his defensive duels.

That being said, this injury blow could open up the opportunity of first-team minutes for Charlie Cresswell.

It was revealed this week that fellow defender Oli Casey was set to go out on loan and with that in mind it appears Cresswell is next in the pecking order in terms of seniority to Struijk.

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The 18-year-old has played just once under Bielsa, a defeat to Hull in the Carabao Cup earlier this season, but he’s highly thought of and there is surely no better time than now to hand him some sort of role in the senior set-up.

Speaking about the centre-back earlier this season after he signed a new contract, Noel Whelan only had praise for him. He told Football Insider: “His debut was fantastic against Hull, in my opinion, I thought he was one of the standout players even though we played so poorly on the night.

“He is the future, he’s one for the future. At that centre-half position he’s got great attributes, he’s very calm on the ball, a great size to him, he’s quick, he can head, he can pass. He’s the modern-day, young-centre half.”

Considering some of the defending we’ve seen from Leeds this term, being of a good size would be incredibly useful. The Whites have shipped the most goals from set-plays (10) this term of anyone in the Premier League and thus, his 6-foot frame could be used to good effect in that department.

Though, it’s his calm nature on the ball that’ll please Bielsa the most. He prefers his defenders to play out from the back and judging by his pass success rate of 81% in the Papa John’s Trophy this term, Cresswell is highly capable.

The teenager’s not been in the first team very often so now is the time to give him a chance to show what he’s capable of. After all, had Struijk not been afforded a rare chance at the beginning of the season with Liam Cooper’s absent through injury, we’d never have known how good he was.

AND in other news, Get rid: Leeds must wield axe on 6 ft 4 flop after just 22 apps, Radz can’t be happy…

Noel Whelan has suggested Glasgow Rangers could offer players in exchange for Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson.

The Lowdown: Gers eye Ferguson

Dons midfielder Ferguson recently handed in a transfer request (BBC), and the Gers are believed to be interested in a move for the 21-year-old.

Some sources suggests the midfielder would be very eager to make the switch to Ibrox.

The Latest: Whelan makes exchange claim

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan has suggested the Gers may offer players in order to capture the U21 Scotland international’s services. He said:

“I’m sure there might be players Aberdeen need that Rangers can offer, possibly.

“If that’s what it’s going to take to get a player through the door to improve them for the next four or five years…

“You’ve got the links, you’ve then got the enticement of Steven Gerrard. Also working with Gary McAllister, the likes of Jermain Defoe there, some great players in that midfield area.

“It’s a very tempting proposition, Rangers and playing at Ibrox, it really is.”

The Verdict: Better deal

Qualification for the Champions League group stages would provide a huge financial boost for the Gers, but that would not be secured until August, and the Ibrox outfit will need to bring in new signings before then. They will need to be clever in the transfer market, and a swap deal in this case could be an interesting one.

For example, the likes of Glenn Middleton and Greg Stewart appear to have no part to play in Steven Gerrard’s plans moving forward, yet they are both players with plenty of ability. A lower cash sum plus a couple of talented performers for Ferguson, who has 27 senior career assists to his name (Transfermarkt), may be enough to convince Aberdeen to part ways.

In other news, Rangers fans were livid at this Times article.

Former Rangers star Michael Ball believes that Steven Gerrard could sanction Alfredo Morelos’ departure this summer as he looks to bolster his transfer war chest this summer.

Morelos has enjoyed another productive season, scoring 17 goals in all competitions, in 44 outings.

He has confirmed that he could depart this summer, giving an interview in March admitting that he could move to a bigger club if a bid is tabled.

Ball accepts that selling players such as Morelos can be hard for supporters to stomach at times but he believes that Rangers could well cash in as Gerrard looks to improve a squad that did not suffer a single defeat in the league this season.

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, Ball said: “It’s a difficult one, you don’t like seeing your good players or your key players leave a football club, no matter what level, but unfortunately when they start getting in the limelight and doing the business worldwide, clubs do want to come in for these players.

“It’s down to Rangers to accept the figure that they demand and if a club want to come in and stump up that fee, I think Steven will be happy for him to move on and wish him well. But then give Steven the treasure chest to go and bring in the new players to keep the club moving forward for the next couple of years.”

Morelos has been a real success story for Rangers since his arrival from HJK Helsinki and has scored 94 goals in 182 games in total for the club.

He is valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt and his contract runs until 2023, meaning that there will have to be an acceptable bid for Rangers to cash in this summer.