All posts by z3u9t.icu

Plenty of Aston Villa fans have been giving their thoughts on social media regarding an injury update on Jack Grealish.

According to the Birmingham Mail, the 25-year-old will miss this evening’s clash with Tottenham due to shin problems which have seen him miss the club’s last five Premier League fixtures.

Grealish touch and go for Fulham?

With Grealish not selected for England duty, the club captain will have time during the upcoming international break to regain fitness.

The Birmingham Mail claimed that the attacking midfielder remains touch and go for the home match against Fulham on Saturday April 3.

Villa have struggled without Grealish during the last five games, picking up just five points from a possible 15, scoring just three goals in that period (Transfermarkt).

Dean Smith’s side host Jose Mourinho’s men this evening knowing that a win would take them just a point behind their visitors.

Villa fans react

@AVFC_News shared the update regarding Grealish on Twitter, which led to these supporters replying:

“Another game wrote off if he doesn’t play, I’ve got no confidence at all when he’s absent, really hope I’m proved wrong but we are so bang average when he’s missing…”

Credit: @Mrb47016877

“Shock”

Credit: @qc1874

“So now he’s not even likely to play against Fulham? yesterday he was pain free and running and could feature against Tottenham”

Credit: @edwards2779

“Dean Smith said in the Presser he would leave it until Sunday morning and would be guided by Jack.. Just another non story from the Birmingham Mail.”

Credit: @clarkemark7

“So Jack might not be fit for Fulham now?”

Credit: @yorkshirevilla1

“If the Club didn’t treat every Jack Grealish injury like a soap opera you wouldn’t get all this speculation. If Mat’s bang on with “touch & go even for Fulham” dear oh, how much more spin can Smith feed us on Jack”

Credit: @Rog_FootyMad

In other news: Plenty of Villa fans have been reacting to a transfer update on Grealish, find out more here. 

Aston Villa will reportedly listen to offers this summer for striker Wesley Moraes.

That’s according to an exclusive report from Football Insider, who claim that a permanent Villa Park exit is possible, with manager Dean Smith not convinced by the Brazilian before his devastating ACL injury last year.

A potential loan deal is also a possibility, which would then reportedly allow Villa to bolster their attack in the summer window.

Wesley’s £1m-per game Villa record

Wesley, on £35,000-a-week, has been out of action since New Year’s Day 2020 following the serious injury he picked up at Burnley, although he has returned to training in recent weeks.

He’s made 22 appearances for the club since his £22.5m move from Club Brugge back in 2019, costing the club just over £1m-per match so far.

Transfer Tavern take

With Smith not convinced prior to his long-term absence, it seems as if a summer exit could be a smart decision for all involved.

Whether that’s on a temporary basis or a full-time deal remains to be seen, but Villa, in our view, would do well to recoup the £22.5m they paid for the Brazilian due to the time he’s been on the injury table.

In other news: Villa fans hit out at transfer update on 2020 target Milot Rashica, find out more here. 

In an exclusive interview with The Transfer Tavern, Marlon Harewood, who made 164 appearances for West Ham, has urged his former side to target Tammy Abraham this summer as they search for a new striker.

Abraham has fallen down the pecking order under Thomas Tuchel which has seen him linked with a move to the London Stadium if he continues to not get regular game time.

The Hammers sold their record signing, Sebastien Haller, to Ajax in January but David Moyes decided he did not want to replace the striker as he had trust in Michail Antonio to catapult them into the Champions League.

Speaking on why West Ham should be targeting Tammy Abraham and why it is that type of player the Hammers need more of, Harewood told The Transfer Tavern:

“He’s proven himself at Chelsea and it’s just a shame he’s not playing at the moment, but he would be a good addition to West Ham’s firepower if they got him.

“Obviously that’s the sort of player that West Ham need to get to improve going forward, players that are young, fit, prepared to work and want to score goals.”

West Ham only signed one new player in the January transfer window as Jesse Lingard arrived on loan from Manchester United, and he’s helped the Hammers continue their push for the top four.

The Hammers will be looking to continue their good momentum when they face Newcastle United on Saturday with the Magpies unbeaten in their previous two games.

Juventus scout Matteo Tognozzi is keen to talk to Celtic in regards to their search for a director of football, according to the Scottish Daily Mail (11/03, p92).

The Hoops are set for massive changes this summer both on and off the pitch, with the newly created DoF role needing to be filled, as well as finding Neil Lennon’s long-term successor in the Parkehead dugout.

Tognozzi in the race

Tognozzi, who appears to be interested in the Celtic Park position (via 67 Hail Hail), is not the only man linked.

Former Bournemouth and Huddersfield chief David Webb and Manchester City’s Loan and Pathways manager Fergal Harkin are two other names thought to be in the frame.

The Italian, who has also worked in Russia and Germany during his career, now wants to talk to Celtic officials ahead of a possible summer switch to Scotland.

Transfer Tavern take

Plenty of Celtic fans were keen for the club to bring in Tognozzi as director of football just days before Lennon’s Parkhead resignation, so they could be delighted at this latest update.

The Hoops don’t exactly have long until the summer window comes around, though, so we feel the director of football and new first-team boss will need to be in the door and settled relatively soon in order to get the best off-field rebuild results ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

In other news: A top-half Premier League boss has emerged as a candiate to replace Lennon, find out more here. 

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former West Brom midfielder Carlton Palmer has dropped his verdict on Phil Jones amid reports linking him with a move to the Hawthorns this transfer window.

Earlier in the month, the forgotten Manchester United centre-back was mooted as a loan target for the Baggies, as per the Daily Star.

They claimed that the 28-year-old colossus was free to leave the Red Devils this month and that they were prepared to pay a sizeable portion of his £120k-per-week wages, even if he remains under contract until 2023.

Jones hasn’t featured for United this season but Albion’s defensive issues continue to increase tenfold after they leaked another five goals to Manchester City on Tuesday night.

It means Sam Allardyce’s men hold the worst defensive record in the Premier League, conceding 12 more goals than any other side, while no team across Europe’s elite divisions has leaked as many goals at home than West Brom.

And Palmer believes Jones could help solve their backline problems…

He told FFC:

“Big Sam’s always fancied him. He has always fancied Phil Jones – big, strong, athletic.

“I haven’t seen Phil play for ages, I thought he’d do really well at Manchester United because he’s got serious pace about him and he’s athletic. It’s just not worked out for him at all.

“Sam certainly needs quality throughout his side. He needs a central defender. And Sam gets the best out of people. It could be a good fit for both Phil and West Brom.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-west-brom-news-and-rumours-copy” title=”Read the latest West Brom news, transfer rumours and more!”]

The 27-time England international may have not featured in a competitive game since January 2019, but he is someone that Big Sam knows very well from their time at Blackburn Rovers.

Indeed, Allardyce dubbed the young Jones a “leader” who would one day go onto captain England – he was partially right, at least.

The £5.4m-rated defender has played 200 times in the Premier League and over 30 times in Europe, per Transfermarkt; vast experience that is lacking in abundance in this current Albion squad.

Clearly, if fit, he’d be a welcome addition at the Hawthorns.

AND in other news, 3 new signings, no Sawyers: How West Brom’s XI may look after deadline day…

Glasgow Rangers came out on top in a seven-goal thriller with Royal Antwerp at the Bosuilstadion with most of the meaningful action condensed into a mind-blowing final seven minutes.

Rangers got off to the perfect start after Joe Aribo gave Steven Gerrard’s side the lead, only for the hosts to hit back through Felipe Avenatti and Lior Refaelov after Steven Davis was adjudged to have fouled the Israeli inside the box shortly before the break.

However, the Light Blues then pulled level with their own spot-kick in the second half, although Antwerp were immediately back in action to make it 3-2, thanks to Martin Hongla’s fine effort.

But Rangers weren’t to be denied the spoils after substitute Ryan Kent equalised with a fine solo effort to spark a dramatic comeback. The Gers sealed an incredible win with a second penalty from Borna Barisic after Antwerp were rocked by the dismissal of Abdoulaye Seck on the stroke of full-time after he deliberately handled the ball in the box.

Rangers are on course to reach the last-16 of the Europa League for the second time in as many seasons and although he didn’t get on the scoresheet, it was Alfredo Morelos who stole the show on their way to a vital three points.

He has often been depicted as a rather basic poacher, leading the line and scoring goals for fun, but last night Morelos turned provider and was utterly brilliant at it.

Daily Record reporter Michael Gannon handed the Colombian his Man of the Match award after he provided the assist for Aribo’s opener. He graded the 24-year-old a 9/10 and claimed Morelos was ‘unlucky not to score but absolutely vital to this Rangers performance.’

While Barisic may receive much of the plaudits for adding the finishing touches, Morelos arguably outshone the Croatian to steal the show on the night.

The six-cap Colombia international was at the centre of nearly everything going forwards, producing more key passes (five) than any other player on the pitch including the Croatian, who could only manage three.

That’s also backed up by the fact that Morelos recorded a better pass success rate than Barisic (91%), that being the highest out of any player in an away shirt other than Aribo and Glen Kamara.

Morelos was a constant threat upfront at the top of the pitch as he left the likes of Antwerp defenders Seck (6.1), Maxime Le Marchand (6.9) and Ritchie De Laet (6.5) all trailing in his wake, as none of them received a rating higher than 6.9, such was the level of their sub-par performances.

It’s no surprise to see that the £10.8m-rated Colombian front man was also fouled twice – the second-highest out of the entire Rangers squad – as he caused all sorts of problems by creating the space that allowed the likes of Kent and Aribo to run in behind Antwerp’s backline; out of his 46 touches, he attempted 32 out of a possible 35 passes, which suggests that, more often that not, he was playing with his head up and always looking to find a teammate.

Next up for the Gers is Dundee United at Ibrox before the return fixture at home to Antwerp next week. If he keeps playing like that, they should have no problems at all.

AND in other news, Rangers must tie Steven Davis down to a new deal after Steven Gerrard’s recent comments…

It looks as if Rangers could well lose Jermaine Defoe this summer when his contract with Steven Gerrard’s side expires and Fashion Sakala could prove to be the ideal replacement for the veteran at Ibrox.

Paul Robinson suggested recently that should Defoe depart this summer, he wouldn’t be short on offers from Championship sides, or from his old side Sunderland, and with no contract extension on the horizon, it seems increasingly likely that the 38-year-old will leave.

One man who could be brought in as his replacement in KV Oostende striker Sakala, with the Zimbabwe forward having been heavily linked with a move to the Gers in recent months.

His contract with the Belgian Pro League side is also set to expire in the summer and he is said to be interested in a move to Ibrox, so it seems as if the 23-year-old could be a solid replacement from a financial perspective.

This season has been an impressive one for Sakala, as he has managed 13 goals and three assists in 25 appearances in the Belgian top-flight, so it is no surprise to see him being linked with a move away.

Although this season has been something of a breakthrough for Sakala, his goalscoring return certainly suggests that he knows where the back of the net is and at just 23, he still has a lot of time to improve, so could become an excellent player under Gerrard’s tutelage at Rangers.

WhoScored suggests that the striker’s main strength is his finishing, which already marks him out as a good potential replacement for Defoe, whilst it also suggests that he likes to dribble and offers a counter-attacking threat, which suggests that he could potentially be a game-changer for Rangers next season should he make the move to Ibrox.

Therefore, with his contract with Oostende still set to expire at the end of the season, Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson should go all out to try and bring him to Ibrox on a free transfer this summer to replace the outgoing Defoe.

The youngster has got game-changing ability and under Gerrard, he could go from strength to strength.

And, in other news… 0 appearances in 4 years: Wilson should axe Rangers flop who’s stealing a wage

Early this week, Sunderland suffered a big injury blow. They were rocked by the news that left-back Denver Hume had suffered a further setback, and thus, would be out for a larger period of time.

Therefore, what should Lee Johnson do?

On the chalkboard

The Sunderland boss has been switching things up in recent weeks following the squad’s bout of Covid and because of a number of injuries.

We’ve seen Callum McFadzean deputise at full-back in place of Hume but you can hardly say his stay there has been convincing after he gave away a penalty vs Wimbledon.

He did keep a clean sheet in the Papa John’s Trophy victory over Port Vale, but Dion Sanderson has also been fielded in that third of the pitch.

That came during the 0-0 draw with Northampton so the Wolves loanee has been amongst the shut outs too.

That being said, it’s thought that his parent club aren’t too happy with the lack of game time he’s received.

Tanser to arrive?

With Hume suffering a setback in his recovery from injury, it looks as though Johnson is in the market for a left-sided player. Brighton defender Alex Cochrane has been linked with a switch but another left-back on their radar is Scott Tanser.

The 26-year-old currently plays for St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership but has experience of the English game having risen through the ranks at Rochdale and Port Vale.

The £800-per-week earner is out of contract in the summer and it’s understood that both Sunderland and Barnsley are eyeing a cut-price deal this month.

For the Mackems, it would be an ideal signing given their lack of depth on the left-hand side, but it would surely also be the final nail in the coffin for Sanderson.

The young defender has only started four games in League One this season but if a left-back arrives, it puts the Wolves loanee in even more danger of not receiving enough game time.

It’s hard to suggest that Tanser wouldn’t come in and immediately play either. Mightily strong in the air, he’d offer a stern physical presence capable of improving Sunderland’s backline.

Via WhoScored, the left-back has won a mighty four aerial duels per game this season. For context, that’s more than Sanderson (2.6) and also more than their other left-back candidates Hume and McFadzean.

They’ve won 0.1 and 1.4 aerial duels respectively this season so in the heading department Johnson can find himself a major upgrade. As far as tackles are concerned, Tanser falls ever so slightly behind Hume with 1.4 tackles per game to 1.8.

Sanderson, meanwhile, only wins one a match. Clearly, the St Johnstone defender would add more to this Mackems backline than their current loanee and consequently, it’s hard to suggest he wouldn’t be a good signing.

With Hume injured and McFadzean less than competent at left-back recently, Tanser would be a superb pick-up in January.

AND in other news, £3.9k-p/w Sunderland brute who lost possession 30x still stole the show on Tuesday…

When Southampton released Tyrone Mings from their academy as a 17-year-old, few would have expected that he would go on to become an established Premier League centre-back, as well as an England regular.

The Aston Villa ace was released by the Saints in 2008 and after a brief stint with Bristol Rovers, he found himself in non-league with Yate Town (per Transfermarkt).

He then moved on to Chippenham Town where he did enough to convince Ipswich Town to sign him for £10k in 2012, where the defender would enjoy a three-year spell.

Mings would make 63 appearances for the Tractor Boys, contributing one goal and eight assists (per Transfermarkt), with his performances catching the eye of AFC Bournemouth, as the Cherries paid £8 million to bring him to the club following their promotion to the top-flight in 2015 (per BBC Sport).

Unfortunately for the Englishman, his time at Bournemouth will perhaps best be remembered for his long-term injury problems, which meant he would make just 23 appearances for the first-team in his time at the club.

However, he earned a loan move to Aston Villa in the Championship in January 2019 and after being a huge part of the Villans’ promotion to the Premier League, the Birmingham-based club paid £20 million to make his loan stay a permanent one (per BBC Sport).

Since then, Mings has seen his value soar, as he earned his first England call-up in September 2019, and he made his debut for the Three Lions the following month in a 6-0 win against Bulgaria (per Transfermarkt).

Following his international debut, which was unfortunately marred by racist chants from the Bulgarian fans, England manager Gareth Southgate was full of praise for Mings, saying:

“To me, since I have been watching him for the past 12 months or so, he’s displayed outstanding leadership qualities throughout that time. I thought I would see that tonight and I saw that tonight. He’s an impressive young man.” (per Independent)

The £24.3 million-rated centre-back has enjoyed a superb start to the 2020/21 season with Villa, having contributed two goals and one assist in seven top-flight appearances, which has helped him average a very strong 7.22 rating (per WhoScored).

It is impossible to know whether his career would have gone the same way had Southampton kept faith in him back in 2008 but it is difficult to argue against the fact that he is now a very talented centre-back who the Saints would have loved to have in their side.

Whilst Tottenham Hotspur will play out their final Group J game in the Europa League later this evening, their scouts will be scouring over another fixture in the early kickoff…

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mail, the north Londoners will be watching the performance of Leon Bailey as Bayer Leverkusen welcome Slavia Prague to the BayArena in Group C.

The Bundesliga outfit have already qualified for the knockout stages and are merely one point behind Bayern Munich in the German top-flight, in part largely down to the form of the tricky Jamaican winger.

Arch-rivals Arsenal as well as fellow Premier League teams Everton and Manchester United are also set to send scouts to watch the 23-year-old.

It’s claimed that Leverkusen values their key man at £36m and won’t necessarily budge over selling him after losing Kai Havertz in the summer.

Shades of Hazard?

A string of eye-catching performances has seen Bailey deliver five goals and six assists from 14 appearances in all competitions, via Transfermarkt.

The right-sided speed demon is also averaging 2.4 shots, 1.4 key passes, 1.4 dribbles and 0.9 crosses per game, which only goes to show just how much of a nuisance he has become.

Perhaps the exit of Havertz has allowed the 5 foot 10 dynamo to shine finally. It’s led to manager Peter Bosz suggesting that his main man “gets better with every game” not just physically but in terms of a footballing brain too.

After being clocked at a whopping 21.4mph during his maiden campaign in the Bundesliga, he quickly drew comparisons to Arjen Robben, though he may well surpass that ability after claiming he does more than simply cut-inside: “I can go down [the outside], cut inside and shoot, but for me, it’s about more than that. I can make defenders think more.”

Jose Mourinho was the man that brought the enigmatic Dutchman to Stamford Bridge in 2004, but it is another Chelsea superstar that Bailey is even more comparable too – Eden Hazard.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Tony Cascarino suggested that current Blues maestro Christian Pulisic would become a hybrid of the two wing wizards, though maybe it’s actually Bailey instead.

“He’s so fast it’s not normal. His speed, combined with his technique, is very rare. Exceptional. He has no weak points,” once said former Ajax youth coach Ronald de Boer.

Indeed, these are all characteristics that pair Bailey and Hazard up in similar nature.

It is also true that Mourinho already has a plethora of wingers to choose from, but based on this season alone, the Leverkusen sensation eclipses that of the injured Erik Lamela, the struggling Lucas Moura and even Gareth Bale, who is truly yet to hit the ground running in his sensational return.

Daniel Levy must pull out all the stops this January, that £36m could be the steal that edges them closer towards genuine title contention. Get it done.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Spurs outcast tipped for SHOCK EXIT in January…