All posts by h716a5.icu

Leeds United have made some superb signings thanks to Victor Orta’s keen eye in the transfer market. As the January deadline approaches, speculation soars and the Whites may prepare to flex their muscles once again if Andrea Radrizzani loosens the purse strings.

Players like Mateusz Klich and summer recruit Robin Koch have made huge impacts on the Yorkshire outfit. Even fringe players like Tyler Roberts have proven to be beneficial to Leeds, but no other player matches the man who was, for us, Orta’s best ever signing.

Patrick Bamford arrived at Elland Road back in 2018. The striker made the switch from Middlesbrough in a £10million deal, which now looks to be an absolute steal.

Since joining Leeds, the 27-year-old has followed in similar footsteps to that of Jamie Vardy. Proving you can indeed be a late bloomer, Bamford has netted 36 times in 90 total appearances for Leeds and played a crucial role in their promotion last season.

According to Transfermarkt, the goal-poacher scored an impressive 16 goals and contributed a further four assists. He finished in the top ten Championship goal-scorers for the campaign, setting the bar high for his return to the Premier League, via Squawka.

Bamford had already plied his trade in England’s top flight, but was unsuccessful with former clubs Burnley, Norwich, Chelsea and Crystal Palace. With all these failed singings, it looked as though the £55,000 per week centre-forward would be forced to settle for football at Championship level.

But after helping to guide Leeds back to the top, his spark hasn’t dimmed. Bamford has refused to let the Premier League chew him up and spit him out this time round. He has already caused major problems for several opponents thanks to his ten goals and two assists.

This puts him seventh in the league’s current list of top goal-scorers. He is just one behind the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Dominic Calver-Lewin and ahead of both Marcus Rashford and Sadio Mane, as per BBC Sport.

Orta can sit back and relish in the fact that he has signed a real gem in Bamford and the plyer will be happy that he has finally found a team that complements his playing style in the Premier League.

In other news, Robin Koch gives Leeds fans huge boost with latest Instagram post…

Glasgow Rangers winger Brandon Barker may well have played his last game for Steven Gerrard’s side, according to ex-Ger Alan Hutton.

What’s the word?

Despite his best efforts, Barker has found himself playing very little football this season and started just four times for the 54-time Scottish champions before being shipped out on loan to Oxford United for the rest of the season.

Hutton recently said that the 24-year-old has been given “more than enough chances” ahead of some of the club’s youngsters and doesn’t expect him to play for Rangers ever again.

Indeed, Oxford boss Karl Robinson struggled to contain his delight after landing his top target, and the U’s could therefore emerge as a legitimate contender to acquire his services for good when the transfer market reopens in the summer.

End of the road

It looks like Rangers could finally rid themselves of a player who has caused more problems than what he is worth.

His lack of physicality, work rate and technique has been a major source of criticism from supporters, whilst Gerrard has preferred the likes of Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent and Ianis Hagi on the left wing, per Transfermarkt.

When Barker arrived on the scene on the Govan side of Glasgow after his arrival from Manchester City in 2019, the Ibrox boss billed him as “the type of player we’ve been looking for” following a successful loan spell with Preston North End.

However, despite scoring his first goal for the club in his league debut at Ibrox against Livingston, he has struggled to make much of an impression. In 26 games for the Gers, he’s managed a measly total of three goals, and hasn’t even provided a single assist – a woeful return for someone who plays in an attacking role.

Barker was named the Academy Players’ Player of the Year in the 2013–14 season and later signed his first professional contract with Manchester City that same year. But it’s been quite a dramatic fall from grace for the English left-winger, who currently earns around £8,500-per-week at Ibrox.

If Rangers can get him off the wage bill for good, that would free up funds for Gerrard to reinvest into other areas of his squad. Ross Wilson must be ruthless with the 24-year-old come the summer, and try and salvage some sense of pride from the disaster of his signing.

The fact Barker already finds himself out on loan after the Gers boss’ lofty praise that he was what they were looking for, just speaks volumes of how badly his move has gone. His time is up, and this summer should be his last as a Rangers player.

AND in other news, Steven Gerrard should unleash Rangers defender Calvin Bassey against Hamilton Academical…

West Ham United may rue David Moyes’ decision not to submit a bid for Blackburn Rovers striker Adam Armstrong in January after Michail Antonio produced a tired display at Fulham.

According to The Sun, Moyes had weighed up an £8m offer for Armstrong in the mid-season market after selling Sebastien Haller to AFC Ajax, but chose against pursuing a deal for the 23-year-old at the time.

The Hammers boss has now instructed the east London outfit’s team of scouts to continue monitoring Armstrong’s performances at Ewood Park, to assess whether or not the former England U21 international is worth the in excess of £10m his Championship side reportedly want.

Other Premier League sides are also now showing signs of interest in the Newcastle United reject, with Everton and Fulham both said to be carrying out checks on Armstrong.

Rovers are expected to part with Armstrong at the end of the season should they fail to secure promotion into the Premier League. Tony Mowbray’s side are currently six points outside of the Play-Off positions but have a game in hand over sixth-placed Bournemouth.

Ivan Toney is the only player to have scored more often in the Championship this season than Armstrong, with the Brentford star – also said to be a target for West Ham – netting 22 goals to the Rovers striker’s 17.

Armstrong, who Sky Sports pundit David Prutton lauds for “pulling up trees”, was unable to add to his tally as Blackburn lost 1-0 away to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, but his overall performance at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium was everything Antonio was unable to show at Fulham.

Antonio looked tired at Craven Cottage and ultimately let Moyes down having failed to offer any offensive threat, with the 30-year-old taking no shots, offering no key passes, making no successful dribbles, offering no crosses and losing four of five ground duels in 74 minutes, per SofaScore.

Meanwhile, despite not scoring thanks to an exceptional block from Rob Dickie, Armstrong never let his confidence dip as he proved to be a relentless menace for Mark Warburton’s outfit.

The 23-year-old attacked the left-hand side of the field against Dickie, Geoff Cameron, Dominic Ball and Todd Kane and by the end of the 90 minutes, he had taken six shots with three of them being on target, per SofaScore.

He also offered two key passes but failed to see either turned home, made five successful dribbles from five attempts at charging possession up the field, won five of his six ground duels and delivered two accurate crosses from three deliveries.

One of Armstrong’s key passes also created a clear-cut chance for Blackburn to score through Harvey Elliott, but the 17-year-old Liverpool loanee missed the mark with his effort.

Trying to contain Armstrong and his teammates on QRR’s right-side additionally saw Dickie lose three of his five ground duels, Cameron one of three and Ball a whopping six of seven.

Moyes clearly had second thoughts about Armstrong’s ability to make the step up to the Premier League in the winter transfer window, but West Ham may now be left to rue that decision with them having no real alternative option for when Antonio is off the pace like he was at Fulham.

AND in other news, David Moyes can give a £3.5m-rated outcast a new lease of life at West Ham with one decision…

It’s taken time, but Gareth Bale is finally finding his feet again at Tottenham Hotspur.

The 31-year-old attacker has now scored four goals and assisted three more in his last four outings in all competitions, and he’s only started 50% in that run too, via Transfermarkt.

Given that the Welsh superstar only started 14 times for parent club, Real Madrid, last season, time was always needed to get him up to speed, especially with persistent injury niggles, which would have undoubtedly stalled his progress.

Throughout February, reports emerged suggesting that Bale was unlikely to be kept past his current loan spell in north London – indeed, according to AS journalist Carlos Forjanes, Jose Mourinho had ‘no interest’ in signing him permanently in the summer.

Which echoed the thoughts of former Spurs forward and caretaker boss Clive Allen, who suggested that Mourinho was “losing his patience” with the club favourite, via talkSPORT.

It’s now time for the Portuguese stalwart to take a U-turn, if those reports are to be believed, as Bale still has a lot to offer and with a proper pre-season under his belt, he could well become as devastating as he once was.

His influence in recent matches has helped Spurs stop the rot, having lost five of their last six in all competitions, before those four appearances.

Had he started against West Ham, then the result may well have been very different as he was graded as their highest-rated player (7.4) after only 45 minutes, having provided an assist, created a key pass and attempted three shots at goal, as per SofaScore.

That 7.4 rating has been his lowest across the last four games, with a high of 8.9 coming at the weekend as he demolished Burnley with two goals and an assist, on top of two successful dribbles and one key pass.

If he can keep this up, then a front three of Bale, Heung-min Son and Harry Kane is a mouthwatering prospect and ultimately, if all are in-form, one that could spearhead them towards silverware – something they are in line to do with the Carabao Cup on the horizon.

Last week, Mourinho showed a sign that things could be changing for the Welsh international, claiming he was “a player with special qualities” before suggesting at the weekend, he was “better than ever.”

Therefore, it’s time for the Spurs boss to change his mind about the long-term future of the £18m-rated star.

Fans love him, he’s sparked a turnaround in form, and it’s merely the beginning (even if it’s March).

Bale must remain in N17 past the current campaign.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Doherty: Spurs should land “special” £18m-rated gem, he’s perfect for Mourinho

Southampton have been linked with a move for Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham ahead of the summer transfer window and, if he were to join Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, he could be the dream successor to Danny Ings.

According to Eurosport, Southampton and West Ham have both enquired about signing the 23-year-old in the summer, as he has found himself on the fringes of the Chelsea squad since Thomas Tuchel arrived as manager.

The report suggests that the Blues will try and sign Borussia Dortmund sensation Erling Haaland in the summer, which would free up Abraham to leave, and Southampton could then look to bring him to the south coast.

Hasenhuttl’s side could find themselves without their own talismanic striker in the near future, with Ings yet to agree to a new deal with the Saints and his current contract set to expire at the end of next season.

It has been reported that the former Liverpool man would be keen to move to a club which can offer Champions League football next season, and considering Southampton’s woeful form in 2021 so far, it seems as if he will have to achieve that with another Premier League club.

Therefore, if he were to leave, Southampton would desperately need to bring in a replacement who can score goals, with Che Adams suffering a crisis of confidence in front of goal at the moment, his barren streak currently standing at 15 games.

Abraham has shown himself to be an excellent goalscorer in his time in the Championship and the Premier League, as he was prolific with both Bristol City and Aston Villa in the second tier before being given a chance under Frank Lampard in the top-flight.

He has 30 goals and 12 assists in just 80 appearances for the Blues but has fallen behind both Timo Werner and Olivier Giroud in the pecking order under Tuchel, whilst the potential arrival of Haaland could unfortunately spell the end for his time with the west London club.

Despite starting just 12 games in the top flight this season, Abraham has still managed six goals, whilst he also has six goals in other competitions, so clearly knows where the back of the net is.

Back in 2019, Rio Ferdinand compared the youngster’s impressive performance against Lille in the Champions League to Chelsea legend Didier Drogba, and if he could produce performances like that on a consistent level with Southampton, he would surely prove to be a very good signing indeed.

Therefore, if Southampton cannot convince Ings to sign a new deal, then perhaps they should turn their attention towards the £36m-rated Abraham, as he could be a superb replacement for the 28-year-old striker in Hasenhuttl’s side.

And, in other news… Silver Lining: Key Southampton injury blow can be the making of 21 y/o Saints beast

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Newcastle United midfielder Rob Lee, who made more than 300 appearances for the club, says Toon fans have ever right to expect the team to compete with similar-sized Premier League clubs. 

After Steve Bruce expressed his desire to finish in the top half of the Premier League, Newcastle have fallen like a stone winning just two games since December and the performances have matched that form.

Fans continue to express their discontent towards both manager and owner and a training ground bust-up between Ritchie and Bruce would have done the former Sunderland manager no favours.

The days of challenging England’s elite are far gone now and Lee admits all Newcastle fans want now is to compete with teams in the bottom half of the Premier League.

Newcastle have had an average of 39.1% possession in the Premier League this season, which coincides with Lee’s idea of fans just wanting to be able to compete well with their peers for 90 minutes.

Lee told Football FanCast how Newcastle fans will be feeling and what they expect from their club which has fallen from dominant force to relegation contenders in a number of years.

He said: “The fans don’t expect us to be winning titles and compete with the Man City and Man United’s of the world.

“They do expect to compete with your Burnley and Southamptons of this world and rightly so.

“It’s not an outrageous expectation like people have been saying. I think it’s the expectation of where Newcastle are, they should be better than where they are.”

A lot of pundits believe Newcastle fans expect to be challenging for Europe and titles every season, just because they used to under Keegan and Bobby Robson.

However, Lee sets the record straight that the fans just want to be competitive with the teams around them in the Premier League.

Manchester City return to Premier League action on Saturday night as they take on relegation-threatened Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Pep Guardiola’s side bounced back from defeat in the Manchester derby with an emphatic 5-2 win against Southampton in midweek, with Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne both scoring twice, whilst Ilkay Gundogan returned to the scoresheet.

Fulham have shown a lot of fight in recent weeks and picked up another impressive three points last weekend, with Mario Lemina’s goal earning them a 1-0 win at Anfield.

After making changes against Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, it seems likely that there will be plenty more rotation from Guardiola for the game against Scott Parker’s men, especially with the Champions League round of 16 second leg against Borussia Monchengladbach to come on Tuesday.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects the Spanish manager to line his side up in west London, with Guardiola making four changes from the team which started in midweek…

Ederson has failed to keep a clean sheet in his last four games now so he’ll be hoping to rectify that at Craven Cottage, as he starts in between the sticks.

There are two changes in defence, as Joao Cancelo returns to the side after being rested in midweek, with the “special” Portuguese international having been one of City’s best performers this season.

John Stones also returns in place of Aymeric Laporte, as he and Ruben Dias still look like City’s most solid centre-back partnership.

After featuring in midweek, Fernandinho is perhaps unlikely to start again against Fulham, so Rodri comes in as his replacement.

Raheem Sterling also returns to the side in place of Phil Foden on the left-hand side after he was rested against Southampton, and hopefully his pace can cause Fulham problems on Saturday. The 20-year-old may get the evening off after playing the full 90 minutes against the Saints.

After impressive performances in midweek, Mahrez and De Bruyne keep their place in attack, supported by Bernardo Silva in a false nine role, where he can easily interchange with his Belgian, English and Algerian teammates.

In other news… Forget Haaland: Txiki can sign City their next Haaland in “outstanding” £90m-rated gem

According to a report by Calciomercato, as also shared and translated by Sport Witness, West Ham United and David Moyes have rekindled their interest in Sevilla powerhouse Youssef En-Nesyri – but Serie A giants Juventus have now entered the fray and could provide signing competition.

West Ham eyeing En-Nesyri

As well as the Old Lady, ‘several’ Premier League clubs are now keen on En-Nesyri according to the Italian news outlet, coming after manager Moyes confirmed a bid to sign him in January (Claret & Hugh).

Indeed, West Ham were very publicly chasing the 6 foot 3 powerhouse and journalist David Ornstein of the Athletic revealed exactly why a move fell through for En-Nesyri.

He explained that GSB’s formal offer of €25 million plus €5 million in add-ons (£21.4m plus £4.2m) was not enough to convince Sevilla over a sale, but Calciomercato provide the latest and reveal that Moyes and West Ham still hold an interest and could return in the summer.

Transfer Tavern take

However, as Juventus now harbour intrigue, as well as ‘several’ Premier League sides, West Ham may now face a battle to sign En-Nesyri as the club continue to eye potential replacements for Sebastien Haller.

Spanish journalist Guillem Balague has made no secret of the player’s quality, calling him ‘excellent’ in an interview with Premier Sports, and that theory is supported by his noteworthy 20 goals in all competitions over 2020/2021 (Transfermarkt).

Time will tell whether the Irons will be able to snap up En-Nesyri after failed attempts in January, but it will certainly be an interesting development to watch at the end of the season.

In other news: West Ham fans flocked to this club announcement, find out more here.

According to a report by the Daily Mail, the process of identifying potential replacements for Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has ‘already begun’ – with RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann viewed by many at Spurs as the ‘perfect candidate’.

Nagelsmann, who has previously been linked with Tottenham through the media, has lead Leipzig to a Bundesliga title challenge this season, with Die Roten Bullen currently just four points behind Bayern Munich as they contend for the trophy.

Tottenham identify perfect Nagelsmann behind the scenes

The 33-year-old German coach could also be appointable for a bargain salary of £6m per year, which is less than half of what Mourinho is currently earning at Tottenham according to the Daily Mail (£13m per year).

As the process of identifying potential replacements for Mourinho has seemingly already commenced, Nagelsmann is apparently viewed by many behind the scenes at Spurs as the perfect managerial successor should their current coach be shown the door.

Transfer Tavern take

The club’s financial position is reportedly emerging as a crucial factor in potentially appointing a new manager, and Spurs would attempt to put Mourinho on gardening leave rather than pay his entire compensation package in one go should he be sacked.

Whether or not chairman Daniel Levy parts with the current boss remains to be seen, but it could weigh on how strongly Tottenham finish this campaign.

With Nagelsmann turning RB Leipzig into Bundesliga title contenders and Champions League semi-finalists, Spurs could do a lot worse in terms of Mourinho’s successor.

In other news: Tottenham starlet has suffered a ‘severe’ fresh injury blow, find out more here.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who scored 306 goals for Wolves, believes Nelson Semedo will become as good as Matt Doherty was at Molineux, especially once he gets this season out the way.

Both full-backs have struggled for consistency this season with Semedo not offering the same goal threat and assist potential as Doherty did for a number of years for Wolves, and the Republic of Ireland international has struggled for regular minutes at Tottenham Hotspur only starting 13 Premier League games.

In 302 games for Wolves, Doherty managed to get 28 goals and 41 assists as a wing-back, and he quickly became one of the most clinical defenders in the opposition box but has not settled into a full-back role under Jose Mourinho.

Speaking on Doherty leaving Molineux and his hopes for Semedo’s future, Bull told FFC exclusively:

“I’m not really surprised at his lack of matches because I think he’s been injured a few times, but he is a very good player and if you need an outlet player then he’ll push up on the right-hand side like a winger rather than a full back.

“It used to be as soon as Coady got the ball he would be looking for that 40-yard pass out wide to Doherty and he’d knock it into his path and all of sudden he’d be in a shooting position.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/exclusive-andreas-sondergaard-wolves-premier-league” title=”Exclusive! Andreas Sondergaard talks all things Wolves”]

“So, you know we were sad to see him go but Semedo has come in and I think if he can get this season out the way with, then I think he’ll be on the same level as what Doherty was.”

In 26 Premier League appearances, Semedo, who reportedly earns £77,000-a-week, has registered just one assist which could be down to the fact Raul Jimenez has been injured since November, but Wolves fans will be hoping for more next season.

The Portuguese international was seen as a good and equally player to replace Doherty when he joined Spurs, but the £37 million signing hasn’t proved his worth yet.