All posts by z3u9t.icu

A number of Liverpool supporters are in positive spirits after the Reds were linked with an exciting move for Arsenal and England star Bukayo Saka.

Jurgen Klopp has had a quiet time of things in the transfer market of late, with Ibrahima Konate the only signing made by the club last summer.

That doesn’t mean a number of players haven’t been linked with moves to Liverpool, however, as the Reds look to remain a huge force with Klopp at the helm.

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According to The Transfer Window Podcast [via LFC Transfer Room on Twitter], Liverpool are open to the idea of bringing Arsenal forward Saka to the club, and the Gunners talent was pictured sharing a chat with Klopp on Thursday evening.

The 20-year-old has emerged as one of the most exciting young players in Britain, scoring 18 goals and registering 25 assists for the north London outfit already.

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Liverpool fans keen on Saka signing

These Liverpool fans have reacted positively to the claim on Twitter.

“This would be the best thing that could happen for him going from a pretender club to a real club with ambition”

Credit: @Tronicssystem

“Cool!”

Credit: @RedMan4Lyfe

“Absolutely, yes”

Credit: @lucyinussr

“I would take him. Realistically I doubt we would sign him”

Credit: @agentdixon

“Get him and he’ll thrive under Klopp and co”

Credit: @AdeAllmark

“I think Jurgen would get the best out of him and he would be playing in a more attack-minded team”

Credit: @LeeDavi1010

In other news, some Liverpool fans have flocked to a Reds transfer update. Read more here.

As confirmed by West Ham United and shared by the press, David Moyes has been dealt ‘another big injury blow’ as news comes out of the club.

The Lowdown: Injuries pile up…

Defensive mainstay Angelo Ogbonna, who was a fixture in Moyes’ starting XIbefore his ACL injury, has already been sidelined for the foreseeable future, with worries then mounting over Kurt Zouma and Ben Johnson.

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The latter pair limped off during West Ham’s epic 3-2 victory over Chelsea at the London Stadium last weekend as Moyes and the club’s fans were made to sweat over the players’ conditions.

This is amid their top-heavy run of fixtures as they attempt to maintain a fight on all fronts, currently still competing in the Carabao Cup and Europa League and continuing to battle for a Champions League finish in the Premier League top four.

News has now come out of West Ham on Zouma’s condition in what has been described as ‘another big injury blow’.

The Latest: Moyes dealt worrying news…

As relayed by The Guardian reporter Jacob Steinburg, West Ham have confirmed that Zouma suffered a hamstring tendon injury in ‘another big injury blow’.

The journalist tweeted:

“Kurt Zouma suffered a hamstring tendon injury against Chelsea. Another big injury blow in defence for West Ham who have already lost Angelo Ogbonna for the rest of the season.

“Increases need for a centre-back to arrive next month.”

The Verdict: Big blow…

Zouma was playing brilliantly under Moyes before his latest setback, dealing a big blow to the 58-year-old and West Ham, who now have just two senior centre-back options at their disposal.

Unsurprisingly, since this news emerged from east London, the club have been linked with signing a central defender urgently, with both Nathan Ake and James Tarkowski mentioned (Evening Standard).

Given the emergency state of affairs, 90min also claimed that Moyes could turn to the Championship in an effort to boost his options, with the likes of Dael Fry, Rob Dickie and Lloyd Kelly already being scouted.

Whether he opts to swoop for lower league or top-flight standard cover, there is little arguing that the need for a centre-half is now imperative for the Irons, especially considering the greater number of matches this season.

In other news: West Ham could already back Moyes with £17.1m bid to sign 6 foot 3 powerhouse in January, find out more here.

Following a series of controversial events in the round of 16 Champions League draw, Manchester City were pitted against Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon.

A technical error saw UEFA declare that the original draw null and void, with a revised draw taking place three hours later. This mistake was regarding who some teams were eligible to face, involving Spanish side Atletico Madrid and English duo Liverpool and Manchester United.

City were originally drawn against LaLiga outfit and Europa League holders Villarreal, but the re-draw confirmed a match-up against Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon, who lost three of their six group games but still managed to progress.

As one of the seeded teams, Pep Guardiola’s side will play away from home at the José Alvalade Stadium in the first leg in February, before welcoming Sporting to the Etihad Stadium for the return game in March.

The draw sees Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva all returning to their native Portugal for the first leg, with the former having the extra motivation of lining out against the crosstown rivals of his previous club Benfica.

Many City fans go wild at the re-draw

Following the club’s official confirmation on Twitter that they will now be up against Sporting in the round of 16, these City fans erupted in response to what one described as a “quality” outcome given that they avoided the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid.

“no way, we got an easier draw”

Credit: @BlueCitizenn

“Our Portuguese boys will feast”

Credit: @G12x12

“This is even better”

Credit: @Head_91

“Our Benfica boys gonna tear them up”Credit: @Noroftheair”Good lordddddd”Credit: @mcfcbabs”Quality”Credit: @connor_mort17In other news: ‘This image made me emotional’ – Some Man City fans swoon over club post depicting Etihad Stadium ‘king’

With Dara O’Shea suffering a serious injury earlier in the season that will keep him out for the next few months and Kean Bryan suffering a season-ending blow recently, it’s safe to say West Brom will need as many defensive options as possible at their disposal for the time being.

With that in mind, it seems that the Midlands club could be set to lose one of their young defenders currently in their youth ranks.

What’s the news?

It has recently been reported by All Nigeria Soccer (via Birmingham Live) that Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham, Aston Villa and Southampton are interested in signing West Brom youth defender Kevin Joshua.

Despite only joining West Brom’s U23 side from Solihull Moors’ U19 side back in March for an undisclosed fee, the 19-year-old centre-back has played in six of their 11 league games, grabbing one assist in the process, showing how impressive he has been given the number of clubs reportedly eyeing up a transfer swoop for the youngster.

Ferguson 2.0

Even though Joshua hasn’t made an appearance for Valerien Ismael’s side this season, there is a possibility that Ismael could be forced into giving the teenager his senior debut for the Baggies given their defensive injury issues, and certainly if any of their other senior defenders get injured between now and the end of the season.

Therefore, it should now be one of Lai Guochuan’s top priorities to keep hold of Joshua and out of the clutches of the numerous clubs reportedly interested in signing him, which could be seen as a disaster if he were to leave the club so soon after joining them. That’s especially when you consider the way they lost a fellow defensive talent in Nathan Ferguson so controversially to the jaws of the Premier League.

Given his young age, there’s no reason why Joshua, who has been described as a player who is “aggressive, quick, and excellent on the ball,” by his agent Arfan Rehman when he joined the club, couldn’t go on to become a regular first-team figure at The Hawthorns in the future, giving the Midlands club even more reason to keep the defender in their ranks.

Moving forward, perhaps giving the teenager some first-team minutes could not only help Ismael’s side in the short term while O’Shea and Bryan are out injured but also in the long-term by proving that they feel Joshua will have a big part to play for the senior team. By doing so, they may also be able to avoid a repeat Ferguson scenario too.

In other news: 60% duels won: WBA’s “dangerous” £18k-p/w beast proved he can be Ismael’s main man – opinion

Manchester United are reportedly eyeing up a move for Brighton and Hove Albion defender Tariq Lamptey ahead of the January transfer window.

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, the Red Devils are interested in securing the highly-rated 21-year-old’s signature over the coming months after growing tired of Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s inefficiencies.

The original report states that: “It’s no mystery that Manchester United no longer want Aaron Wan-Bissaka on their team, at least as a starter.”

It goes on to claim that United could provide new manager Ralf Rangnick with a ‘magnificent player’ by sanctioning a deal for Lamptey in the winter window, labelling the youngster a ‘special talent’.

Bye-Bye Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Since arriving at the Amex Stadium from boyhood club Chelsea back in January 2020, Lamptey has established himself as one of the most promising and exciting full-backs in the Premier League.

In 26 appearances for Brighton, the England U21 international has scored one goal and provided four assists for his teammates, attracting praise from several impressed onlookers.

His current manager Graham Potter has previously lauded both Lamptey’s attacking ability and defensive qualities following his fast start to life on the south coast.

“He’s got such electric pace, but lots of players have that,” said Potter. “It’s having the ability to run in behind. The ability to run into space is often what separates players.

“Tariq does that, but he’s got courage, he does his defensive work. The boys love him, and he’s in a good place.”

And the Seagulls boss is not Lamptey’s only admirer. Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer also praised the right-back after picking him in his Team of the Week for matchday 2 last term, giving a brief comment on the youngster’s performances to justify his inclusion.

“The teenager only played for an hour but that hour was outstanding. He was a constant threat with his pace and nearly scored a deserved goal. A brilliant future lies ahead,” he wrote.

And when looking at Lamptey’s underlying numbers compared to Wan-Bissaka’s, it’s easy to understand why Rangnick may be tempted to sanction a move for the £16.2m-rated Brighton ace.

As per FBref.com, Lamptey has recorded two key passes per 90 this season, 5.09 shot-creating actions and 12 pressures, bettering the United flops tallies of 0.62, 1.62 and 10.8, respectively.

Wan-Bissaka also falls behind his compatriot in terms of attempted dribbles and carries into the opposition box too, with totals of 2.92 and 0.31 per 90 being dwarfed by his competitor’s tallies of 6.87 and 2.57.

Therefore, Rangnick must carefully consider a swoop for Lamptey in the upcoming transfer window, potentially adding a significant attacking force to his struggling charges.

And, in other news…Rangnick could finally end Man Utd’s striker hunt by signing £36m-rated “world-beater” 

West Bromwich Albion have been handed a significant boost regarding the fitness of Grady Diangana.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by Birmingham Live, Valerien Ismael revealed that, after being left out of the Baggies squad for the 1-0 win over Birmingham City on Friday evening, the winger had suffered a slight hamstring strain.

However, the Frenchman went on to state that he expects the 23-year-old to be available for Albion’s trip to Swansea City on Wednesday evening.

Speaking about the condition of Diangana, Ismael said: “Grady has a hamstring issue, not too bad. It’s a small issue, we didn’t want to take any risks for this game. My expectation is that he will come back for the next game against Swansea.”

Ismael will be buzzing

While Diangana has not exactly been in the best form of his career this season, being yet to score a goal and providing just one assist over his 11 Championship appearances, the winger nevertheless proved during West Brom’s last promotion-winning campaign that he is a player who possesses the ability to fire the Baggies back to the Premier League.

Indeed, over his 30 Championship appearances in 2019/20, the £9m-rated man scored eight goals, registered six assists and created eight big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.6 shots and making 1.4 key passes per game.

These returns saw the player who Lee Hendrie dubbed a “magnificent” talent earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.06, ranking the £36k-per-week winger as West Brom’s third-best performer in the league that season.

As such, Diangana is clearly a player with the ability to win any particular match in an instant, and, with the former England U21 international looking to be available for Wednesday’s clash with Swansea, Ismael will certainly be hoping for the winger to do so at the Liberty Stadium – an outcome that would leave both the 46-year-old manager and fans of the club buzzing.

In other news: Signed for £750k, now worth £1.8m: West Brom struck gold on “amazing” £14k-p/w dynamo

Sheffield Wednesday’s latest League One match saw them pick up their fourth draw in a row following a 2-2 result against Cheltenham Town on Saturday.

One figure that was not involved in the match at the weekend for the Owls was defender Dominic Iorfa who apparently picked up an ankle injury in training prior to the Cheltenham game.

What’s the latest?

With Wednesday set to take on Sunderland at Hillsborough on Tuesday evening for their next League One fixture, it has been revealed by Owls manager Darren Moore that there is a 50/50 chance that Iorfa will be fit enough to start the match against the Black Cats with the medical staff sweating over his fitness.

If the defender doesn’t end up being fit enough to play in midweek, we feel this would be a massive blow for the team and really disappointing for Moore given how Iorfa has played 90 minutes in every League One game for the club so far this season prior to the Cheltenham game, proving how important he is to the team every week.

Wednesday signed the 26-year-old, who is currently valued at £1.35m according to Transfermarkt, back in the 2019 January transfer window from Premier League side Wolves for an undisclosed fee.

Since then, the defender has gone on to make 85 appearances for the Yorkshire club across all competitions, bagging five goals and providing three assists.

Iorfa’s performances in League One so far in this campaign have earned him an overall season rating of 6.87/10, making him the fourth highest-rated Wednesday player to have started more than two league games according to WhoScored.

In addition to this, Iorfa has also managed to rack up an average of 1.1 tackles per game and 1.6 interceptions per match. That second statistic places him third in the Wednesday squad while an impressive tally of 4.6 clearances an outing is the second-best in the squad. That further proves how much of a vital defensive unit he is for the Owls.

Looking ahead to the Sunderland match, given how Wednesday conceded two goals against Cheltenham without Iorfa in the side and how Lee Johnson’s side have managed to score 25 goals so far this season, we feel that Wednesday would have a much better chance of getting a positive result if Iorfa is fit enough to play, which everyone at the club will undoubtedly be hoping he will be.

In other news: Forget Saido: Moore must unleash “wonderful” Sheff Wed ace today, he’s what they need – opinion

An update has emerged on Leeds transfer target Lewis O’Brien regarding his contract at Championship club Huddersfield.

What’s the talk?

According to Football Insider, the 22-year-old has a release clause in the contract that he signed in September at the John Smith’s Stadium.

The report claimed that Leeds failed to land O’Brien in the summer transfer window, with the Terriers then pinning him down to a fresh deal. However, as part of that agreement, the midfielder now has a £10m release clause which the Whites could activate in January.

Excitement

This update will surely leave Leeds fans excited at the prospect of the club being able to sign O’Brien in the January transfer window. The Whites are said to have made a £13m bid during the summer, which suggests that £10m is an affordable price that Victor Orta is willing to shell out on the midfielder.

Supporters would likely be buzzing with the arrival of O’Brien as he is a promising young player who seems to suit Marcelo Bielsa’s style of play and could be ready to make the step up to the Premier League.

The 22-year-old has averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.85 in the Championship for Huddersfield this term, whilst averaging an eye-catching 2.5 tackles per game. This comes after he averaged the same rating across 42 league outings last season, making three tackles and interceptions per game.

In terms of him possibly suiting Bielsa’s style, former Huddersfield goalkeeper Matt Glennon once lauded O’Brien’s work rate, saying: “He closes down until the 95th, 96th minute, still running to the corners, stopping defenders, he’s got unlimited energy.

“Lewis O’Brien wants to put the hard yards in and wants to be at the very top of where he can get to. He’s one of those lads who works ridiculously hard which, for me, is your minimum in any league, but he’s got that quality, the drop of a shoulder, that strength to keep people off him, a low centre of gravity to glide past people, arm aloft when they try to knock him off the ball.”

A player with “unlimited energy” in a press-orientated Bielsa side? It sounds like a match made in heaven and that is why Leeds fans will surely be excited by the news that O’Brien has a release clause in his Huddersfield contract, as it increases the chances of him arriving at Elland Road.

Without a clause in his contract, the Terriers would be well within their rights to reject any offers and that could have led to Leeds looking elsewhere. Instead, Orta could swoop in to secure a £10m January deal.

In other news: Reliable journalist drops Leeds United transfer claim which could leave Bielsa fuming

PIF’s start to life at Newcastle got off to a less than ideal start as the Magpies lost 3-2 to Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.

First and foremost, we must send out best wishes to the Newcastle fan who was taken to hospital during the first half after emergency assistance was required in the stands. Credit must go to Sergio Reguilon and Eric Dier, in particular, as they acted quickly to ensure the fan was helped as quickly as possible.

It was the dream start for the Magpies, though, as Callum Wilson powered home an excellent header in the opening minutes to hand Steve Bruce’s side the lead.

However, goals from Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son put Tottenham 3-1 up heading into the half-time break.

Misery was then compiled by Jonjo Shelvey coming off the bench and being sent off for two bookable offences in the second half just before Eric Dier’s own goal. However, another player who let Bruce down badly was Joelinton, who struggled out wide on the left throughout the game.

The Brazilian forward may have helped to seal Bruce’s fate at St. James’ Park, playing a part in the defeat which could see him axed as manager of the club. PIF are reportedly planning to let him go as they look at replacements and this defeat could speed up the process, whilst ending any chance he had to keep his role.

Defensively, he was a lightweight. Per SofaScore, he lost a whopping 19 duels in the match. He lost 15 of his 19 ground battles and four of his nine in the air, whilst also committing five fouls. This shows that he was not up to the physical task of playing against Tottenham’s Emerson Royal, with his fellow countryman able to lock him up for the entire 90 minutes.

On the ball, the Englishman offered nothing. Per SofaScore, he lost possession of the ball 24 times as he failed with all of his attempted crosses and dribbles. In 65 touches, he registered one key pass and zero efforts on goal, completing 74% of his passes. This shows that he was unable to make an impact in the final third, to go along with his lack of strength on the other side of the game.

Therefore, the flop’s performance played a large role in the 3-2 defeat as he could have been the difference on the if he popped up with a crucial goal or assist to level the match or even help to win it. Instead, his dismal showing may have sealed Bruce’s fate, with the 60-year-old potentially hanging on by a thread as PIF weigh up their options for the upcoming week.

AND in other news, Luke Edwards drops Newcastle transfer claim that will surely delight fans…

Reliable journalist Phil Hay has suggested that Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk’s confirmed three-match suspension is harsh.

The Lowdown: Struijk ban upheld

The centre-back was sent-off in the Whites’ 3-0 defeat at home to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, following a tackle which dislocated Harvey Elliott’s ankle.

Struijk wasn’t even shown a yellow card when the incident initially happened – a foul wasn’t given either – so a red seemed harsh in the eyes of some.

Despite this, his three-match ban was upheld on Wednesday, with Leeds’ appeal swiftly rejected by the Football Association.

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The Latest: Hay reacts to news

Taking to Twitter, The Athletic‘s Hay suggested that the decision was harsh, as Marcelo Bielsa prepares for a stint without another centre-back:

“All I’m saying is the on-field decision was no foul and play on. Everyone saw it. Best wishes to Elliott who looks a fine player and has handled himself really well.”

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The Verdict: Hard to disagree

While there is clearly no ill-feeling whatsoever towards Elliott – the Liverpool youngster has handled the whole situation with class – Hay is right in hinting that Struijk has been unfairly treated.

There seemed to be genuine hope that his ban would be overturned, considering the tackle wasn’t malicious and he actually won the ball, despite the unfortunate damage caused to his opponent.

The Premier League have held firm in their opinion that the challenge endangered Elliott, though, and Bielsa will now have to plan for Friday’s trip to Newcastle United likely without Struijk, Diego Llorente and Robin Koch.

In other news, a pundit has concerns over one Leeds United player. Read more here.