All posts by n8rngtd.top

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West Ham United will have to pay Cardiff City £10m to sign goalkeeper Neil Etheridge this summer, according to website Football Insider.

What’s the story?

The Hammers are on the hunt for a new shot-stopper in the upcoming transfer window with Adrian’s contract at the club set to expire.

The website reported last week that Bluebirds ‘keeper Etheridge was one of the players they’d identified to provide back-up to the impressive Lukasz Fabianski.

Now a potential fee has been revealed, with the outlet claiming it’ll take £10m to convince the relegated side to part with one of their top performers throughout the 2018/19 season.

Isn’t £10m a lot of money for a back-up player?

Yes and that’s the dilemma that West Ham face if they want serious quality to compete with Fabianski and be able to step in without a drop in standards.

If Adrian leaves then the only other options Manuel Pellegrini would have are promoting a youth player from the club’s development sides or signing a cheaper option, both of which are risks for obvious reasons.

Despite being relegated with Cardiff, Etheridge’s reputation is strong after an excellent Premier League season, shining in high profile matches such as the recent 2-0 win at Old Trafford.

The 6 foot 2 Philippines international won the Welsh side’s player of the year award, which gives you an idea of the contribution he made to their season.

If West Ham are serious about building the kind of squad that has the depth to push up the table from their 10th placed finish this year then it’s players like Etheridge they’ll need to invest in.

It’s safe to say Arsenal could be set to have a golden generation of talent come through at the club and make their mark on the first-team.

From Eddie Nketiah to Joe Willock to Emile Smith Rowe, the Gunners have some of the country’s most exciting prospects at their disposal and a core of players who could realistically be playing first-team football for the club in the not-too-distant future, and the crowning jewel of this group is Reiss Nelson.

The 19-year-old winger has been one of the most exciting players to come through at Hale End in a very long time, and in his first season of professional football Nelson has impressed in patches during his loan-spell at Hoffenheim, scoring seven goals and assisting another in 23 appearances for the Bundesliga club.

Nelson has firmly put himself on the footballing map, but there are murmurs that the winger could leave north London this summer as according to the Sun, the teenager could be involved in a deal to bring Wilfried Zaha to Arsenal in a £40 million + player deal.

Although Zaha is the finished product and would make a good impact on the Arsenal team, selling Nelson will be one of the club’s worst decisions and a move that will greatly upset the fans.

We have seen in the past players prematurely leave Arsenal and go on to become superstars a few years down the line, the most recent example being Serge Gnabry, and with Nelson, it will be the exact same scenario.

Nelson is too good to leave Arsenal and is ready for the step-up into the first-team next season, but if Unai Emery is reckless, the club could lose one of their most promising talents in years in a move that won’t benefit the Gunners in the long-term.

Arsenal fans, would you keep hold of Nelson if it meant not signing Zaha? Let us know!

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Dapo Mebude made his first-team debut for Rangers in their 2-1 loss at Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon.

It was not exactly the best way for Steven Gerrard’s side to end 2018-19 campaign, but there were positives to be taken from the loss.

One of those was certainly a debut for Mebude.

Indeed, the London-born forward is just 17 years of age and he will never forget the day that he turned out for the Scottish giants for the first time.

It was not just a little taste of first-team action, either, with Mebude given a good 30 minutes of football at Rugby Park.

It remains to be seen what type of future the teenager has at Ibrox and indeed in football in general.

However, the Gers fans were delighted to see him in action at the weekend, with a number taking to social media to lavish praise on the attacker.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

Imagine (yes, again) the damage Everton could do with a reliable, out-and-out goalscorer next season…

Indeed, it’s all well and good having the quality of Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson within their ranks but the Toffees are really missing a trick not having a quality striker alongside them as well. Well, not missing a trick perse in that literally everyone knows this is a big issue for the club, but seemingly ignoring it. Weird.

Clearly, ever since Romelu Lukaku left, Everton have been unable to find an adequate replacement, someone who would even get near his goal-tally. And now that Marco Silva and his side have shown real signs of progression in the last few months, he should be given the chance to make a top striker his, this summer.

Although he certainly isn’t in that calibre yet, more so potential, Everton should seriously consider reviving their interest (cited by the Daily Mail back in March) in Lille forward Rafael Leao.

Leao, (who is valued at £10.8 million on Transfermarkt) was a player Everton seemingly struck up a firm interest in a matter of months ago now. Having joined Lille in the summer, the Portuguese concluded his debut campaign out in France with eight goals in 24 appearances.

Considering that he is 19-years-old and was a stranger to first-team football before the start of the season, a goal every three appearances is a good way to introduce yourself.  Everton know full-well how much they need another striker at least this summer and who is to say that young Rafael Leao isn’t the answer?

While there are obviously a few problems with the make-up of the squad over at Goodison Park, the main strength of the playing staff is the youthful core throughout the team and adding such a sprinkling of stardust would help Silva create one of the most dynamic sides outside the top tier of European football.

Exactly what the club need to be doing at this stage of their project.

Indeed, Rafael Leao and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are players for the future but when the two reach their peak, it will be a very potent attack that Everton have at their disposal.

Everton fans, would you like to see Rafael Leao brought in this summer? Join the discussion and let us know down below!

Well, West Ham United managed to keep that one quiet, didn’t they?!

The Hammers announced on their official club website that they have completed the signing of Roberto Jimenez Gago, Roberto to you and I, on a free transfer.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper will join from Espanyol on the 1 July and has signed a two-year contract with the club, who have the option of extending it for a further 12 months.

Although there may be doubts about what role he will be playing with Lukasz Fabianski still at the London Stadium, there cannot be any about the experience and quality Roberto possesses.

He has played for a number of teams throughout his career, with the likes of Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Zaragoza, Olympiakos and Malaga – where he would have worked with Mario Husillos – before ending up at Espanyol.

The experienced shot-stopper was linked with a move to West Ham last summer, with AS (via Sport Witness) claiming that the Hammers were interested in securing his services.

However, it seems that they finally got their man and it is a great deal for the Irons to complete this summer.

As mentioned, it remains to be seen if he will replace Fabianski as the number one, but one thing that is for certain is that Roberto will provide the Poland international with plenty of much-needed competition, especially following the departure of Adrian (per West Ham’s official club website).

Even if he turns out to be a back-up option, he would be an excellent addition for Manuel Pellegrini to be able to call upon should he ever be required to, whilst being a serious contender in cup competitions could now be on the agenda got for the Hammers.

Although there will have been plenty of surprise regarding the deal, it is one that solves a problem and did not cost a penny out of the transfer budget to complete.

Sounds like a win-win to us!

West Ham fans, what do you make of the Roberto signing? How surprised were you when the club confirmed the deal? Let us know below by sharing your thoughts with us!

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Lots of Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to react after they heard that Lionel Messi’s son taunts him about Barcelona’s 4-0 loss at Anfield.

The result saw Jurgen Klopp’s side overcome a 3-0 first leg loss to record a memorable victory and progress into the Champions League final, an achievement that will go down in the club’s history after they won their sixth major European Cup as a result of it.

You can relive Liverpool’s Champions League celebrations in glorious 2D thanks to the guys at 442oons in the video below…

Messi has openly revealed just how devastating the defeat was, and it appears that his son has no sympathy for him with his taunting words – the Spanish champions suffered further heartbreak with a 2-1 loss to Valencia in the Copa del Rey final.

The Argentine said: “We played at home and he told me ‘I’m from Liverpool that beat you, with Valencia also’.”

Understandably, the Liverpool fans loved hearing this news, and seem very happy that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner keeps being reminded of the famous result by his own child.

Let’s take a look at some of their responses on Twitter…

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The archetypal modern footballer, Jesse Lingard’s off-pitch activities probably get him as much reaction as what he does on the pitch.

The Manchester United star has come under fire by some for his apparent lack of focus on football itself, but has generally been one of the Red Devils’ more consistent performers.

With England’s Nations League campaign coming to an end, Lingard is off on his holidays and took to

/Byp2CKTpEI-/” data-lasso->Instagram to share the news.

The snap led to Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson to respond with a short message, with the duo seemingly striking up a friendship whilst on international duty together with the Three Lions.

After struggling in the early parts of the season under Jose Mourinho, Lingard seemed to come to the fore under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and ended the campaign with five goals and four assists across all competitions.

The midfielder however was unable to inspire the side to a Champions League finish, with United finishing in sixth and facing Europa League football next season.

Having impressed Solskjaer enough this season, reports in recent weeks have suggested Lingard will be offered a new and improved contract that will see him earn around £130k-a-week, with his existing deal currently only lasting until 2021.

All the talk coming out of Crystal Palace right now has been about big departures as Aaron Wan-Bissaka continues to be linked with a move to Manchester United.

According to Sky Sports, the Red Devils are set to make a second bid for the 21-year-old after having an initial £40m offer turned down.

But as well as a big exit, there could also be a big arrival at Selhurst Park this summer, that is according to Guardian journalist Ed Aarons.

Aarons reports that Crystal Palace are looking to bring in Jean Michael Seri on loan from Fulham, and what a signing the Ivory Coast international would be.

Seri, of course, had his struggles last season as Scott Parker’s side went on to see relegation. After a decent start to the campaign, as Fulham declined, so did the 27-year-old.

Seri, though, is still a quality player who could bring a lot to the Crystal Palace midfield. Let us not forget that it was only in 2017 when Barcelona were chasing his signature (via The Guardian), and it was not hard to understand why.

At Nice, his passing was exceptional and he was such a threat outside of the box with his long-shot ability.

Again, things have not gone quite to plan at Craven Cottage. But to put Seri’s ability on the ball into perspective, last season his pass success percentage in the Premier League was 87%, beating Luka Milivojevic’s 80% and James McArthur’s 79.3% (as per WhoScored).

That sort of passing accuracy in the middle of the park could really help Roy Hodgson’s side to control games better, perhaps evolving from the sort out of the counter-attacking system that sees them perform far better away from home than at Selhurst Park.

When you consider that, Seri could be a really good addition for the Eagles this summer.

Crystal Palace fans, would you like to see Seri at Selhurst Park next season? Let us know in the comment section below!

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Lots of Tottenham fans on Twitter are unhappy after The Sun reported that the club are prepared to offload Danny Rose and see Fulham youngster Ryan Sessegnon as his replacement.

Rose, who turns 29 next month, earns a reported £80k-a-week with Spurs – a figure that is proving to be a stumbling block for those interested in signing him.

Should Spurs sell Kieran Trippier? Check out the for and against in the video below…

Mauricio Pochettino sees 19-year-old Sessegnon as the ideal man to replace Rose, who is nearly a whole decade older than him. Spurs may have to pay £35m to land the Fulham academy graduate, however.

Rose appears to be a fan favourite at White Hart Lane and is treasured by the supporters, so the news suggesting that he will be replaced has not gone down to well with the Spurs fans on Twitter.

Let’s take a look at what the unhappy Tottenham supporters on Twitter have been saying about this unpopular transfer rumour…

The pain of losing Rafa Benitez will sting for a long time, but the Magpies need to regroup, recover and get a new man in. That man, though, should absolutely not be the failed Colorado Rapids and ex-Newport County manager Anthony Hudson, here’s why.

For a start, just read the intro that we’ve given the 38-year-old coach. The English manager has had his fair share of jobs despite his young age, but he just isn’t the calibre for Newcastle United, and for obvious reasons, despite the fact that TEAMtalk have run an exclusive linking him with the St James Park job.

The CV that Mike Ashley will be presented with Hudson will be incredibly slim compared to that of Rafa Benitez. One thing that the ex-Colorado Rapids gaffer does have that Rafa never did, though, is a history in international management, albeit with Bahrain and New Zealand.

We’ve seen it before where managers with zero lack of experience in the Premier League have come in and flopped hard. The list is almost endless with the likes of Bob Bradley, Remi Garde, Frank De Boer and even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in his initial spell with Cardiff City all falling to sorry ends in the top flight.

Hudson will have to prove to be very different if he’s to avoid a similar fate, but the chances are he just doesn’t have it in his locker to do that. He wouldn’t be the first awful Newcastle boss either, with both John Carver and Alan Pardew leading the way as the infamous awful bosses in the Northeast.

We just can’t see why anyone would look to Hudson for a job as big as Newcastle. It can’t just be us at the Transfer Tavern who knew very little about the 38-year-old before these links and after a little bit of digging and discovering his past jobs and 29% win ratio in management, we’re even less convinced by him.

Regardless, this is Mike Ashley’s circus and despite everyone out there telling him he’s doing it wrong, the sportswear tycoon continues to play by his own rules, which is obvious given his treatment of Benitez. When considering that, it would come as little shock to see him appointed, although at any club you’d be wondering what’s going through the head of the man in charge.

Newcastle fans, are you as surprised as us to see Hudson linked? Let us know!