All posts by z3u9t.icu

Manchester United defender Teden Mengi has made an excellent start to life within senior football and he could potentially save the Red Devils from forking out a small fortune.

The 18-year-old centre-back joined Derby County on-loan in January, with his temporary move to Pride Park being his first experience of senior football away from United’s youth team set-up.

He has certainly had an extremely promising start to life in the East-Midlands.

Mengi has so far made four appearances for the Rams, three of those starts, and earned his first clean sheet in midweek in a 0-0 draw against Barnsley.

Rams’ boss and former Red Devils hero, Wayne Rooney, has certainly been enamoured by the youngster so far, labelling his performance against the Tykes on Wednesday as “excellent”.

Despite only just venturing into senior football, Mengi’s statistics suggest that he is not out of place at all.

According to WhoScored, he is averaging 4.9 defensive contributions per match; 1.3 tackles, 1.3 interceptions, two clearances and 0.3 blocks.

His numbers are extremely comparable to fellow centre-backs and senior professionals Curtis Davies and Matthew Clarke, indicating how quickly he has adapted to Championship football.

Considering his age, Mengi already appears to have plenty of composure when in the tackle, only averaging 0.5 fouls per 90 minutes which is only beaten by George Edmundson of central defenders in the Rams’ squad. That is not an aspect often found in young players, who are slightly too keen to make their mark.

Whilst those numbers should level out as Mengi accumulates more experience with Derby, it is an extremely promising start for the youngster, who has captained the Red Devils’ U23 team on a number of occasions.

With Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Soslkjaer reportedly keen to sign a centre-back in the summer, £1.35m-rated Mengi could save the Red Devils a considerable fee should he continue his current trajectory at Pride Park and prove that he’s a viable first-team option once he returns to Old Trafford.

AND in more news, Ed Woodward does not need to move for a new goalkeeper despite links to AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Wolves legend Steve Bull claims his former club are playing too comfortably instead of pushing themselves and taking the game to teams.

Since Wolves won promotion back to the Premier League, they have generally operated with Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves as a midfielder partnership, however neither player has the speed to be a box-to-box midfielder.

Both Neves and Moutinho are great on the ball and have recorded the most passes out of any Wolves players in the Premier League this season, highlighting their obvious strength and how they adapt to lacking that yard of pace.

However, Moutinho is 35-years-old this year and Wolves may look into replacing him with a younger player who is able to get up and down the pitch, with Moutinho having just six touches in the opposition’s box.

Speaking on how Wolves have become comfortable in themselves and what they are missing in midfield, Bull told FFC:

“We need somebody to get forward from midfield because at the moment we’ve only got one man in the box, so we need somebody who will be flying in there.

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“For me, I think we are playing with too many comfortable players in the middle of the pitch who are just happy to just sit and absorb everything rather than go forward.”

This season, Neves and Moutinho have started 24 and 23 games in the league respectively as Wolves have struggled for consistency.

Vitinha was brought in on-loan from FC Porto last summer, however he’s only featured 15 times for Wolves and has failed to make an impact on the first team.

Alan Hutton believes Glasgow Rangers captain James Tavernier may have sacrificed his last chance of moving to the Premier League after signing a new contract at Ibrox.

Hutton discusses Tavernier

29-year-old Tavernier signed a new contract at Rangers over the past few days that will keep him at the club until 2024 (rangers.co.uk), when he will be 32.

Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton believes this decision has all but ended his chances of moving south of the border to the English top flight. He said:

“At 29, if you’re looking to go down south, I think this is, this would be the only opportunity.

“When you start going into your 30s, it’s very unlikely that it’s going to happen.

“He’s played that well this season that I’m pretty sure there’ll have been Premier League admirers out there watching.

“If anybody is willing to pay for him, what would the price be?

“For Rangers, it’d have to be a high value because he’s one of the top performers. He’s the captain, one of the best players.

“If Rangers don’t see the fee as suitable, then there’s no reason for them to accept it. He seems like he’s happy to stay and play for Rangers so that’s the most important thing.”

Gers legend

Of course, a move to England would lead to a higher weekly wage and perhaps more competition than he would have at Rangers. However, £7.2m-valued Tavernier (Transfermarkt) has now spent six years at Ibrox, helping them climb back to the top flight and leading them to their first major trophy in a decade. What he may have sacrificed in money will continue to be repaid in adulation.

By committing his future to the 55-time Scottish champions, he has given himself the chance to become a bona fide club legend. Champions League football, as well, could be a reward for his decision. Quite frankly, this appears to be the right call.

In other news, Rangers fans slam this broadcaster’s comments.

After an impressive 1-0 win over Leeds United last weekend, Aston Villa would no doubt have been expecting to make light work of the Premier League’s bottom side Sheffield United in midweek.

Instead, Dean Smith’s side put in a dismal performance as they slipped to defeat to the Blades, with David McGoldrick earning the home side all three points.

With European qualification for next season still within their sights, however, Villa will be hoping to get back to winning ways, starting with Saturday’s clash against Wolves.

The midweek defeat may prompt Smith to make a few changes, and, with that in mind, below is a look at how Villa might line up when Wolves come to town.

In goal, Emiliano Martinez will be hoping to keep another shutout after experiencing the rare feeling of having to pick the ball out of his own net against Sheffield United.

The back four should also remain unchanged, with Matty Cash still not recovered from his injury. The form of Matt Targett, meanwhile, has seen some shouts of a potential England call-up, and the left-back will surely be desperate to do well against Wolves to further stake his claim.

The midfield could see one key change, with John McGinn’s woeful performance in midweek surely warranting him to be dropped from the starting line-up, especially with the likes of Morgan Sanson and Douglas Luiz pushing for a start – Smith could opt for the latter after benching the £24.3m-rated star for the past couple of games.

That would certainly be a big call considering that McGinn has started every game this season in the Premier League bar one (when he was suspended).

Further ahead, Bertrand Traore has struggled in recent weeks to deliver an end product, with just one goal and one assist in his last eight Premier League games. That could see Trezeguet come in on the right-hand side, with Smith sticking with Anwar El Ghazi on the opposite flank having netted against Leeds last week.

Predicted XI: Martinez; Elmohamady, Konsa, Mings, Targett; Luiz, Nakamba; Trezeguet, Ramsey, El Ghazi, Watkins.

Meanwhile, Villa could recreate a magic partnership by signing this £36m-rated star…

When it comes to Wolves’ promotion-winning squad of 2017/18 there are a host of names that’ll spring to mind.

Ruben Neves will be one, Diogo Jota is probably another. John Ruddy’s immense campaign will even be remembered with fond memories too.

Although his football has been limited since they were promoted to the Premier League, it has not been as worse as Roderick Miranda’s.

The centre-back played 17 games en route to gaining promotion but unfortunately, he’s not made a single appearance for the Old Gold since they came up to the top-flight.

That means that despite still being on Wolves’ books, his last appearance for the club came in 2018. Considering he’s now 29, it’s dumbfounding to think that he still holds a contract with the club.

Signed for an undisclosed fee four years ago, his £10k-per-week contract at Molineux finally ends in the summer but the player is hoping a resolution to his future is found soon. After all, he is merely blowing a hefty hole in Jeff Shi’s pockets.

He’s earning a wage at Wolves but isn’t playing and after a set of loan spells at Olympiacos and Famalicao, is training with the youth players at Compton.

It’s a sorry state of affairs for a player who was actually quite important in the back half of their triumphant Championship-winning season.

He was named in their Premier League squad for the current term, but unsurprisingly, he’s not played a single minute and has become nothing short of a flop in the Midlands.

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He’s watched the likes of Max Kilman picked ahead of him, while he couldn’t even earn a spot on the bench when Wolves travelled to play non-league Chorley in the FA Cup.

Instead, young defenders Lewis Richards and Nigel Lonwijk were among the substitutes instead. It’s damning that even in a game of this magnitude he is ignored.

If Wolves can’t find any suitor for him this month, they’d be wise to just terminate his contract entirely. It’s a method Arsenal used with wantaway defender Sokratis so it’s certainly not unfashionable to do so.

The Old Gold have tried desperately to find a new striker this month and after securing the signature of Willian Jose, must take it upon themselves to get rid of deadwood.

That starts with Roderick. He isn’t good enough for Wolves and Nuno clearly has no plans to use him.

AND in other news, Shi must seal Wolves swoop for “outstanding” 6-goal gem, he’s shades of Bakary Sako…

Everton fear Dominic Calvert-Lewin may have sustained a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s night FA Cup fifth round win over Tottenham Hotspur.

That’s according to assistant coach Duncan Ferguson, who voiced concerns that the striker may be facing another spell on the sidelines while speaking with BT Sport (10/2) after the final whistle.

Calvert-Lewin had started the Goodison Park affair and struck his side’s initial equalising goal after Davinson Sanchez opened the scoring in the early stages, before assisting Gylfi Sigurdsson twice in five minutes as half-time neared.

Calvert-Lewin has now scored 18 goals and provided four assists in 25 games across all competitions, to mark the 2020/21 campaign as his most prolific season yet, and losing him for any period of time is clearly a costly setback.

The Toffees lost their top-scorer in the 55th minute of the 5-4 FA Cup win, though he could not be replaced by Deadline Day signing Joshua King due to the ex-AFC Bournemouth forward being cup tied.

Ferguson now fears that Everton will be without Calvert-Lewin when the Blues host Fulham at the weekend, looking to reduce the gap to the top-four in the Premier League table.

“It looks like he tweaked his hamstring. We’re not quite sure. It could be a wee bit of trouble for him,” the former Blues striker noted.

Should Calvert-Lewin face a period on the sidelines, it will be the second time this season that Carlo Ancelotti has been without the 23-year-old due to a hamstring injury, after he was ruled out of last month’s league meeting with Wolves and FA Cup clash with Rotherham.

Everton being without Calvert-Lewin for Fulham’s trip to Goodison Park on Sunday will leave Ancelotti needing King to step up, having yet seen the best of what the £10m-rated maestro has to offer since his last-ditch move to Merseyside.

King has only played 12 minutes over two games for the Blues after leaving the Vitality Stadium, with Ancelotti utilising the Norway international as an impact man in the closing stages of a 2-1 win over Leeds and last week’s 3-3 draw with Manchester United.

The 29-year-old left the south coast without a league goal to his name thus far this season, having failed to score in any of his 12 Championship appearances, but had found the back of the net twice against Oldham Athletic and once against Crawley Town in FA Cup ties.

He also assisted efforts in the third and fourth rounds and ended his last term having scored six and created four goals in 26 Premier League outings, to see Kevin Phillips laud him as a “very exciting player” who deserves to play week in, week out in the top-flight.

King should now get that opportunity at Goodison Park if Calvert-Lewin is ruled out, with the £45,000-per-week attacker potentially Ancelotti’s only fit striker after Cenk Tosun joined Besiktas on loan.

AND in other news, Everton face heightened competition for a 17-y/o talent seen as the heir to a £101k-p/w colossus…

What promised to be a Premier League thriller between Leeds and Chelsea ended 0-0 at Elland Road, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side earning a rare draw.

The Whites were involved in only their second 0-0 stalemate of the league season, but things could have been different had some first half opportunities in particular go their way – most notably an effort from Tyler Roberts which struck the crossbar, with the same player having a goal ruled out for offside.

Given Chelsea’s imperious form under new manager Thomas Tuchel – the latest result seeing the Blues remain unbeaten under the German – a point is certainly a more than credible result.

One man who let Bielsa down, though, was Jack Harrison.

The Manchester City loanee was drafted back into the starting line-up in place of Helder Costa having been dropped to the bench in the last couple of weeks.

However, aside from one delicious cross early on, Harrison just couldn’t seem to get involved in the game, instead spending most of his time just trying to chase Chelsea down rather than offering anything note with the ball.

He had fewer than half the number of touches of goalkeeper Illan Meslier (23 to 50) and made far fewer passes (eight) than the Leeds shot-stopper (21) too, while he failed to provide a single key pass or have a shot on goal – the game just seemed to pass him by offensively, with much of his side’s best openings coming through Roberts.

While Harrison, to his credit, worked hard, he wasn’t his usual snappy self tracking back either – this season, he has averaged 1.6 tackles per game in the Premier League, but made none against the Blues this afternoon and also lost both of his duels.

Writing in his post-match player ratings for Leeds Live, Beren Cross gave him the Whites’ joint-lowest score of five, adding: “Another difficult afternoon for the loanee. One excellent cross which deserved to be buried, but anonymous otherwise.”

After being handed the chance to start, Harrison just couldn’t deliver on his opportunity, and that surely would have frustrated Bielsa.

According to reports, Tottenham are open to selling Paulo Gazzaniga in the January transfer window if a “suitable offer” comes in for the goalkeeper.

What’s the story?

The Argentina international had been the club’s number two goalkeeper over the years behind Hugo Lloris, but Joe Hart’s arrival in the summer has seen him slip further down the pecking order at Jose Mourinho’s side.

Now, Football.London claim that Gazzaniga’s future will be a “talking point this month”, and that “he may be allowed to move on if a suitable offer comes in given they are well stocked in the goalkeeping department”.

Robbing Daniel Levy blind

Earning around £20k-a-week, Gazzaniga has been picking up a pay-cheque at Spurs this season for doing absolutely nothing at all.

Speaking after omitting him from the Europa League squad for this season, Mourinho said: “It is very difficult, to leave a player out is like to stop the player to fight for something he wants, that is always is very, very hard.

“The good thing is in January you can change, so if you have a different view you change. The Gazzaniga situation, with Hugo and Joe we believe that for the next couple of months we can do it with an academy goalkeeper, with a young English kid.”

Barring a miraculous set of circumstances, a third-choice goalkeeper at a club like Spurs is highly unlikely to play, which is why bringing in an academy player into the fold a) saves a lot of money and b) gives them exposure to the first-team too.

At 28, Gazzaniga isn’t going to develop into a world-class goalkeeper capable of ousting Lloris, whilst the fact Hart has overtaken him in the pecking order after being let go by Burnley says it all.

He’s robbing Spurs chairman Daniel Levy blind at the moment, and it’s exactly why Spurs just have to make a ruthless decision to sell the man Mourinho once dubbed as “magic”.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho isn’t known for handing youth a fair opportunity, having passed on the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah during his spell at Stamford Bridge.But the Special One may have tweaked his mentality in recent times as we’ve frequently seen some of Spurs’ current U23 squad feature amongst the substitutes bench in both the Premier League and Europa League.Former Leeds winger Jack Clarke, who has reportedly wowed staff in training, and young left-back Dennis Cirkin, who was kept at the club over the out-on-loan Ryan Sessegnon, are just two names who appear to be very close to making a senior bow in the near future.And Spurs could be onto a winner with their academy teammate, Harvey White, a player that has built up a reputation as being one of the most versatile players at the club after featuring in no fewer than five different roles – left-back, a centreback, and in the no.6, 8 and 10.The north London outfit finally signed a midfielder to fill the void left behind by Mousa Sissoko in the summer – that being Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg, and whilst he’s been as integral to their fortunes as Harry Kane and Heung-min Son, it could actually be the 19-year-old defensive midfielder that proves to be the true long-term heir.We’re not talking anytime soon, but in two, three, maybe four years time. It may be White pulling the strings in the heart of the engine room.

Mourinho told Football.London last season that the youngster would start to be more involved with the senior set-up, he said: “Even in relation to Cirkin and Harvey White, I already told the club that I would like them to be with me next season in the first team squad.”

White is described as a “tidy” player as well as one that is “very comfortable on the ball and confident in his ability with it in tight situations.”

Whilst The Athletic have claimed that the teenager has often been the “heartbeat” of the U23 side as his “bravery and energy” stands out, which very much puts him in the same bracket of Dembele, who was always Mauricio Pochettino’s industrious talisman.

What makes him carry the potential to be even better long-term is his set-piece ability, 15 goals and 14 assists across Spurs’ youth teams tells the story of him being a solid goal threat too.

Hojbjerg, who is noted as a leader, ought to take him under his wing sooner rather than later.

AND in other news,ÂSpurs must point blame at “absolute freak” as defensive issues continue…

Spurs could be looking at a potential blow ahead of their Premier League clash against Manchester City on Sunday. Along with their recent injury updates, a concern has risen over Gareth Bale, who featured for Wales against players who later tested positive for coronavirus (via Manchester Evening News).

Whilst there’s no case of Bale having the virus himself, the rigorous testing at the club could flag something up following his international spell.

If the Real Madrid ace is forced to self-isolate, Jose Mourinho will be without options on the right-hand side. Erik Lamela will miss the City match after the manager confirmed he is “in the last period of his recovery”. This leaves only Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn to deploy in Bale’s absence. However, the Brazilian has had an inconsistent season so far – despite starting the first three Premier League games of the term, he has been limited to substitute appearances since.

Moura played just ten minutes against West Ham last month and was left on the bench in Tottenham’s narrow win over Brighton. He reappeared in the most recent match against West Brom, but was limited to a 12 minute cameo (via Transfermarkt).

With the 28-year-old being somewhat out of favour, Mourinho could take a gamble and switch up his lineup to face his former club.

Moussa Sissoko has quite often played on the right for France – as he did against Sweden earlier this week – and puts his pace to good use down the flank. The gaffer could opt to put the £90,000 per week midfielder’s versatility to the test and position him on the right-hand side against City.

It will be a daring move with Bergwijn and Moura available for selection, but Sissoko’s balance of both attacking and defensive abilities will help get Spurs over the line.

Tony Cascarino was full of praise for Sissoko last season for making easy work of taking on Manchester City’s defence. He lauded the 31-year-old for his “danger” on the ball and claimed that once he beats his man, “there is no way he is going to be stopped”.

This would of course leave a gap in the midfield, which Mourinho can play safe with and start Harry Winks alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. The two defensive midfielders will hopefully help to keep the likes of Kevin De Bruyne at bay.

It will certainly be a bold and potentially risky tactic from Mourinho, but Pep Guardiola will not be expecting it. Catching them out with the element of surprise could work very well in Spurs’ favour, who are currently second in the league table.

In other news, Dele Alli situation could brew storm between Daniel Levy & Jose Mourinho…