All posts by z3u9t.icu

Dean Windass reckons that West Ham manager David Moyes would be all over signing former Chelsea striker Diego Costa.

The 32-year-old is a free agent after Atletico Madrid decided to terminate his contract back in December, with Costa yet to find a new club.

West Ham have gone through several different strikers in years gone by, but there need to bring in a proven goalscorer is perhaps more needed than ever.

In Michail Antonio, the Hammers boss has just one striker available, although he’s hardly a reliable figure having missed a bunch of matches with various injuries.

And with West Ham now facing at least six more additional games after qualifying for the group stages of the Europa League for the first time, their need to bring in cover up front has only grown.

With Costa now a free agent, Moyes could bring him to the London Stadium for nothing.

And Windass exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that Moyes would be very interested in signing the experienced frontman, who scored 54 Premier League goals in his three seasons at Stamford Bridge:

“He would suit West Ham, Moyesy would take him all day long. I think David Moyes would take Diego Costa all day long.”

As per El Nacional, a significant update has come to light on the future of Tottenham Hotspur superstar Harry Kane.

The Lowdown: Levy summer stance clear…

Over the summer window, it was widely reported that Spurs’ prize asset was a major target for English champions Manchester City amid their search for a world-class striker (Fabrizio Romano).

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-updates-5/” title=”Spurs latest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Daniel Levy, however, was reluctant to let the 28-year-old leave N17 despite an alleged gentleman’s agreement between Tottenham’s chief and Kane – so much so that a £150 million price tag was placed on the player’s head.

Some reports even suggested it was closer to around £200m with Levy standing firm amid City’s summer bids to sign Kane.

Ahead of the January transfer window, with Tottenham apparently willing to entertain offers for Dele Alli (The Athletic), it appears Spurs’ chairman is now open to selling yet another big name in Kane as El Nacional share news.

The Latest: Spurs sale U-turn…

As per their information, Tottenham, and by extension Levy, are open to ‘getting rid’ of the England international and no longer see a transfer with ‘bad eyes’.

Spurs manager Antonio Conte is apparently the ‘first to recommend’ that he be ‘let out’ of north London, providing a worthwhile bid comes in, with Kane also ‘desperate’ to leave.

City apparently still hold an interest but it is believed that the striker now favours a move abroad, specifically to La Liga and Spanish giants Real Madrid.

The Verdict: Big claim…

This claim that the Lilywhites and even Conte are now open to a Kane sale certainly comes as a big one but we believe seeing him leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next month is a tall order regardless.

Depending on Spurs, Levy and managing director Fabio Paratici’s price demand for the superstar, likely to be big, it remains to be seen whether any interested party would be willing to make a seismic bid mid-season.

City, for instance, are arguably coping well without a world-class senior centre-forward given they’re currently top of the Premier League.

Only Liverpool have scored more goals than Guardiola’s side so far this season, while it is debatable that another Kane suitor in Real could afford him given their financial trouble.

The Galacticos posted €300 million (£255m) of lost income for the last fiscal year, placing their ability to lodge a significant offer for Kane into disrepute.

Despite his arguable lack of form this season, Kane’s ability is unquestionable, with the 2020/2021 Golden Boot winner even called ‘magnificent’ by Premier League legend Alan Shearer.

Alas, we believe Spurs fans are unlikely to see him leave in the winter window despite their club’s fresh stance.

In other news: Spurs in pole position transfer as Paratici ready to make powerhouse Conte’s first signing, find out more here.

Taking to Twitter, Sky Sports reporter Lyall Thomas has now shared a Southampton transfer update involving West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.

The Lowdown: Southampton eye summer moves…

The Saints and their transfer chief Martin Semmens reportedly have their eyes on the summer transfer window as they seemingly start to outline targets for 2022/23.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/southampton-newest-updates/” title=”Southampton newest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Union Berlin striker Taiwo Awoniyi has been linked lately, with Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl allegedly eyeing a new striker addition. Meanwhile, lesser-known names like South Korea international Son Jun-ho are also on their radar alongside the potential addition of a new goalkeeper.

Taking to social media, Sky Sports reporter Thomas has now updated Saints supporters with some transfer news involving Johnstone.

The Latest: Thomas makes Johnstone claim…

According to the journalist’s sources, Southampton are among the clubs eyeing a move for West Brom’s soon to be out-of-contract ace. However, they will face stern competition from the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham.

Thomas explained on Twitter: “Tottenham continuing to assess Sam Johnstone as an option to strengthen GK dept this summer, via my colleague @RobDorsettSky, Man Utd and Southampton among other clubs interested.”

The Verdict: Make a move…

Winning the race for Johnstone, a three-cap England international, would be a stellar move by the Saints and Semmens, especially on a free transfer.

Former Baggies boss Sam Allardyce was effusive in his praise for the 29-year-old for his Premier League form last year, while the likes of Wolves legend Steve Bull have heralded Johnstone as a ‘world class’ shot stopper.

For zero cost, he could be the ideal man to strengthen Hasenhuttl’s options between the sticks, but the only caveat is arguably all the competition Southampton face for his services.

In other news: ‘It is true’ – Southampton backed by close source as they also eye ‘star’ international for Ralph, find out more here.

With Valerien Ismael’s West Bromwich Albion side heading into Wednesday evening’s Championship clash on the back of a resounding 3-0 defeat last time out, the 46-year-old Albion manager will undoubtedly be hoping for a much-improved result and performance when Hull City visit The Hawthorns in midweek.

However, with Darnell Furlong’s sending off against Fulham meaning that the right-back will miss Wednesday’s game due to suspension, the Frenchman has been left with something of a selection headache on the right-hand side of his defence.

Having said that, when Ismael arrived at West Brom this summer, he came with the promise of being a manager with a reputation for developing a club’s younger talents – something that Furlong’s suspension could allow him to put into practice once again.

Indeed, with the 46-year-old not having another senior right-back in his first-team squad, it would appear to be a choice between playing either a midfielder or attacker out of position at wing-back or handing 19-year-old right-back Taylor Gardner-Hickman his league debut for the club.

And, considering just how impressive the youngster has been in the club’s youth sides, as well as the fact that Ismael is known to rate the versatile defender extremely highly, it would seem an obvious choice for the Frenchman to finally unleash the teenager against a struggling Hull City side on Wednesday.

Over Gardner-Hickman’s 30 appearances for West Brom’s U18 side, the 19-year-old scored three goals and registered four assists, playing a variety of positions along the right-hand side of the youth team.

The youngster has also continued this fine attacking form over his 34 appearances for Albion’s U23 side, bagging six goals and providing four assists for Deon Burton’s outfit.

And, with Joseph Masi revealing that the man who Sam Allardyce suggested could become an “important” player for West Brom was the reason Ismael did not sign a backup right-back this summer, it would only seem natural for the Frenchman to finally give the youngster a shot in the position on Wednesday evening.

In other news: Journo drops fresh West Brom January transfer claim that will devastate Albion fans

Wolves winger Adama Traore could want a new challenge away from Molineux in the January transfer window, according to The Athletic’s Tim Spiers.

The Lowdown: Traore linked with Wolves exit

The 25-year-old has enjoyed a curious Wolves career in many ways, proving to be a hugely entertaining player but also flattering to deceive too often.

Despite this, Traore doesn’t seem to be short of potential suitors this month, with a number of clubs linked with making a move for him, as reports on Friday believe Tottenham are the latest team to make an approach.

The 5 foot 10 Spaniard’s current deal expires in the summer of 2023, meaning Wolves risk losing him on a free transfer if he doesn’t leave by this summer.

The Latest: Spiers further hints at move

Taking to Twitter to respond to a question on Thursday, Spiers suggested that Traore is eyeing up a move elsewhere currently:

“Easy to forget this is his fourth season at the club as well, might want a new challenge, to maybe test himself in the CL etc, which is pretty normal for any ambitious player.”

The Verdict: Time to part ways?

Traore showed what he is capable of on Monday, making a clear impact from the substitutes’ bench against Manchester United and playing a part in Joao Moutinho’s winning goal, but his inconsistency remains his biggest shortcoming.

The winger is still yet to register a goal or an assist in the Premier League this season and this is why a move away from Wolves could make sense for all parties, despite him being hailed as ‘fantastic’ by pundit Tim Sherwood.

It would allow Traore to test himself at a new club, while Wanderers would earn a hefty sum of money to spend on a strong replacement.

In other news, some Wolves fans are buzzing over an update that has emerged. Read more here.

The previous summer transfer window saw Wolves bring in a number of players to Molineux, but one area of the pitch they didn’t strengthen in was midfield.

With Wolves only having a total of four options for the defensive and central-midfield roles in their squad, it appears as though they are now looking to strengthen in that department in the upcoming January transfer window.

What’s the news?

It has been reported by Italian media outlet Corriere dello Sport (via Birmingham Live) that Wolves are planning to make a move to sign Juventus and former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey in January.

Since making the move from Arsenal to the Serie A side, Ramsey, who is currently valued at £12.6m according to Transfermarkt, has made 69 appearances for Juventus across all competitions, scoring six goals and providing six assists along the way.

Fixing a hole

Prior to joining Juventus, Ramsey, who was once described as being “world-class” by Wales teammate Joe Allen, made a total of 371 appearances for Arsenal, bagging 65 goals and creating 65 assists in the process.

If Wolves are interested in signing Ramsey in January, they should definitely do so if a move would be financially viable to them.

The Welshman has a lot of Premier League experience under his belt with 262 appearances, which could be very beneficial, especially for some of Wolves’ younger players like Rayan Ait-Nouri, Ki-Jana Hoever and Morgan Gibbs-White.

Ramsey moving to Molineux in January would also be very exciting for the fans. After all, he’s a regular winner of trophies, reigning supreme in domestic cups with Arsenal and winning Serie A with Juve.

Most importantly, however, he’d offer the club more depth in midfield. Wolves failed to sign Renato Sanches during the summer but the 68-cap Wales international is an eye-catching alternative.

With Ruben Neves’ future still up in the air and Joao Moutinho aged 35, there are going to be some glaring gaps in the middle of the park to fill.

After all, other options in Leander Dendoncker and Romain Saiss have been preferred in defence while Gibbs-White is out on loan.

Consequently, the addition of Ramsey would be an important one, gifting Bruno Lage an experienced and talented midfield option.

In other news: Wolves may already have their long-term Moutinho heir in “outstanding” gem – opinion

Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Paul Brown of The Daily Star has made a claim involving superstar striker Harry Kane after his summer drama at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lowdown: Kane attempts to jump ship…

As widely known, England international Kane informed Spurs of his desire to leave in the summer with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola even confirming his side’s interest in signing him.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/spurs-developments/” title=”Spurs developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

After a move failed to materialise, the 28-year-old released a statement and pledged to continue at Tottenham as well as giving his all for the Lilywhites shirt.

Since then, Kane’s form has taken a while to resurge with Brown now making a claim on how it could impact the Spurs dressing room.

The Latest: Brown makes Kane claim…

Speaking to GMS, reporter Brown believes that the forward still doesn’t actually want to be in north London despite his candid summer statement.

He also believes this could have an impact on the dressing room if manager Nuno Espirito Santo isn’t cautious.

“I think it’s a very unbalanced squad, and there are clearly problems in the dressing room because everyone knows the star player tried to quit in the summer,” the journalist explained.

“And while he’s playing and making all the right noises, putting a shift in, it can’t be easy in the dressing room to see the guy that you all look up to, ultimately, doesn’t really want to be there.

“I don’t think anyone can accuse Harry Kane of downing tools. I don’t think he ever will, and he was one of their better players at the weekend. But, it must put some doubt in the mind of your teammates when you’re thinking: ‘this guy tried his best to get out of the club, and how much is he really committed to us?’”

The Verdict: Nuno needs Kane revival…

Nuno’s tenuous position was perhaps on the line before Spurs narrowly edged past Aston Villa 2-1 last weekend and the Portuguese will need all the help he can get to keep his job.

Kane’s form over these next few months will be a major factor and the 47-year-old will want Tottenham’s 2020/2021 Golden Boot winner back and firing on all cylinders.

Lauded as a still very much ‘underrated’ player by reporter Matt Law, even despite his outstanding campaign last year, Spurs will benefit massively from his possible resurgence.

Alas, only time will tell if his failed summer move does indeed have an impact on the dressing room.

In other news: Levy told to hire ‘world class’ boss over Poch if Nuno is axed, Spurs players love him! Find out more here.

Sheffield United are interested in a deal to bring Willy Caballero to Bramall Lane over what remains of the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Sun on Sunday (via Football League World), who claim that the former Manchester City and Chelsea goalkeeper is on Slavisa Jokanovic’s list of potential Aaron Ramsdale replacements, with the Serbian hoping to bring in a new shot-stopper prior to the closure of the transfer window on Tuesday.

The report continues by stating that the Blades have gone as far as to open contract talks with the 39-year-old free agent, however, the length of this deal, or whether or not the Argentina international would be open to a move to the Championship club, is not disclosed.

Big mistake

While Caballero is undoubtedly a player who boasts a vast amount of experience, having made 117 appearances in LaLiga, 34 appearances in the Premier League and 22 appearances in both the Champions League and the Europa League, when taking into account the goalkeeper’s age and recent history, it is not a difficult argument to make that his signing would be a big mistake on the part of Jokanovic.

Indeed, following his move to Chelsea back in 2017, the £225k-rated man went on to make just 38 appearances in all competitions for the Blues, with only 11 of these fixtures coming in the league.

Furthermore, when the former Malaga ‘keeper was selected in the top flight, he very rarely impressed, earning a SofaScore match rating of 5.7 in his one Premier League appearance last season – a 3-3 draw with West Bromwich Albion – and picked up a disappointing average SofaScore match rating of 6.58 over his five league fixtures in 2019/20.

As such, whether or not Caballero is a goalkeeper who can be trusted over the course of what is sure to be a long and arduous Championship season is very much up for debate – with the stats appearing to suggest that the 39-year-old would not be up for the task.

So, while time is running out for Jokanovic to bring in a replacement for Ramsdale, it would nevertheless appear highly advisable for the Serbian manager to turn his attention over what remains of the summer transfer window elsewhere, as his side can do much better than Caballero.

In other news: SUFC given possible boost in move for “unbelievable” £25k-p/w ace, fans would love him

Newcastle’s dismal Premier League campaign continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Norwich at St. James’ Park on Tuesday night.

The Magpies got off to the worst possible as Ciaran Clark hauled Teemu Pukki down and was shown a straight red card by the referee.

However, a handball by Billy Gilmour gifted Callum Wilson the opportunity to score from the spot and his effort from 12-yards snuck past Tim Krul to hand the lead.

Eddie Howe’s side failed to pick up their first win, though, as Teemu Pukki scored a stunning volley to level the scores for the Canaries.

Let Howe down

Clark’s early mistake and sending off disrupted Newcastle’s rhythm and there were some resilient performances across the pitch to dig in and pick up a result. However, one player who did let Howe down on the pitch was central midfielder Joe Willock.

He struggled in the midfield and found it difficult to make his mark defensively or in transition. He had one promising break in the first half leading to a chance for Callum Wilson, but did little else on the ball in the match – ending his time on the pitch with just 24 touches.

Magpies goalkeeper Martin Dubravka (45) had more touches than the ex-Arsenal man. Jonjo Shelvey, meanwhile, had 54 touches and completed six long balls and crosses combined, showing that he took charge in the midfield.

Defensively, the £19.8m-rated flop was poor. Per SofaScore, he lost 62.5% of his duels – five of eight – and failed to make a single tackle, interception, clearance or block whilst being dribbled past once. This shows that he was a lightweight defending his own goal and let Howe down with his attempts to win the ball back off Norwich or to close their players down.

It is difficult to blame Willock for his lack of quality on the ball due to the circumstances at play in the match, but his lack of strength off the ball is a major cause for concern.

Howe will surely be livid with his lack of involvement against the play and it could cost him his place in the XI for the clash with Burnley at the weekend. There was an effort from the 22-year-old to help Jamal Lewis out at left-back and plug gaps, but he needs to be more effective with his work rate.

In the position Newcastle are in, they cannot afford to carry passengers in the side and that was what Willock was with his performance in midfield. He needs to buck his ideas up if he wants to live up to his reported £25m transfer fee.

AND in other news, NUFC could kickstart Howe era with £275k-p/w gem who plays football “like a dance”…

Southampton fans are eager to sell Jannik Vestergaard after it was reported Tottenham want to sign him this summer, with a transfer value of around £25m.

The Saints will be preparing for a big campaign as they look to improve on their 15th place Premier League finish from last term. Vestergaard has spent the summer away with Denmark at the European Championships, and he was a key member of that side that reached the semi-finals before losing 2-1 to England at Wembley.

Spurs have been heavily linked with a move for the 28-year-old and, according to The Daily Mail, the London outfit have been in talks with Southampton to sign Vestergaard.

They are said to be looking at the former Borussia Monchengladbach central defender as an alternate if they can’t sign their other targets, with the player valued at £25m by Southampton.

The news was shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the Gers supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Vestergaard news

“I’d take £25M for Vestergaard. He has qualities, but he is desperately slow, both in terms of pace and changing direction”

Credit: @Dixon1970Darren

“25m I think is good business considering he signed for 18m and has been with us for a while now (bearing in mind the first season, season and a half he was pony) On the other hand he had a solid European tournament this year so that figure of 25m could rise if we push hard enough”

Credit: @specsheppard95

“£25 million. Thanks very much!”

Credit: @Bev1975

“If we get 25 mill for him, then snap their hand off.”

Credit: @curlywiggins

“Snap their hand off at £25 million”

Credit: @jamesalexwhite7

“Take the money and run, £25M for a player that slow is great business.”

Credit: @Footbal28149607

In other news, Southampton are interested in signing this Bundesliga ace.