All posts by z3u9t.icu

The last thing Everton needs right now is losing any key players, as they try to navigate their way through an injury crisis and a lack of depth in many areas of their squad that has resulted in only five wins from 17 games in the Premier League, leaving them 15th in the table.

With the transfer window in less than 72 hours, Rafa Benitez must avoid the departure of any important players in his side to ensure he can rebuild and climb the table to get back into the top half for a satisfactory finish with the Toffees.

Everton superstar, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, has been rumoured with a move away to Arsenal for weeks, and even pundits have been adding fuel to the flames by encouraging the injured striker to make a move to Arsenal.

Gunners legend, Lee Dixon, spoke to the MailOnline about the potential of Arsenal signing the Toffees forward in the January transfer window;

“Would I like to see Calvert-Lewin at Arsenal? I think yes.

“It would be a step up for Calvert-Lewin, no disrespect to Everton.

“He is fit and athletic, he is strong and good in the air and a good finisher. I would take him.”

The MailOnline did also reported earlier this month, that Arsenal were interested in signing Calvert Lewin, but there has been no further links or official interest made by the London club as of yet, despite both Dixon and Paul Merson making their feelings clear about Arsenal’s potential signing of the player this week.

Fans will be fuming

If Benitez wasn’t already unpopular with fans, due to his successes as manager of fierce local rivals Liverpool, selling Calvert Lewin would be the final nail in the coffin for fans of the club and considered unforgivable, with the goal machine being arguably Everton’s best player, scoring 56 goals and bagging 16 assists in 176 appearances.

Selling the centre forward would be unwise with Everton’s severe lack of goals and creativity conceding more than they’ve scored this season so far, even with or without the fans on the manager’s back, it doesn’t make sense to cash in on him when what he can potentially offer to the side in the second half of the season is priceless.

It would be unlikely that Everton would let the £40.5m-rated star go, unless there was a huge, inflated offer from interested clubs, which actually isn’t unheard of in the January transfer window, Andy Carroll to Liverpool for £35m springs to mind, especially with many clubs desperate for prolific goal-scorers to assist with securing a good finish in the second half of the season.

The 28 year old has been side-lined since the early stages of the season sustaining a quadriceps injury and a broken toe, meaning he hasn’t played since scoring against Brighton on August 28th 2021.

He then suffered a setback with his recovery progress, and is only now in contention for selection for the side as we head into 2022, with the possibility of an appearance against Brighton on Sunday, although the England international did expect to be back in the side on Boxing Day, however postponement of fixtures hasn’t allowed that.

In other news: Benitez could solve problems by signing Vecino

Back in the summer of 2020, Neil Lennon’s Celtic scouts were reported to have been incredibly impressed by the form of Grady Diangana, who had lit up the Championship during a season-long loan spell with West Bromwich Albion.

Indeed, over his 30 second-tier appearances in 2019/20, the West Ham United winger played an influential role in the Baggies’ promotion back to the Premier League, scoring eight goals, registering six assists and creating 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 former England U21 international average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.06, ranking him as Albion’s third-best player in the league that year.

And, as a result of this form, the likes of Celtic, Ajax, Newcastle United and Everton were all reported to be interested in the 23-year-old, for whom West Ham were demanding a fee in the region of £15m-£20m in order to part with.

However, it would ultimately be West Brom who went on to secure the forward on a permanent basis, with Slaven Bilic’s side coughing up around £18m in order to prise the youngster away from the London Stadium.

Although, while Diangana’s switch to The Hawthorns would undoubtedly have come as a gutting blow to Celtic at the time, nearly two years down the line, it is becoming apparent that the Baggies massively overpaid for the winger.

Indeed, over his 20 Premier League appearances in 2020/21, the £7.2m-rated forward failed to make any real mark on the top flight, scoring one goal, registering no assists and creating no big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of just 0.7 shots and making 0.3 key passes per game.

These returns saw the player who Lee Hendrie dubbed a “magnificent” talent who’s “easy on the eye” average an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.47, ranking him as Albion’s joint second-worst player in the division.

Things have not improved much for the £25k-per-week attacker over his 35 Championship outings this season, with the 23-year-old having scored two goals, provided one assist and created three big chances, with these metrics seeing the winger average a SofaScore match rating of 6.67 – ranking him as Steve Bruce’s joint eighth-worst performer in the second tier.

As such, it is clear to see that Celtic hit the jackpot when missing out on the £18m signing of a player who Adrian Goldberg labelled “desperate” and claimed looks “like a youth player playing in a men’s game” back in 2020 – as Diangana’s form has fallen off a cliff since his permanent move to West Brom.

AND in other news: Huge boost: Ange reveals major Lennoxtown development, it’s brilliant news for Celtic

While the pre-match and post-match headlines have been understandably dominated by the European Super League, Leeds produced a spirited display in the midst of all that in their Premier League clash against Liverpool on Monday night.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side earned a hard-fought point against the reigning champions thanks to a header from Diego Llorente, but it wasn’t a display where everyone was at their best.

Tyler Roberts in particular showed flashes of his potential, but once again, the Wales international really struggled to make things count when it actually mattered during the game.

He was guilty of missing arguably the best chance of the game when he found himself unmarked inside the box, but could only fire his shot straight at Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson when he had the entire goal at his mercy.

His overall influence on the game was virtually non-existent too apart from a couple of bright moments, and he managed just 34 touches of the ball over the course of the game – in fact, goalkeeper Illan Meslier had far more of the ball with 55.

He also struggled to keep hold of the ball on occasion, conceding possession ten times, and it led to Sky Sports’ co-commentary Andy Hinchcliffe to remark that Roberts should be “very frustrated” with his performance and that he had wasted his “golden opportunity” when he was eventually replaced by Pablo Hernandez.

And, writing in his post-match player ratings for The Yorkshire Evening Post, Graham Smyth said: “Struggled to make his mark on the first half, showed more in the second half. Still needs to grab games by the scruff.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Latest Leeds transfer rumours and news”]

Given that he was linked with a move away in January, and uncertainty over his long-term future come the summer, Roberts’ lack of cutting edge on Monday night, and all season – he still hasn’t scored in the Premier League – surely mean it’s time for him to go.

Meanwhile, this Leeds star let Marcelo Bielsa down vs Liverpool…

Everton manager Frank Lampard should cash in on “dreadful” defender Michael Keane this summer and re-build the club’s defence.

According to a report in The Daily Star, West Ham United would be keen on buying the 29-year-old if the Toffees are relegated from the Premier League.

We think that they should sell him regardless of what league they’re in next season and use the money to improve the rest of the team. He is rated at £19.8m by Transfermarkt, a far cry from the £30m they paid for his services in 2017.

It would be unfair to say that Everton don’t have any talented players, however, they simply haven’t been performing good enough this season and they find themselves in a real survival battle as a result.

They have conceded the fifth most amount of goals this season and have only kept six clean sheets in the league, and at the heart of that is Keane who has made 28 appearances.

When you analyse his statistics they further highlight Everton’s defensive worries. He is in the bottom 15% compared to other defenders in the league this season when it comes to progressive carries, proving that he isn’t great at playing out from the back. He’s also netted two own goals this campaign.

Last month former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy blasted Lampard for continuing to pick Keane in his team saying that “he’s physically gone” and didn’t understand why he kept being played.

The simple answer is that the Toffees don’t have many better options. Yerry Mina who is arguably the best defender at the club has been out injured for the majority of the season, with his current hamstring injury coming in February.

It won’t be long before Keane is the wrong side of 30, at which point his value will start decreasing and Everton will get even less of the money they paid for him back. It’s not all doom and gloom though; he has had a pretty decent career overall which includes 12 appearances and a goal for England.

But ultimately he can’t cut it at the top level, and with the position they’re in, now is the time for the Toffees to build for the future. They have a perfect manager in Lampard to do this, he even has experience managing in the Championship if they do end up being relegated.

IN other news: More misery: Alan Myers drops four-word Everton claim that’ll leave supporters fuming…

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.

Crystal Palace confirmed on Friday evening that they will take on Ipswich Town in a pre-season friendly next month.

And a number of Palace supporters have been giving their thoughts regarding the fixture announcement on social media.

The Eagles will travel to Portman Road on Saturday, July 24 for a 3pm kick-off to continue their preparations for the 2021/22 campaign.

Palace learned on Wednesday that they will travel to Stamford Bridge to face Champions League winners Chelsea for their Premier League opener.

Steve Parish is yet to land Roy Hodgson’s long-term successor, but pre-season plans are rightly being finalised despite the absence of a new boss.

James McArthur scored twice the last time Palace and Ipswich faced off in 2017 in a League Cup clash.

Palace fans react

Palace shared the news regarding the friendly with the League One side on their official Twitter page.

This is what these Eagles fans had to say in reply, with one describing the news as ‘decent’.

“You don’t know how excited I am hopefully I’ll be able to get tickets and we won’t be in a full lockdown again!”Credit: @parnellphoto_”This ones decent. The Darren Ambrose derby”Credit: @ReeceJMT”BRO JUST ANNOUNCE FAVRE”Credit: @CPFC_Trigs”And who’s picking the team?”Credit: @cpfc_Rob”Are we expecting Paddy or Sean Derry to be caretaker manager for all of these pre-season matches ?”Credit: @cmburns76″Do we even have enough players to field a team?”Credit: @cockneydub

In other news: Many CPFC fans react to Lucien Favre latest, find out more here. 

According to a West Ham United source, speaking to Football Insider, GSB have made contact over a potential summer deal for exciting Dinamo Zagreb forward Mislav Orsic – coming over a week after he put Tottenham to the sword in a memorable Europa League tie.

Orsic, who has bagged an impressive 19 goals in all competitions this season for the Croatian giants (Transfermarkt), has entered West Ham’s radar as the club continue to seek attackers.

West Ham make contact for Orsic

A left winger, the forward player appears to have a prolific eye for goal – as evident by his statistics this season and his masterclass against London rivals Spurs.

The 28-year-old, currently in his prime, bagged a stellar hat-trick to dump Spurs out of Europe and heap pressure on manager Jose Mourinho across the capital.

Now, in a surprising turn of events, a West Ham source has revealed to Football Insider that GSB have made contact to potentially sign him in the summer window.

Arsenal have also enquired about Orsic, with the Irons now entering what seems to be a transfer battle.

Transfer Tavern take

A versatile star, he can play on both flanks and through the middle whilst being valued at a bargain £6.75 million by Transfermarkt.

Whether or not West Ham prioritise him over fellow targets remains to be seen, but he has emerged as an arguably brilliant option.

In other news: West Ham fans flocked to links with this ‘superb signing’, find out more here.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Leeds United striker Brian Deane believes Marcelo Bielsa is worth every penny.

This follows Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani’s interview with La Repubblica (via LeedsAllOver), where the Italian revealed that Bielsa is currently one of the highest-paid managers in the Premier League.

Bielsa has been a revelation at Elland Road since arriving back in 2018, helping the Whites to win the Championship title and promotion to English football’s top flight last season.

As for this term, the Argentinian has steered his Leeds side far from relegation in what has been a brilliant campaign for all those involved at the Yorkshire club.

Discussing Radrizzani’s revelation in an exclusive interview with FFC, Deane said:

“He’s brought a massive change to the club and I don’t know what the figures are, but he’s delivered. He’s over-delivered.

“I think their target was to finish fourth bottom and look where they are in the table, so he’s doing something good. And I’m sure these guys have factored into any budget that they’re going to offer the manager.”

Bielsa’s current contract is up at the end of the season, so it will be interesting to see how Radrizzani tries to convince the former Lille and Lazio boss to put pen to paper on a new deal.

Perhaps it is a matter of offering a pay rise after such a successful season or promising significant funds in the next transfer window.

Steve Bull has exclusively told Football FanCast that the highly rated Morgan Gibbs-White could become a key player for Wolves moving forward.

The 21-year-old spent the first half of this season on loan at Swansea, but a fractured foot restricted the midfielder to just five appearances in the Championship.

That injury saw Gibbs-White go back to Wolves in January, and he’s been involved in almost every matchday following his return.

But the England Under-21 star has struggled for opportunities in the Wolves first-team, with most of his minutes coming in the FA Cup.

However, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s men now safe, the Wolves boss has been giving several youngsters a regular taste of senior action.

And therefore, Gibbs-White was handed just his second league start of the season for Wolves against Brighton on Sunday and repaid his faith by scoring a late winner – his first ever Premier League goal.

Bull told Football FanCast that he’s come back from south Wales a different player following some previous difficulties:

“He’s had to learn a lot over the last few years. I think he was a bit of a naughty boy; he was doing some silly things out of the club.

“He went out on loan and has come back a determined young man. Nuno has put faith in him, and told him ‘keep training hard and go out there and do it’.

“I watched him against Brighton, and he looked as though he’s settled down. He’s come back a different player, with a determination and with a smile on his face. Will he fit in the plans next year? I think he will. He’s still he’s got a lot to learn, but I think he could be a big part of this club going forward.”

Charlton have endured a difficult start to the 2021/22 campaign and currently sit 19th in the League One table during the first international break of the season.

Nigel Adkins’ side have only accrued four points from their five league games, with one win, one draw and three defeats as it stands.

They opened the season with a 0-0 draw against Sheffield Wednesday before losing three games on the bounce to Oxford, MK Dons and Wigan, conceding six goals and scoring just two. Their first win of the campaign came in a 2-0 success against Crewe Alexandra in the final league match of the month.

Despite Charlton’s struggles, there were a few shining lights to give fans, and Adkins, some hope heading into the rest of the season. Due to the unflattering results, one player whose performances may have gone under the radar is George Dobson.

The midfielder, who arrived from Sunderland in the summer, was one of only three Charlton players to average a SofaScore rating of 7.00 or higher last month, suggesting that he was one of the club’s best performers. He was an unsung hero in his four starts, as his individual performances were wasted by his team-mates letting him down and ultimately losing, bar the draw with Sheffield Wednesday.

Defensively, Dobson worked his socks off for the team and was very active in the midfield. As per SofaScore, he won an eye-catching 17 tackles in four matches, whilst also making five interceptions and two clearances. He won 63% of his duels on the pitch, six per game and 24 overall in his four appearances.

This shows that he was effective at putting his foot in and winning the ball back for Charlton. He was also secure in possession in his own half, completing 95% of his passes inside his own half of the pitch and not making many silly mistakes to gift the ball back to the opposition.

Dobson had 175 touches of the ball in the four matches combined despite Charlton failing to win any of them, showing that he was actively involved in trying to turn the game around for the Addicks. Along with his impressive passing accuracy and defensive awareness, this shows that he was one of the club’s better performers during this poor run, which is why he was their unsung hero during August – not getting the credit he deserved due to the team’s poor results.

Read more: These figures sum up one of Dobson’s best performances so far this season