All posts by h716a5.icu

Liverpool have been handed a big transfer blow, as reported target David Alaba looks to have agreed to join Real Madrid in the summer.

The Reds have been heavily linked with a move for the Bayern Munich centre-back in recent weeks, as his contract with the Bundesliga side is set to expire at the end of this season, meaning he could’ve been signed on a free transfer in the summer.

However, Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano has now confirmed that the Austrian international will join Real Madrid ahead of next season, which will surely come as a blow to Jurgen Klopp.

Alaba has established himself as one of the best centre-backs in European football in recent years, helping Hans Dieter-Flick’s side to victory in the Champions League final last season.

Last season in the Bundesliga, the 28-year-old averaged a solid 6.99 rating, making 28 appearances as Bayern cruised to the title.

He could’ve been an excellent partner to Virgil van Dijk in the heart of Liverpool’s defence, as he would’ve complemented the Dutchman’s aerial prowess and defensive quality with his own ability to make progressive passes into the midfield and attack.

Alaba has also proven himself to be extremely versatile in his career thus far, something which surely would’ve been appreciated by Klopp, as he has featured as a left-back, a centre-back and a defensive-midfielder on a number of occasions.

Considering Fabinho has arguably become the Reds’ most important player this season due to his ability to play as a centre-back as well as a defensive midfielder, it seems clear that Alaba would’ve been a hit with the German manager.

During Pep Guardiola’s time with the German side, he was full of praise for the Austrian, saying:

“He’s an unbelievable talent. He can play anywhere. He’s quick, good in the build-up and always 100 per cent focused. Without doubt, he can be one of the best centre-backs in the world. He’s a huge gift for Bayern.”

It appears as if the Spanish manager wasn’t wrong when you consider Alaba’s superb performances for Bayern in the past few seasons, and it is undoubtedly a blow for Klopp that he won’t be following in Thiago’s footsteps by making the move to Anfield next summer.

And, in other news… Klopp can refresh Salah by axing £99m-rated ace in favour of “confident” academy talent

Southampton look to have suffered another transfer setback, as they look to have failed in negotiations with Bournemouth striker Josh King.

It was reported earlier today by The Athletic that the Saints were considering bringing the former Manchester United forward to St Mary’s, in a deal that would see Shane Long move the other way.

However, his proposed move to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side now looks to be off, as David Ornstein has suggested that his wage demands were more than Southampton were willing to pay.

The Norwegian international has struggled to find form with the Cherries in the Championship this season, having failed to contribute a single goal or assist in the second tier, averaging a poor 6.29 rating.

The 29-year-old doesn’t appear to be willing to give 100% with Jason Tindall’s side having been unable to secure a move away during the summer, and with his contract with Bournemouth set to expire at the current season, it seems unlikely that he will still be a Cherries player next season.

However, he has shown that he is capable of producing in the Premier League, with 16 goals in the top-flight in the 2016/17 season the best return of his career, so perhaps he would’ve been a good addition to Hasenhuttl’s side.

Certainly, if Southampton could have swapped him for the 34-year-old Shane Long, it could’ve been a great deal for the club, as the Irish forward has just two goals in his last 37 Premier League appearances.

He also reportedly earns £60k per week with the Saints, compared to the £45k per week King earns with Bournemouth, so it seems strange that they were reportedly unwilling to match his demands, as they could’ve got Long off the wage book by bringing in the 29-year-old striker.

With time of the window running out, it seems unlikely that the £9.9 million-rated King will be making the move to St Mary’s, which is certainly a blow for Hasenhuttl when you consider that his side have struggled to score goals in recent weeks, with Che Adams and Theo Walcott both disappointing at times.

And, in other news… Hasenhuttl suffers another transfer blow at Southampton with £23k-p/w prodigy

Many Sunderland fans have been left slamming the display of Lynden Gooch despite them going through on penalties against Lincoln City in the EFL Trophy on Wednesday night.

The game was tightly poised at 1-1 after normal time, with Charlie Wyke equalising for the Stadium of Light faithful after Anthony Scully had initially put Lincoln in front.

Lee Johnson’s men ended up winning 5-3 on penalties in the end, but while there were some very good performances in a red-and-white-striped shirt, Gooch flattered to deceive.

The 25-year-old lost no fewer than 15 of his duels in the game, the most out of any player to have set foot on the pitch, and was also unsuccessful in nine of his dribble attempts (Sofascore).

He also failed to record a single key pass or accurate cross, and lost possession of the ball 20 times, again the most out of any player, earning him a very measly 6.1 overall rating on Sofascore.

Sunderland fan reaction to Gooch display

These Black Cats slammed his performance on Twitter, with one SAFC supporter even going as far as to say that the winger was ‘awful’:

“Gooch been poor of late, has to be an option to play there if he isn’t going to start JJ”

Credit: @safc25_john

“Diamond and Maguire changed the game IMO. Maguire brings people out and creates space down the wings. Gooch had a shocker.”

Credit: @marrs_jordan

“Gooch was very disappointing last night imo. Didn’t seem able to beat his man. Diamond helped turn the game our way when he came on.”

Credit: @kevindefty1

“Glad to see Gooch come off although I think it should have been earlier, he was very wasteful with the ball & clumsy in the tackle all game.”

Credit: @mackemjohn7

“Gooch is actually the worst player on the planet”

Credit: @plaistowcabbie

“We are poor to be fair. Gooch and Leadbitter awful”

Credit: @DavidMcKeever8

In other news, find out what news about Ross Stewart Sunderland fans are unhappy with here!

After sweeping aside Southampton last time out in the Premier League, Leeds United will be looking to make it back-to-back wins when Aston Villa visit Elland Road on late Saturday afternoon.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side are still very much in the mix for a surprise European place for next season, and while the Whites boss will be reluctant to make sweeping changes to a team that just won 3-0, he should seriously consider making one key decision: dropping Jack Harrison.

The £8.1m-rated star has enjoyed an impressive season overall for Leeds, netting six times and providing a further four assists in 24 Premier League games.

However, the last three games in particular have just seen him go off the boil, so much so that Bielsa has resorted to hooking him at half-time in two of those matches.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Villa, Bielsa looked to offer Harrison a bit of support after the recent decisions to take him off early.

He said: “Harrison is a very strong player mentally. He’s a very dedicated professional and on occasions, as with all the players, I maintain a dialogue with him when I see fit.”

While the Leeds boss understandably was quick to throw his backing behind the winger, the time has come for him to be dropped from the starting line-up in place of Helder Costa.

The latter has shown real sparks of life since being introduced as a half-time substitute for Harrison in the game against Arsenal, with the Portuguese ace’s well-taken finish really setting the cat among the pigeons at the Emirates.

And then, he followed that up with another impressive second-half display against Southampton. After once again coming on for Harrison at the break, Costa picked up the assist for Stuart Dallas’ strike as the Whites went from going in at half-time at 0-0, to beating the Saints 3-0 by the end.

As well as Costa seemingly picking up his form, Harrison himself has just looked a little off the pace, with his 6.6 match rating as per Sofascore the lowest of any attacker on the pitch for the Whites.

He lost the ball a whopping 13 times in just 45 minutes of action, which is startling given that his season average for an entire game is only slightly more than that at 17.3 per match.

He also failed to provide a single key passes and attempted no shots on goal whatsoever, and there may well be an element of just fatigue creeping into his game – he has after all played in every single Premier League game this season bar one.

Clearly, Bielsa’s had enough of Harrison’s below par displays in recent games, and while it would be a ruthless call to drop him from the starting line-up compeltely, it does seem as though his time might be up for right now, especially with Costa knocking heavily on the door.

Steve Bruce must recall Federico Fernandez for the game away to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday after the Newcastle United defender returned to full first-team training.

That’s according to The Shields Gazette, who note that the Argentine took a full part in all sessions carried out on Wednesday as the Magpies prepare to visit their relegation-rivals.

Fernandez has not featured for a single minute since sustaining a calf injury in defeat to Sheffield United on January 12, in what was his sixth Premier League outing since recovering from coronavirus.

Fernandez’s potential return away to West Brom will come as a huge boost for Bruce, who has lost star forwards Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin until April due to injuries sustained in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The pair join top-scorer Callum Wilson in the treatment room, although Elliot Anderson is expected to be fit to travel to the Hawthorns after an ankle injury as one of a handful of potential options to replace Almiron.

Javier Manquillo is also back in light training as he looks to continue his recover from an ankle injury sustained against Southampton, while Emil Krafth is due to return to training and contend for a place against the Baggies after developing a shin issue last Saturday.

Fernandez had returned to training ahead of last month’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester United but was deemed unfit to feature at Old Trafford or against Wolves, to see that the 32-year-old has missed Newcastle’s last 10 games across all competitions.

The £4m-rated titan, who is a free agent in the summer, has been one of Bruce’s more favoured options this season, with Fernandez starting all 16 available Premier League games and captaining the side on four occasions.

Bruce must recall Fernandez to the starting line-up at West Brom should the £47,000-per-week defender go through training unscathed ahead of Sunday’s relegation six-pointer, with the 32-cap international a key presence when on the field.

Fernandez has averaged the highest number of tackles per game by a United player who has been fielded at centre-back more than four times in the Premier League this season, with 1.5 successful challenges from 1.8 attempts, per WhoScored.

Ciaran Clark (1.1/1.4) and Jamaal Lascelles (0.9/1) have been Bruce’s most utilised options in recent weeks after losing Fabian Schar to knee ligament surgery, with both offering fewer average clearances that Fernandez (5.6) with 4.1 and 4.5, respectively.

Only West Brom’s Kyle Bartley (5.9) records a greater number of clearances per game than Fernandez, among all Premier League players who have featured at centre-half five or more times this term.

United will need Fernandez’s leadership and no-nonsense approach at the Hawthorns as they strive to secure a first win in four top-flight games, having conceded six goals in their past three and 10 since last they last kept a clean sheet.

AND in other news, an “absolutely awesome” titan has been tipped to quit Newcastle this summer…

After falling to a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League, Leeds will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they take on West Ham at the London Stadium on Monday night.

Marcelo Bielsa made some key changes to his starting line-up for the loss against the Villans, most notably dropping Jack Harrison from his starting line-up, and playing Helder Costa.

But, the Portuguese man’s woeful display warrants him being dropped from the team against the Hammers, and in his place, Bielsa must bring Harrison right back into the fold.

Speaking earlier this season, Harrison’s former teammate at New York City, Frank Lampard, waxed lyrical about the winger’s talents, saying: “An absolutely lovely lad. I’ve got so much time for Jack. I keep in touch with him. I actually spoke to him the other day. The player he’s developed into at Leeds has been really, really impressive.

“I think he’s playing great football. He’s a threat, two feet, quick, runs, high intensity and he’s one of their major players in an attacking sense. I’m delighted for him and how his career has gone of, of course we’ll want to sort of nullify that tomorrow. His career has gone in a great direction, and it will continue too.”

That ability to play at high-intensity Bielsa will surely be wanting from his side tonight, especially after such a disappointing loss last time out to Aston Villa.

And, when asked if he expected Harrison to be brought back into the starting line-up for the game against West Ham, Noel Whelan said: “Absolutely. Look, people are given an open door to come in and take your opportunity as Helder Costa was. I felt he deserved the opportunity. However, I was very, very disappointed once again with his contribution from the start to the time he came off.

“He didn’t take his opportunity, he didn’t take that chance. That’s disappointing because you want to give the manager a headache. On the other side of it, he’s made the manager’s decision, very, very easy.”

After being dropped from the starting line-up against Villa, the £17m-rated Harrison will surely be desperate to prove to his manager why that should never happen again when Leeds take on the Hammers on Monday night.

Bielsa should absolutely give him the opportunity to do just that, and he could well turn out to be the most motivated, and fresh Harrison that Leeds have all season. And that could well be a game-changer.

Meanwhile, Bielsa should look to play this exciting talent more…

Former Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez is just one manager who has been linked with the vacant Celtic managerial post in recent weeks.

Former Premier League striker Marlon Harewood has given the Hoops the green light over a potential deal for the Spaniard.

Benitez, 60, left Chinese Super League outfit Dalian Professional back in January and remains out of work despite, being offered to return to Italian side Napoli.

The Spaniard has led 12 different senior sides throughout his career, averaging a two-year period at each club.

Speaking of the possibility of seeing Benitez in the Parkhead dugout, Harewood, talking to Football FanCast, said:

“It’d be good if they can get him. Wow, that’d be a massive appointment for them. Obviously, it’s hard when you talk about [Scottish] football [to ignore] Celtic. Everyone looks forward to the Celtic-Rangers games.”

However, the former forward did have his concerns if Benitez would make the move to Glasgow.

“It’s hard to get a manager to go up there and be excited, so they obviously have to get a package together for him to go up there.”

Transfer Tavern take

Benitez was reportedly on a $15.83m (£11.4m) salary at Dalian Professional, with some believing his departure from the club was related to a pending decrease in that number.

Former Hoops boss Neil Lennon’s base salary was thought to be around £2.4m, so, financially, a deal for Benitez looks extremely unlikely.

Celtic also announced a pre-tax loss of almost £6m just last month, so they may not have the cash needed to hand Benitez to lead a Parkhead rebuild.

It remains to be seen who will be the next Hoops boss, but from the outside looking in, we don’t think it will be Benitez.

In other news: Could Celtic have another suitor for Edouard?

Marcel Brands should seal a summer swoop for Everton to sign VfB Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic and hand Carlo Ancelotti a second Dominic Calvert-Lewin type player.

What’s the word?

According to Tutto Juve, Serie A powerhouse Juventus are exploring a deal to sign Stuttgart striker Kalajdzic at the end of the season, but face vivid European competition.

The 23-year-old forward is thought to be on the radars of Everton, Newcastle United and RB Leipzig, after his Bundesliga side slapped an ‘affordable’ €20m (£17m) asking price on him.

Kalajdzic is noted by the Italian publication to be seen as the next Erling Haaland after scoring 13 goals in 24 German top-flight games this season, and he could well make a similar leap as the Borussia Dortmund sensation he is compared to.

Haaland trails only Bayern Munich’s 32-goal monster Robert Lewandowski in the Bundesliga Golden Boot race with 19 in 20 games, while Kalajdzic ranks sixth having contributed 28% of Stuttgart’s 47 efforts to date.

Reports by the Daily Mail also presented West Ham United as a potential destination for the £7,500-per-week attacker earlier this month, as David Moyes draws up a shortlist of options to target at the London Stadium.

Those claims also mentioned RB Leipzig’s interest but added that of Serie A side AS Roma, which have been supported by German publication Kicker, who note that Stuttgart’s Sporting Director Sven Mislintat has confirmed that player sales are likely this summer.

But the Mercedes-Benz Arena natives’ asking price has been questioned with the Daily Mail citing a valuation of around £15m, while Kicker claim a fee of between €20-25m (£17-21.5m) will be needed to strike a deal.

Should Everton sign Kalajdzic?

Everton appear to be drawing up their own shortlist of attacking weapons that Ancelotti and Brands can target at the end of the season, as the Goodison Park natives have recently been linked with FC Barcelona’s Martin Braithwaite too.

The Toffees may be putting precautions in place with speculation surrounding the long-term futures of Joshua King and Moise Kean on Merseyside, while Cenk Tosun will only have a year remaining on his £60,000-per-week contract come June.

Tosun is unlikely to be offered new terms given his struggles in the Premier League with 11 goals in 58 games since a £27m move from Besiktas in 2018, while King is yet to find the back of the net since his Deadline Day arrival last month.

Brands instead moving to sign Kalajdzic could see the Everton chief land Ancelotti a second Calvert-Lewin type, one who is able to match the Toffees’ top-scorer on the pitch, rather than force the Blues to play to a different tune.

Ancelotti often relies on Calvert-Lewin to offer a focal point in attack that Everton can target and play off, with the 24-year-old contesting 8.8 aerial duels a game in the Premier League – close to double the next-most of Lucas Digne (4.7) and Yerry Mina (4.6), per WhoScored.

Kalajdzic, who has been dubbed an “Ibrahimovic-machine” in comparison to Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his 6 ft 5 stature, can match that presence, having contested 5.2 aerial duels per game in the Bundesliga this term, along with taking 2.1 shots to Calvert-Lewin’s 2.5.

While the fee needed may still be unknown at this point, Brands should surely be working on a deal for Kalajdzic to join Everton.

AND in other news, Everton have their eyes on a £105k-p/w striker with three goals in 34 games for his current side…

As West Ham United post the highlights of their Under-18s triumph against Norwich City in the FA Youth Cup, breezing past the Canaries youngsters 5-0 at Carrow Road, plenty of Irons supporters have lauded their starlets as they cruise into the next round.

Goals from promising Hammers starlet Mipo Odubeko (2), alongside Jayden Fevrier, Jamal Baptiste and Kai Corbett, sealed the youngsters’ place in the FA Youth Cup Last 16 after a comprehensive victory in East Anglia.

The result means West Ham enter this stage of the competition for the first time in nine years as Kevin Keen’s side look forward to a long awaited fifth round tie (club official).

Keen’s young Hammers dominated from start to finish, with highly-rated Odubeko notching a brace as he impressed, and club footage of the highlights has prompted plenty of supporters to hold excitement over the future.

Find all of their verdicts down below in response to the club footage.

West Ham fans flock to club footage

“The ball from #10 was insane.”

Credit: @AidanWHUFC

“Future looking good for us”

Credit: @LingardinhoSzn

“Mipo looking quality”

Credit: @ejr_00

“Fantastic goals what a performance”

Credit: @colinkeenan71

“Well done lads. Hammered them”

Credit: @Stuthehammer76

“Odubeko is such a baller”

Credit: @oreeves03

“They can keep a 3-0 lead and extend it, good job lads”

Credit: @adamhammer7261

“Always better to watch than the first team”

Credit: @bluepepperaudio

In other news: West Ham fans flocked to Declan Rice’s message, find out more here.

Plenty of Aston Villa fans have been reacting to the club’s official Twitter post on striker Ollie Watkins.

The 25-year-old, who was called up by Gareth Southgate last week, made his first England appearance on Thursday evening against San Marino.

Watkins came on for Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Wembley just after the hour mark and netted the Three Lions’ fifth goal with seven minutes remaining to cap a memorable debut.

The Villa man received the ball on the edge of the area before taking a touch and unleashing a shot into the far corner.

Shortly after the game, Watkins, Villa’s club-record signing, gave a brilliant interview to ITV. He labelled the moment as a ‘dream’, with the clip being viewed over 175,000 times.

Villa fans react

Aston Villa posted the interview on their official Twitter page on Thursday evening, which as to be expected, had plenty of Villa supporters talking.

These Villa fans were buzzing for the forward…

“When we finally get to see this guy in front of a full Villa Park crowd it will be an absolute joy. The roof will be blown off!”

Credit: @NeilWhelan

“The tears in his eyes”

Credit: @LukeKing_

“So proud of our Ollie”

Credit: @clare247

“Great goal for a great lad and lovely to see a player showing how proud he is to wear the shirt”

Credit: @shendo007

“Couldn’t have happened to a more nicer bloke. Top top man Ollie”

Credit: @VillaVisionBen

“Simply love the lad”

Credit: @sporty169

In other news: Club ready to listen to offers for attacker with Dean Smith not convinced, find out more here.