All posts by z3u9t.icu

With an agreement in place to sign Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona and the emergence of reports suggesting that they are working on a deal to sign Lucas Digne from fellow Premier League club Everton on a permanent basis, Aston Villa have been pretty busy in terms of transfer business so far this month.

Taking into account how Coutinho and potentially Digne would presumably be first-team regulars in Steven Gerrard’s side, it seems as though the Midlands club have their eye on signing a player that could become a senior player for the future.

What’s the news?

According to journalist Pete O’Rourke in a recent Twitter post, Villa have made a bid to sign Dundee United’s 17-year-old defender Kerr Smith.

As a product of United’s youth academy, Smith has already made 12 senior appearances for the Scottish club, showing how highly rated he is by the coaching staff there.

In those 12 appearances, Smith has predominantly been deployed in his usual centre-back position but also as a right-back on occasion, showing his versatility at such a young age.

Future star?

If Villa do end up signing him this month, it seems unlikely that he will be thrown straight into Gerrard’s first team, even though they have said goodbye to Axel Tuanzebe recently.

That’s considering they’ve got the likes of Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause in their squad who are much more experienced than Smith in terms of age.

However, if Villa were to add him to their U23 squad or even loan him out to get some regular minutes elsewhere, this could be a good first step towards potentially becoming a first-team player for the Midlands club in the future, which would surely please a lot of Villa fans if he’s good enough.

However, he may be of better use acting as a fourth centre-back option now Tuanzebe has left. After all, there would be far worse candidates considering Smith has already gained senior experience in Scotland.

Either way, if Villa are interested in signing the teenager this month, it shows that the club’s owners are not just focused on signing players such as Coutinho and possibly Digne to help strengthen the team on a short-term basis, but that they are also keen on bolstering the club’s youth teams to develop players that can be real assets for them on a long-term basis.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano drops exciting AVFC transfer claim that’ll have lots of fans buzzing – opinion

When Crystal Palace parted ways with seven first-team stars in the summer at the end of their contracts, one of the most noticeable names was Dutch left-back Patrick van Aanholt.

After four-and-a-half seasons at Selhurst Park, the two parties couldn’t agree a new deal and the 31-year-old former Chelsea man opted to join Turkish outfit Galatasaray on a free transfer. That opened the way for Palace academy graduate Tyrick Mitchell to step into the first-team on a regular basis.

Last season Mitchell made 19 appearances in the Premier League and played 90 minutes in each of them, while Van Aanholt struggled with injury and form. That was clearly enough for Palace chairman Steve Parish and new manager Patrick Vieira to put their belief into the 22-year-old to be an instant replacement.

He hasn’t let them down either, so far being an ever-present in the Premier League team for Palace and playing every minute available to him. But more than his availability, it’s his performances that have been enough to convince Palace fans that they made the right decision in refusing to give Van Aanholt a pay-rise on his £55k-per-week deal last summer.

According to WhoScored, Mitchell currently ranks first for successful tackles per game at the club with 3.0, ranks second for interceptions per match with 1.4 and ranks fourth for most clearances with 2.5. He is also averaging 0.9 successful dribbles an outing, the same amount as Wilfried Zaha, and earned himself an assist in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle in October to show he can be an offensive threat too.

The £5.8m-rated Van Aanholt was great during his time with the Eagles, even being labelled as “spectacular” for his performances during the 2019/20 campaign with the club. But his exit was absolutely the right decision.

It has created an opportunity for another young player to come in and establish themselves, while also freeing up cash to spend elsewhere and getting the average age of the squad down. Mitchell is repaying the faith shown in him by the club, and the fans are buzzing to have him at the club.

The club certainly gambled by letting so many regular first-teamers leave at once, but Vieira has rebuilt the team and while they are still a work in progress there is no work needed at left-back because Mitchell has stepped up expertly. Clearly, Parish struck gold with his decision-making here.

AND in other news, Patrick Vieira must unleash Michael Olise.

Newcastle United journalist Liam Kennedy, speaking to GiveMeSport, dropped an exciting update involving Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier after talks got underway. 

The lowdown

Links with the England defender date back to the autumn when The Telegraph named him as a realistic January target for the Magpies (via NUFC Blog).

The Northern Echo’s Scott Wilson has also reported that Newcastle manager Eddie Howe sees right-back as a priority position, with Newcastle willing to stump up £25m for Trippier.

Mark Douglas, a Northern Football Correspondent at the I, says it would be ‘a great move’ for the club, and sports journalist Josh Bunting says it is ‘exactly the sort of signing’ they need.

The latest

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Kennedy revealed that Newcastle have opened discussions with Atletico over a transfer fee for the 31-year-old, who is one of Howe’s leading targets ahead of the January transfer window.

The journalist said: “There have been some talks with fees with Atletico and I think it’s a deal that can get done. He is top of Eddie Howe’s priority list, along with a couple of others.”

The verdict

It seems that Newcastle might be able to convince Atletico, even though Trippier is a mainstay in Diego Simeone’s team, but can they persuade the player to swap Madrid for Tyneside when the La Liga side have qualified for the Champions League knockout stages and Newcastle face a relegation battle?

Wilson has written that the player could view the move as a means of strengthening his 2022 World Cup prospects, and perhaps his camp will also insist upon a relegation clause being included in his contract, allowing him to exit on the cheap if Newcastle do go down.

On top of this, Kennedy’s update suggests that the Magpies have more than a fighting chance of bringing Trippier back to England.

In other news, has an opportunity emerged for Newcastle to sign this Premier League player?

West Brom have a challenging fixture ahead of them away to Blackpool tomorrow night, and will be hoping to secure three points to put them closer to the top two spots in the Championship currently held by Fulham and Bournemouth.

The Baggies have only won two of their last five games, which will be frustrating for manager Valerien Ismael, who will have been tasked with the challenge to take the side back to the Premier League next season.

One player that has been proving he has potential to play for the side if they get back to the Premier League, is Callum Robinson.

The £5.4m rated forward had a fantastic international break with his national side, the Republic of Ireland, where he contributed in holding Portugal to a 0-0 draw and even beat Cristiano Ronaldo to be Man Of The Match award in the game.

Despite this impressive performance, the 26 year old attacker was left out of Ismael’s starting XI against Huddersfield Town last weekend, in which the side lost.

With Livermore red carded, an in game substitution for a forward in a ten man team clearly wasn’t in the manager’s thought process as he tried to maintain some damage limitation for the rest of the game.

When asked by Birmingham Live, Ismael gave this response about not including Robinson;

“For sure we would have liked to play with Robbo but we have another game on Tuesday so we have to manage this.

“We wanted to put Robbo in but come the red card we had to change the game plan so this situation is due to the comeback from Alex because that took one change from the three possibilities.

The Baggies manager will be hoping to emulate the Robinson we saw during international break, in West Brom’s difficult title challenging campaign ahead.

Ex-Ireland player, Kevin Kilbane spoke to The Athletic about Robinson’s striking attributes that make him such a promising player:

“He’s played in a number of positions but when he plays as a nine, he’s not restricted because he always likes to drift out to the left and then cut inside to try to get strikes away.”

“So you always feel he could do a job on the left-hand side but when we play him as a No 9, his work rate is excellent and he always gives us the option of dropping back and helping the midfield out a little bit.”

West Brom and Ismael will be hoping to unleash the Irishman in their upcoming fixture against Blackpool to help them secure three points and gain a win away from home, of which they currently only have three.

In other news: Injury blow dampens West Brom’s transfer plans for Zohore

Everton will be aiming to end a five-game unbeaten run when they take on newly-promoted Brentford in the Premier League this afternoon.

The Toffees slumped to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of reigning champions Manchester City last time out, but the performance won’t have been the only thing giving Rafa Benitez nightmares in the days since.

Key forward Richarlison picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign, ruling him out of the trip to west London through suspension, while in-form winger Demarai Gray had to be substituted after picking up an abductor issue.

The 25-year-old is set to join the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes on the injury list, although star midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure could make his return.

Benitez’s extensive list of absentees in the final third of the pitch should present another opportunity for the £43k-per-week summer signing Salomon Rondon to score his first goal for the club as he features in a patched-up forward line.

With that in mind, here’s how Football FanCast expects the Blues to line up at the Brentford Community Stadium, with just two changes from the side that started against City…

In goal, England’s current No.1 Jordan Pickford will keep his place between the sticks after enjoying a stellar 2021 for both club and country.

The defence will be made up of a rather familiar back four, with Lucas Digne, Ben Godfrey, Michael Keane and Seamus Coleman completing the defence unit as they go in search of their first clean sheet on the road since 28 August.

Benitez will have some tough decisions to make when it comes to selecting his desired midfield four.  Doucoure is unlikely to be able to feature from the off, while youngsters Lewis Dobbin and Tyler Onyango will surely have to settle for a place on the substitute’s bench.

Therefore, the struggling Alex Iwobi, Allan, Fabian Delph and Anthony Gordon are expected to form the engine room tasked with exerting some control over proceedings in the capital.

Ahead of them will be Andros Townsend and Rondon.

The Venezuela international was described an “unbelievable” by talkSPORT host Jim White during his previous spell under Benitez’s tutelage at Newcastle United, and he’ll be hoping to rediscover that form today.

And, in other news…Big boost: Everton receive potential injury lift ahead of Bees, Rafa will be buzzing

A number of Liverpool supporters are excited after it emerged that the Reds are expected to wear their new Nike away kit away to Manchester United.

Jurgen Klopp’s men face one of their biggest games of the season this weekend, making to trip to Old Trafford for a fierce clash with United.

Liverpool are in superb form at the moment, thumping Watford last Saturday and winning away to Atletico Madrid in midweek, but this will be a stern test even despite their hosts’ questionable form.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375258″]

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under huge pressure and United don’t look on the Reds’ level currently, but they have the attacking quality to win matches in an instant.

According to This Is Anfield [via Anfield Watch on Twitter], Liverpool will wear their new Nike away strip for the first time on Sunday, giving fans a chance to see it on the biggest stage of all.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-8/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Liverpool fans react to kit claim

These Reds supporters reacted to the news on Twitter, with many seeing this is a ‘good omen’.

“Finally”

Credit: @stackz1shot

“We winning 6-0”

Credit: @lulusityy

“Finally. I hope this kit be our good omen”

Credit: @Hananliverpool

“Looks great”

Credit: @sean99o82

“I’m wearing mine all day then”

Credit: @TheOrigin__96

“Such a beauty”

Credit: @quindelamore

In other news, some Liverpool fans are fuming at one piece of news ahead of the United clash. Read more here.

With 12 goals conceded in their opening ten Premier League games of the season, it’s safe to say that Southampton have not been as defensively weak as some of the other teams around them in the league table at this moment in time.

One senior player that has played a significant part of Southampton’s season so far is 25-year-old centre-back Jan Bednarek.

He has played the full 90 minutes in each of the club’s six previous league fixtures, keeping a clean sheet on three of those occasions against Manchester City, Leeds United and Watford.

Looking away from Ralph Hasenhuttl’s senior side, however, there is one player that Southampton currently have in their youth ranks that could go on to become the next version of Bednarek at St. Mary’s. That happens to be 20-year-old defender Oludare Olufunwa.

As a product of Southampton’s youth system, Olufunwa has made 14 appearances for the club’s U18 side, managing to score one goal as well as making 24 appearances for the Southampton B team, netting twice and providing one assist along the way.

So far this season, Olufunwa has featured on eight occasions for the B team across all competitions, predominantly playing as a centre-back but also as a right-back. Impressively, he’s donned the captain’s armband on two occasions in their matches against Norwich City and Middlesbrough, showing not only how important he is to the team, but also how versatile he can be on the pitch.

That part of his game is something that stands out to the academy staff too. Dave Horseman once said:

“He has demonstrated good leadership abilities on and off the field and we are delighted he has extended his stay at the club.”

Matt Hale added after he penned terms with the club: “Dare has shown real promise during his first year as a young professional.”

That ability to inspire others is something that has been key in Bednarek’s progression on the south coast. The Saints boss once hailed the Pole as the “perfect role model.”

Looking ahead to the future, if Olufunwa can continue to play regularly for the Southampton B team and make the most out of any potential opportunities he may be given, we feel that he could become a regular senior figure for the Saints in the coming years, much in the same way that Bednarek has done since his arrival in England.In other news: Time to go: Southampton must cut ties with £60k-p/w outcast, Ralph doesn’t rate him – opinion

With Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers side heading into Saturday’s Premier League clash on the back of a decent run of league form, the 45-year-old manager would have undoubtedly been hoping for yet another positive result when Wolves welcomed Newcastle United to Molineux.

And, while it was not exactly the best performance the Old Gold have ever put in, they nevertheless managed to overcome Steve Bruce’s winless Newcastle side thanks to two goals from summer signing Hee-Chan Hwang, with the South Korea international’s brace being enough for Lage’s men to secure a 2-1 win.

However, while the 25-year-old winger stole the headlines with his goals, Lage will have arguably been more impressed with the performance of Raul Jimenez, as, despite not getting himself on the scoresheet, the centre-forward put on a dominant display against the Magpies.

Three key passes

After scoring a match-winning first goal of the season against Southampton last time out, the 30-year-old striker will have gone into Saturday’s fixture in high spirits, and it certainly showed.

Over his 90 minutes on the pitch against Newcastle, the £25.2m-rated man proved an extremely creative outlet for Lage’s side, providing both of the assists for Hwang’s goals, making three key passes, creating one big chance and completing five of his six attempted dribbles.

The player who Nuno Espirito Santo dubbed a “special” talent also chipped in for his side in a defensive capacity, winning eight duels, making one tackle, one clearance and drawing one foul against the Magpies in a dominant physical display.

These returns saw the £41k-per-week man earn a SofaScore match rating of 8.0, with only Hwang receiving a higher rating than the Mexico international on the day.

As such, while Jimenez did not manage to score himself, the 30-year-old nevertheless ran the show for his side on Saturday, with his performance undoubtedly giving Lage and the Wolves fans confidence that their team can continue their current run of Premier League form after the international break.

In other news: Wolves dealt “massive blow” on 20 y/o beast, Bruno Lage will be gutted

Manchester United staged a superb Champions League comeback against Atalanta on Wednesday evening to win 3-2 at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils had been booed off the field by the frustrated home crowd at half-time after the visitors had raced into a two-goal lead, but the following 45 minutes were a sharp contrast to the opening period.

Goals from Mario Pasalic and Merih Demiral had put La Dea into a comfortable lead going into the break, with United’s lack of organisation, structure and attacking intent easily exposed.

However, Marcus Rashford bagged his second strike in two games since returning from injury just eight minutes into the second half, swinging the momentum of the tie firmly in the home side’s favour.

Captain Harry Maguire then stepped up when his charges needed him most, expertly driving home at the near post after being left unmarked following a corner, before Cristiano Ronaldo inevitably stole the headlines. 

Just as he did against Villarreal three weeks ago, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner stepped up as the game was drawing to a close to snatch all three points, rising highest to meet a fabulous Luke Shaw cross, sending United to the top of Group F.

But despite the Portugal international’s heroics, it was arguably his compatriot Bruno Fernandes who was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s real hero on the night.

The 27-year-old epitomised United’s sloppy play in the first half, with countless passes from the playmaker going astray as he failed to spark the hosts into life, yet his willingness to keep trying things others wouldn’t even think of finally paid dividends.

It was Fernandes who got the assist for Rashford’s crucial goal with an audacious through ball via the outside of his boot, and it spurred the creative talent on to drive the Red Devils to victory.

As per FotMob, he received a match rating of 8.9 out of 10, the highest total awarded to any player on the pitch, and when looking at his underlying numbers, it’s easy to understand why.

Alongside his assist, Fernandes also created three chances for his teammates, won a whopping 10 duels throughout the 90 minutes and made a huge eight key passes, highlighting his influence over proceedings.

With tricky fixtures against Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur on the horizon for United, Solskjaer will be hoping his star midfielder can replicate his second-half performance from start to finish.

And, in other news…Report reveals exciting Man Utd manager update that’ll leave some fans buzzing 

Everton return to Premier League action following the international break bang in form and with plenty of confidence.

The Toffees have secured seven points from a possible nine available and kept their first clean sheet of the season last time out.

However, they will be taking on a battle-hardened Burnley side on Monday night under the lights.

The task at hand will not be easy, especially if Rafa Benitez has to name his starting XI without star striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Whether or not the forward is fit remains to be seen but here’s the XI we’re predicting at Goodison Park this evening.

We’re tipping the manager to make three changes from the side that beat Brighton 2-0 a fortnight ago.

The first alteration to note is up front where Salomon Rondon earns his debut for Everton.

Rondon was signed on transfer deadline day and will link with Benitez for the third time in his career. He plays at the expense of Calvert-Lewin who is a doubt for the game after training through pain in the last few weeks with a broken toe.

It would be a risk to play him and thus, we think the powerful 31-year-old will start instead.

The remaining changes are in the middle of the defence where Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina return to the fray.

Both of the centre-backs have been out injured in recent weeks with Mason Holgate and Michael Keane having to play instead.

They kept a valuable shut out versus Brighton but the latter has been far from assured in 2021/22 so far.

We have already championed the idea of Mina and the £68k-per-week-earning Godfrey starting so they come in at centre-back to give Everton the best possible chance of winning against physically tough opponents.

Seamus Coleman picked up a hamstring injury on international duty with the Republic of Ireland but the boss has revealed that he should be fit to start at right-back.

Demarai Gray continues his role on the left and will look to score for a third successive game after his summer arrival.

AND in other news, Bye-bye James: Rafa must unleash Everton’s “sensational” rarely-seen 17 y/o this term…