All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Aston Villa have been thriving ever since Steven Gerrard was appointed as Dean Smith’s replacement as manager, following a bad start to the season which left them 16th after losing five consecutive games in the Premier League during the autumn.

Villa have picked up 16 points in 10 games under the 41-year-old and now sit level on points with 10th- placed Leicester City in the league table, with Gerrard’s impact on the side clear to see.

Despite the U-turn that the Liverpool legend has inspired so far at Villa, not every player has benefited from his presence at the club, with Danny Ings failing to make an impact ever since he was signed last summer.

It is clear that the 29-year-old and fellow striker Ollie Watkins can’t find the connection when they play together, with Ings scoring three of his four Premier League goals this season when his strike partner was not on the pitch.

At the end of December, it was revealed that the former Southampton forward had the lowest non-penalty xG per 90 (0.15) and the lowest xA per 90 (0.02) of any Premier League forward so far this season, and has since scored just one goal.

Ings’ presence is clearly affecting Watkins’ output too, as the latter has been relocated out wide to accommodate the ex-Liverpool striker, Nonetheless, he has scored more than Ings, with five goals and one assist in 19 appearances so far this season.

Former Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor weighed in on the lack of connection between the two strikers. Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “For me, when I watch Watkins play as a central striker making runs into the channels, that’s where I want to see him, that’s what gets the best out of him.

“Every time I’ve watched Ings and Watkins play together it hasn’t worked, something isn’t working with their connection.”

Now that Gerrard has signed Philippe Coutinho, it could be the right time to axe the £19.8m-rated Ings from the team. That would Watkins to revert to his preferred position up top, with Emi Buendia and Coutinho out wide, a setup which was clearly more effective in Villa’s first win in three games against Everton recently.

It will be interesting to see how the Villa manager tackles the challenge of setting up his forward line, especially when Leon Bailey returns from injury. Unfortunately for Ings, he simply hasn’t done enough since the start of the season to merit being a regular in the starting XI, so it may be time for Gerrard to wield the axe on him.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano drops behind-the-scenes Villa claim

Everton are reportedly now eyeing an ambitious move for Conor Coady in the summer.

The Lowdown: Everton’s defensive misery

The Goodison Park club have conceded no fewer than 49 goals in the Premier League so far this season, the fifth-worst defensive record in the top flight.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/everton-news-3/” title=”Everton news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Merseyside legend Jamie Carragher even went as far as to claim that they have a ‘Championship back four’ after a 5-0 mauling at Tottenham Hotspur in March, so Frank Lampard’s team could do with strengthening their backline this summer.

The Latest: Coady eyed by Everton

Writing in his latest piece for TEAMtalk, transfer insider Graeme Bailey has revealed that the Toffees are now plotting an ambitious swoop for Coady in the summer, but any potential move does come with difficulties.

He still has three years left on his contract at Wolves, so he would not come cheap, while he also has a strong connection to Everton’s rivals Liverpool after being born there and making a handful of appearances for the Reds’ first team.

Also, the Midlands club are currently fighting for European football, in sheer contrast to the Blues at the other end of the table, so one would question whether Coady would like to take a step down.

However, Everton may have an advantage through Kevin Thelwell, who was at Molineux when Coady was signed and has had shared glowing references of the defender in the past, once calling him ‘fantastic’ after a spell at Huddersfield Town.

The Verdict: Unlikely

For all of the reasons mentioned above, it is highly unlikely that the Toffees would be able to lure Coady away from Molineux.

Described as a ‘brilliant defender’ by pundit Noel Whelan, the 29-year-old has worked his way into the England squad with his impressive performances for his club, with Gareth Southgate hailing him after his “outstanding” Three Lions debut back in 2020.

If he were to join Everton, the Wolves captain may struggle in a team which is certainly not as good defensively, so the move does not seem beneficial to his career at this moment in time.

Nonetheless, it would be a great coup for the Toffees should they be able to land his signature.

In other news, Everton are also eyeing a move for this Premier League ‘wizard’

Tottenham Hotspur moved into the Premier League’s top four with a resounding win over Newcastle United on Sunday evening.

It was the visitors who took a surprise early lead after centre-back Fabian Schar curled in a free-kick that goalkeeper Hugo Lloris really should’ve dealt with better.

But Spurs hit back instantly through Ben Davies, who glanced home a cross from Heung-min Son. Matt Doherty then met Harry Kane’s ball in after the break before Son notched their third.

By the hour mark, things got even better, and it was another wing-back on the scoresheet in Emerson Royal, tapping home from close range. Late substitute Steven Bergwijn finished the rout with his fourth goal in under ten days, across both international and domestic matches.

Despite not getting on the scoresheet, it was leading talisman Kane who took home the ‘Man of the Match’ award but ultimately, any of the aforementioned named could’ve taken the crown, as could Cristian Romero.

The Argentina centre-back was an absolute “animal” for the north Londoners, just as teammate Pierluigi Gollini described him as back in September, also claiming that he was “perfect” for the Premier League.

Indeed, he has been showing that all campaign but this outing was particularly impressive, even if Newcastle rarely threatened.

As per SofaScore, Romero won a whopping match-high seven tackles, which was three more than any other player on the pitch and more than his defensive peers combined.

He also won eight of his ten ground duels (80%) and one aerial duel, as well as one clearance and one block too, proving to be a big influence defensively but the £36m-rated colossus was also cool and collected on the ball, making 94% of his 82 passing attempts.

Romero was frequently involved, often starting many of their attacks, having recorded the second-highest number of touches (94), also via SofaScore.

‘Another dominant performance. Denied Joe Willock a certain goal with a flying block and lifted the crowd with two crunching tackles of Allan Saint-Maximin,’ described Evening Standard reporter Dan Kilpatrick in his post-match ratings, where the 23-year-old was graded a nine out of ten – tied with Kane, Doherty and Son.

On the above evidence, it’s hard to argue against Romero being a hero on the day. His aggression in defence and ball-playing ability makes him a hugely exciting talent and one that Spurs, and manager Antonio Conte, absolutely delighted to have him at the club.

AND in other news, Levy had a Spurs nightmare on £204.2m “alien” who has “magic in his boots”…

Despite having lost all of their last three matches in the Premier League, Everton will head into Tuesday night’s match with Cardiff City as slight favourites after Neil Warnock’s men were hammered 5-1 by Watford this past weekend.

Everton probably preferred having the weekend off to regroup as a team ahead of the match at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Marco Silva’s men dominated proceedings at Watford last weekend but suffered defeat thanks to an Andre Gray goal in the second-half.

But, one big positive that the manager could’ve taken from the match with the Hornets was the short but clinical performance by substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who replaced Gylfi Sigurdsson in the 74th minute.

The change saw Calvert-Lewin and Cenk Tosun play together for the first time in quite a while. And, Calvert-Lewin immediately made his presence felt as Everton pressed high up the pitch, hoping to snatch a late equaliser.

Silva has struggled to find his best combinations so far this season and has been rotating his team quite regularly in recent matches.

Playing Calvert-Lewin and Tosun together, as two strikers, could give the team a significant boost.

Indeed, this new solution may just be the answer to the Toffees’ recent attacking woes, with a successful trial in their next game against Cardiff City possibly being the first step to launching Everton into the European places.

Silva dropped Bernard to the bench for the match against his former team and started Sigurdsson on the left wing, with Tom Davies operating in the middle.

A change in formation might be more accommodating if both Calvert-Lewin and Tosun start on Tuesday, which would present Everton with a new and exciting tactical shift.

It could also present more chances for crosses to be whipped into the box, while Calvert-Lewin has shown in the past that he has the pace to cause opposition defenders problems.

Tosun could assist Calvert-Lewin, with his shooting accuracy and ability to create space possibly proving too much for a very vulnerable Cardiff defence to handle.

West Ham United’s top-six hopes were dealt a big blow this afternoon as the Hammers were held to a 1-1 draw by relegation-threatened Burnley.

The managerless Clarets, who parted company with Sean Dyche on Friday after ten years in charge, took the lead through Wout Weghorst in the 33rd minute and could’ve had a two-goal lead at half-time when awarded a penalty. However, the spot-kick was missed by Maxwell Cornet.

Irons midfielder Tomas Soucek was able to equalise with 16 minutes to go for the hosts to ensure they took something from the match, although after Thursday’s 3-0 win in Lyon, the result will certainly be a disappointment.

Depsite the result, there were some shining lights for David Moyes’s side with attacking midfielder Manuel Lanzini particularly impressive.

According to SofaScore, the Argentinian was the Hammers’ joint-second best player, picking up a 7.4/10 rating alongside right-back Ben Johnson with goalscorer Soucek the highest-ranked with a score of 7.5.

The Czech Republic international’s goal was assisted by the 29-year-old, his fourth of the campaign, who also managed to impressively complete 93% of his passes whilst making 65 touches in a lively 79 minutes.

With three key passes and a 100% dribble success rate, the playmaker was a handful to deal with for Burnley. Moreover, Lanzini also won half of his duels.

Eyelids certainly wouldn’t have been batted outside the London Stadium when team news was announced if the Argentinian wasn’t starting having played from the off three days prior in Lyon.

Furthermore, the attacking midfielder was recently involved in a serious car crash that left him with a knock.

However, once again being deployed in the middle of an attacking midfield trio, the 29-year-old, who was labelled as a “special, special player” by captain Declan Rice earlier this season, impressed.

There’s plenty of competition for places in West Ham’s attacking midfield with the likes of Said Benrahma, Nikola Vlasic, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen all able to play behind the striker.

The Argentinian is easily the longest-serving of them all though and is certainly a fan favourite after seven seasons at the East London club.

Although, his time as a Hammer may soon come to an end with the maestro’s contract set to expire next summer with few signs suggesting an extension will be signed.

For now, though, Lanzini must continue performing well to maintain a starting spot in both the Premier League and Europa League as the Hammers look to push for European qualification for next season.

AND in other news: West Ham plot bid for £21.6m-rated “leader”, Moyes can now axe “shocking” £61k-p/w dud

James Hunter has now shared some early Sunderland team news before the play Cambridge United at home in League One this afternoon.

The Lowdown: Dajaku out

Alex Neil has confirmed that Leon Dajaku will miss the game at the Stadium of Light as he continues to recover from illness.

However, the former Preston North End and Norwich City manager also confirmed that both Thorben Hoffman and Callum Doyle are ‘better’, while Aiden McGeady has now started training with the first team again (The Chronicle).

The Latest: Pritchard in?

Taking to Twitter, The Chronicle journalist Hunter has now shared an update from Neil on Alex Pritchard ahead of the match:

“Alex Pritchard is a lot closer than he has been and I would imagine he will feature.”

The Verdict: Big boost

The fact that Pritchard could play a part against Cambridge is a big boost for the Wearsiders, especially given the fact that he has only managed to play in one of their last seven league games.

Before his latest injury setback, the Englishman was a mainstay in the side, having already managed four goals and 12 assists from midfield in total over all competitions so far this season (Transfermarkt).

Nonetheless, his creative influence would be handy in breaking down what could be a stubborn Cambridge team away from home, and so the Black Cats supporters will be praying that he features, even if it has to be from the bench.

In other news, find out what SAFC update has now left Roker Report buzzing here!

Newcastle United are reportedly now targeting a move for Renan Lodi in the summer.

The Lowdown: Targett conundrum

The St James’ Park club have a conundrum over whether to sign Matt Targett on a permanent deal following his loan spell from Aston Villa.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/newcastle-news-5/” title=”Newcastle news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

They have reportedly not made a decision yet, although polls suggest that the vast majority of the fanbase would choose to bring him in permanently.

The Latest: Lodi targeted by Newcastle

As per journalist Jacque Talbot, Lodi ‘remains a target’ for Newcastle despite Targett’s ‘glowing performances’, with the latter set to ‘hold talks’ with the Tyneside club this summer after his loan ends.

Replying to a fan on Twitter, Talbot then revealed that the Atletico Madrid defender will likely cost around €50m (£42.2m) and that a deal is ‘very negotiable’, saying: “Think about €50m but have heard it’ll be very negotiable how it’s done.”

Expanding in his article for Football Transfers, the journalist said that ‘sources’ have told the news outlet that talks over Targett will still proceed despite the interest in Lodi, as both Newcastle and Villa are ‘happy’ with how things are going at the moment.

However, the representatives of Lodi have already spoken to the Magpies, with discussions taking place in the January transfer window over a potential move then.

The Verdict: Targett over Lodi

If the Toon could only sign one of those left-back options, they should be looking at signing Targett over Lodi.

Firstly, the Englishman should be a lot cheaper, with €15m (£12.6m) thought to be enough for his permanent signature.

His performances for Eddie Howe’s team should not be overlooked either, and he is actually averaging more tackles, interceptions, clearances, blocks, shots, key passes, dribbles, crosses and long balls per game than the Atletico Madrid left-back in their respective domestic leagues so far this season (WhoScored).

The new owners at St James’ Park should be prioritising a move for Targett first, before potentially moving onto Lodi if a deal cannot be struck.

In other news, find out whose NUFC future is now in doubt

West Ham United are now facing potential headaches in their pursuit of Shakhtar Donetsk pair David Neres and Lassina Traore, according to TEAMtalk.

The Lowdown: Special transfer window

FIFA have announced a special transfer window following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It permits individuals playing in either country to sign for another club overseas, as they have had their current contracts suspended. At the end of June, players would then return to their parent clubs in Russia or Ukraine.

As a result, Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk have received vast interest for a number of their stars, with many clubs looking to bolster their options for the remainder of the season on the cheap.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-latest-developments-4/” title=”West Ham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: West Ham face game-time obstacle

According to TEAMtalk, West Ham are facing potential difficulties in their bid to sign Shakhtar duo David Neres and Lassina Traore.

Whilst the Hammers are interested in signing both players, it has been reported that the Donetsk club are worried that the Irons would lower their future fees through a lack of game-time, as David Moyes already has a settled squad.

Therefore, the Ukrainian outfit are more inclined to go with with the interest coming from the likes of Lyon, Marseille, Real Sociedad or Corinthians.

The Verdict: Still worth pursuing

Despite this potential hurdle to deals being done, the duo would be strong additions to Moyes’ squad. Neres only joined the Ukrainian club in January after a dip in form at Ajax led to a €16m (£13.4m) move. Due to the conflict in the country, he is yet to feature for his new employers.

However, the 25-year-old had previously thrived in the Netherlands, where he produced 47 goals and 41 assists in 180 appearances for the Dutch giants.

Also signing from Ajax, Traore joined Shakhtar last summer. Despite missing the last nine league fixtures due to a knee injury, the 21-year-old has had an impressive start to life in Ukraine, having netted six goals in seven appearances in the top flight.

Given the clinical nature of the two attackers, West Ham would bolster their forward ranks greatly if they were to persuade Shakhtar to do business. With no fee involved, this seems like too good of an opportunity to pass up for GSB, particularly given Moyes’ lack of depth in the final third of the pitch.

In other news: West Ham seemingly have an edge in another transfer pursuit

Antonio Conte now wants to sign Paulo Dybala for Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.

The Lowdown: Early promise

Dybala showed so much promise early on his his career, as he scored 13 goals and made 10 assists for Palermo in the Serie A back in the 2014/15 season, when he was just 21 years of age.

Described as a ‘great player’ by none other than Argentina international teammate Lionel Messi back in 2015, Dybala then earned his big-money move to Juventus, where he still plays his football.

That is not to say he has dropped off since the switch to Turin, bagging out of contract in the summer, and it looks like he could be moving on to pastures new.

The Latest: Conte wants Dybala

As per Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), a ‘serious’ move for Dybala would ‘please’ Conte, and he is ‘liked’ by the North London club.

However, they may face competition from both Manchester City and Inter Milan for his signature, and Dybala himself wants Juve to offer him a new deal if the money is right.

The Verdict: No-brainer

If the Lilywhites can get Dybala in, especially as a free agent if contract talks with the Old Lady break down, then it is surely a no-brainer.

The 28-year-old still holds a market value of £45m according to Transfermarkt, and THFC have been crying for someone else in the forward line to help Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min for goals and creative output.

Dubbed a ‘world-class’ player by former N17 goalkeeper Paul Robinson, Dybala has scored no fewer than 143 times and supplied a further 68 assists for both club and country combined over the course of his career, and there is surely more to come from him, especially in a World Cup year.

In other news, find out who has now left Tottenham on loan here!

Ibrox giants Rangers are reportedly closing in on their first signing of the upcoming transfer window as Giovanni van Bronckhorst already gets to work…

What’s the talk?

According to DH Les Sports, the Gers are in ‘notable’ talks to sign Zulte Waregem defensive midfielder Abdoulaye Sissako this summer.

The report claims that the Belgian outfit want to extend his contract by another year but the player is keen to leave and is now engaging in discussions with the Scottish giants as he looks to make the switch to Glasgow.

Gio will surely be buzzing

Gio van Bronckhorst will surely be buzzing with this news for multiple reasons.

Firstly, it shows that Ross Wilson is already hard at work at trying to improve the Dutchman’s squad heading into next season. Despite there being plenty still to play for this term, the Gers chief is making calls and planning ahead to ensure that business is done as quickly as possible once the window opens.

This will, hopefully, give Rangers the best chance of having a successful summer as it will prevent them from rushing around at the end of August and panic-buying players. Van Bronckhorst will, therefore, be delighted with the proactive approach from his sporting director.

He will also be buzzing with the prospect of a promising addition to the team. Sissako has made 2.5 tackles and interceptions and won 4.4 duels per game for Waregem, whilst also completing 81% of his passes. This suggests that he is reliable in possession and is a battler in the middle of the park as he attempts to win the ball back on a regular basis.

The gem has been capped 14 times by France at U19 level and racked up 58 matches in the top-flight of Belgian football, after playing 36 matches in Ligue 2 for Auxerre. This shows that he has a wealth of experience at a decent standard of football.

At the age of 23, he also has the potential to improve as a player. Van Bronckhorst can get excited by the prospect of working with the Frenchman to develop his game over the course of the season, and future campaigns, whilst having him compete with the likes of James Sands, Ryan Jack and John Lundstram for a spot in the starting XI.

He appears on course to be the club’s first signing of the summer window and van Bronckhorst will surely be delighted if that is the case…

AND in other news, Body blow: Van Bronckhorst now set for huge Rangers disaster over £27k-p/w “rock”…