All posts by z3u9t.icu

Liverpool trio Trent Alexander-Arnold, Naby Keita and Luis Diaz stole the show as the Reds overcame Benfica 3-1 at the Estadio da Luz in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. 

Jurgen Klopp’s side came away from Portugal with an all-important two-goal cushion ahead of the second leg at Anfield in a week’s time.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-27/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Despite it being far from a vintage Liverpool display, the quadruple-chasing men in yellow were clinical at pivotal moments as the hosts afforded their visitors plenty of opportunities in front of goal. Ultimately goals from Sadio Mane, Luis Diaz and a first for the club for Ibrahima Konate saw Klopp’s side leave Lisbon with a healthy scoreline.

As per stats from Sofascore, whilst some of the usually exemplary stars fell below their best, three players in particular stood out on the night.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (7.6)

Back in the team following a minor hamstring niggle which ruled the 23-year-old out of contention for England recently, the marauding right-back was certainly back up to speed in Portugal.

Showcasing a sublime range of passing once again, the Liverpudlian completed 55 of his 64 passes (86%) on the night and was so often the man to unlock a well-drilled Benfica backline. Alexander-Arnold provided two key passes –  including one raking ball which led to the second goal – and completed 11 of his 13 long balls.

Not content with an attacking masterclass from full-back, the young defender also proved his defensive acumen with three clearances, one tackle and one interception. While Mane matched his overall rating, the right-back comes third on our list as, unlike the Senegal star who was substituted on the hour, he played almost the entire match.

Naby Keita (7.9)

So often the man to be replaced on the hour mark by Klopp, it was telling that the Guinean was left on the pitch on this occasion as Thiago was instead sacrificed.

The 27-year-old was a pivotal cog in the engine room for the Reds and an impressive all-around display was underpinned by a 102-touch tally for the energetic midfielder – the most by any Liverpool player.

Keita ended the evening with one assist and two key passes to add to a 55.5% ground duel success rate (won 10 out of 18).

Luis Diaz (8.1)

Diaz received the highest rating at the Estadio da Luz from both sides as the Colombian yet again proved to be a superb January transfer window capture.

The 25-year-old was at the heart of everything in an attacking sense from Klopp’s charges and the ex-FC Porto forward marked his return to Portugal with a goal and an assist. Completing three of his six dribble attempts and creating one big chance on a plate delivery for Mane, this was yet another stellar outing from the flying winger.

In truth, it could’ve been even better for Diaz as the newest Kop icon squandered a big chance to further cement a nigh-on perfect European night for Liverpool.

In other news, Liverpool target could be set for summer exit. Read more here.

Mark Douglas has revealed that Kalvin Phillips is now on the ‘list’ of Newcastle United for a potential move in the summer.

The Lowdown: In demand

It has been reported that Manchester United are now ‘working’ on a deal to try and sign Phillips, but any move could be complicated by the rivalry between them and Leeds United.

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

The defensive midfield player is reportedly willing to sign a new contract at Elland Road, but only if they can guarantee safety in the Premier League, with West Ham and Aston Villa also sniffing around.

Jesse Marsch’s team are currently six points clear of the drop zone, but Burnley crucially have two games in hand, meaning that they can catch the Yorkshire club with two wins.

The Latest: Listed

Taking to Twitter, iNews journalist Douglas has revealed that Phillips is now on the St. James’ Park faithful’s ‘list’ for the summer.

However, the Whites ‘hope’ that they can keep him beyond this season.

The Verdict: Sign

Currently rated at £45m by Transfermarkt, Phillips would likely be a club-record transfer should the North East club be able to sign him.

Nonetheless, he could form a mouth-watering partnership with Bruno Guimaraes in midfield that would take them to the next level.

Hailed for a ‘phenomenal’ performance on England duty in Euro 2020 by Ian Wright, Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate has also sung his praises at international level.

For the Peacocks, Phillips has unfortunately been ninth place in the top flight.

He would not be easy to lure away, but the 26-year-old would certainly be a coup for the Tynesiders.

In other news, find out what ‘huge’ club-record deal NUFC are now eyeing here!

According to respected journalist Alan Nixon on Twitter, Southampton target Che Adams could be available for just £12 million as the January transfer window draws to a close. The 22-year-old currently plays his football at Championship side Birmingham City and has done so since leaving Sheffield United back in 2016, with his impressive efforts in front of goal for the Blues seemingly attracting the interest of new Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl.

And that’s because a report earlier this week from The Daily Mirror outlined the South Coast outfit’s interest in the striker, and as such the Premier League club may well be interested in what Nixon has had to say on Twitter, as he suggests that the Birmingham sensation might be available for just £12 million late on in the window.

And for just £12 million, for a player in form and with a bright future ahead of him, Southampton could seriously reap the rewards from sealing a Deadline Day deal for the 22-year-old.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, scoring goals has been something of a problem at St Mary’s in the last 18 months or so, what with the Saints only managing 37 goals in the Premier League last time round, and just 26 from their 24 league games this time round as well.

And other than Danny Ings, whose tally of eight goals in all competitions sees him comfortably head their goal-scoring charts, the other striking options simply haven’t been able to produce the goods – the likes of Shane Long, Charlie Austin, and Michael Obafemi have netted only five times between them.

And with Manolo Gabbiadini having left the club earlier this month, and the future of Austin far from certain (as per talkSPORT), another accomplished option in the final third appears necessary if Hasenhuttl is to indeed move Southampton forward in the second half of the season.

And Birmingham’s Adams certainly appears to be the man for the job given he has netted 15 times in just 29 Championship appearances for Garry Monk’s side this season, a tally which sees him sat fifth in the division’s goal-scoring charts this time round.

And with seven goals in his first season at St Andrew’s followed by nine last time round as the club staved off relegation to eventually finish 19th, it’s clear that the 22-year-old has been progressing nicely and thus getting better and better in front of goal – this season is a culmination of that improvement.

And arriving at St Mary’s full of confidence and match-ready would pale into stark contrast the arrival of Guido Carrillo 12 months ago, what with the Argentine moving to the South Coast having played and indeed scored very little for Monaco just before his move – it’s no surprise that he then struggled to make an impact at Southampton.

Yet Adams appears to be someone for not only the future but also the present, and for just £12 million for the 22-year-old sensation, it could prove to be an absolute bargain – as such, the Saints could well reap the rewards from luring the Englishman to St Mary’s before this evening’s 11pm deadline.

Southampton fans… what do you think? Let us know!

Everton have made a name for themselves when it comes to disastrous transfers ever since Farhad Moshiri took over as the owner at the club, with over £500m spent on players and absolutely no return on investment when you consider that the Toffees find themselves in a relegation battle this season.

Although Moshiri will definitely have regrets on some of the players he has already spent millions on, there are opportunities missed to sign players who have gone on to have a fantastic career elsewhere, and one of the biggest howlers was not securing the signature of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Sam Allardyce told the talkSPORT Breakfast Show that he wanted to sign the former Arsenal goal machine back in 2018 when he was the manager at Goodison Park;

“Aubameyang was desperate to come to the Premier League and we didn’t really know if it was definitely a yes [to Everton] or not – but it was probably not.

“Whether that could have happened or not, we never got that far.

“It was always going to be too much money for January, because of what the club spent previous to me arriving.”

The striker, who scored 68 Premier League goals has been hailed a “genius” by Jose Mourinho, and eventually signed for the Gunners in a deal worth £56m from Borussia Dortmund. The rest was history as he became a Premier League golden boot and FA Cup winner during his time at the London club.

When you compare the Gabon born striker’s Premier League attacking statistics (via Premier League website) with current Toffees striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Aubameyang would have clearly been the better striking option for Everton, out-achieving the 26-year-old attacker’s Premier League career so far with two seasons less in the league.

Aubameyang’s superior attacking output could have potentially saved the Toffees from several campaigns of struggles, especially this season when you consider the situation the club has found themselves in.

It’s something that can definitely be partially blamed on the lack of goals and chances created in the attacking line so far with the side only scoring 29 times compared to the 47 strikes they have conceded already.

With reports of Calvert-Lewin potentially on the move this summer it could be an opportunity for Moshiri and Lampard to find their next Aubameyang who can offer a consistent output of goal involvements, and ultimately improve their chances of thriving in the top half of the table once again should they survive their relegation challenge in the remaining months of the season.

In other news: Forget DCL: Everton must keep “terrible” £110k-p/w “huge liability”, Lamps needs him

Manchester United’s shocking defeat to Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon may have been the catalyst that has ruined the chances of a top-four finish and Champions League football for the club, and now new information has emerged on Cristiano Ronaldo’s future following the game.

What’s the word?

According to journalist Rob Draper, there are senior figures at Manchester United that have suggested it may be time to show Cristiano Ronaldo the door this summer.

In a report written for the Daily Mail, Draper claims that the Portuguese striker will be encouraged to leave the club at the end of the season, however, ultimately the decision will be rested on Joel Glazer and the board to make a final decision.

Bad news

There have been several reports suggesting that Ronaldo would leave the club if they didn’t qualify for Champions League football, but this new update that senior members at the club are now set to encourage the goal machine to leave could be seriously bad news for the team and the supporters.

Despite having one of the worst season’s of his career in terms of goals and assists, the all-time top goal-scorer in the history of football is still the top scorer this season for Manchester United with 18 goals and three assists in 34 appearances in all competitions.

In fact, before the Everton clash, Manchester United’s win ratio with Ronaldo in the team stood at 1.86 points but without him it was at an abysmal 0.86 points per game on average.

The clear influence that the 37-year-old has had on his team this season when he has played is surely a reason for the club to encourage the player to stay and see out his second season at the club under the new manager who is set to join this summer.

With that being said, it could be out of Manchester United’s hands if Ronaldo decides that he does want to play Champions League football next season and the Red Devils don’t qualify following a failed Premier League campaign.

Thus, it will be likely that the forward’s future hangs in the balance depending on the outcome of this factor at the end of the season.

In other news: MUFC make “shock approach” for “cold” £50m “warrior”, it’s bye-bye Rashford

With Wolves manager Bruno Lage previously sharing his need for the Midlands club to bring in a new centre-back during the current January transfer, it seems as though they can forget about signing one potential candidate that could have ticked all the right boxes for Lage.

What’s the news?

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, transfer insider Pete O’Rourke had this to say on Wolves’ chances of signing Lille defender Sven Botman, who the club were linked with during the previous summer transfer window.

He said: “They were interested in Sven Botman last summer but weren’t able to sign him. Obviously, his price tag has gone up, so he seems a bit of an unrealistic target right now.”

Since joining Lille back in the 2020 summer transfer window from Ajax after working his way through the Dutch side’s youth ranks, the 22-year-old has gone on to make 66 appearances across all competitions, chipping in with two goals and two assists along the way.

Fans will be gutted

As well as Lage being disappointed at having a potential centre-back option such as Botman becoming an unlikely signing for the Old Gold from a financial point of view, the fans at Molineux will surely be disappointed by this latest claim and not seeing a young promising defender such as Botman join their club.

With the Dutchman racking up an average of 5.1 clearances per game for Lille in Ligue 1 this season, this would put him neck and neck with Romain Saiss at Wolves in the Premier League, showing he’s capable of being a useful defensive asset.

Also, with Botman having made more blocks per game (1.1) than any other Lille player and more than any other Wolves player has this season, it could be worth the Old Gold finding out just what sort of money it would take to sign him and then see if they would be willing to pay it to satisfy Lage and please the fans.

Moving forward, if Botman is now an unrealistic target for Wolves, they should now be doing all they can to find a suitable centre-back option to come in and strengthen Lage’s side at the back to help them continue their impressive defensive record of having kept eight clean sheets so far this season.

In other news: Shi heading for Wolves transfer disaster on £100k-p/w star, Lage would be furious – opinion

Glasgow Rangers have been dealt a late injury blow ahead of their Scottish Premiership clash against Motherwell on Saturday afternoon, with Kemar Roofe the latest to be ruled out.

Add this to the news that Aaron Ramsey is unavailable for the Ibrox side and Giovanni van Bronckhorst faces a double injury blow that could have massive ramifications for the rest of the season.

However, there was some sort of good news following the pre-match press conference (via BBC Sport), in which the Rangers manager confirmed that Ramsey would only be missing three matches, along with Roofe, with an expected return due for the second leg Europa League clash against RB Leipzig.

Both players have ignited Gers’ chances of landing some silverware at the end of the season in recent weeks. Ever since Alfredo Morelos was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign due to injury, Roofe has stepped up to the plate, scoring vital goals against Dundee and St Mirren.

These injuries mean Van Bronckhorst will need to reshuffle his pack ahead of the crucial tie against Motherwell – something that is sure to have left the Dutchman fuming – with some players aiming to step up and take their opportunity.

Fashion Sakala is one of them. The lively Zambian has scored 10 goals and notched three assists in all competitions this season, more impressive when you consider the majority of those have been from the bench.

There is no doubt that losing Roofe and Ramsey to injury is a huge blow, but the Rangers faithful should get behind the likes of Sakala and Steven Davis as they are more than capable of slotting into the side when needed.

The Gers face eight cup finals before the end of the season (nine if they reach the Europa League final) and the squad should be brimming with confidence at the incredible opportunity that has presented itself.

AND in other news: £4.3m down the drain: “Massive” £25k-p/w “problem” robbed Rangers blind for 84 weeks

Aston Villa’s new signings this January have already been making their mark on the team with Philippe Coutinho scoring a goal in his debut appearance at Villa Park last week and Lucas Digne securing an assist for the winning goal against Everton on Saturday afternoon.

Now, Steven Gerrard could be set to add a third star signing to impact his squad.

What’s the word?

Transfer insider, Fabrizio Romano, has teased on social media that Aston Villa could still be interested in signing Boubacar Kamara during the January transfer window.

Romano tweeted;

“Been told there’s also Boubacar Kamara in Aston Villa list.”

The Midlands outfit are not alone in their pursuit for the Marseille midfielder as he has already been linked with a number of Premier League clubs including Leeds United and Newcastle United.

Fans surely buzzing

Villa fans have already been taking to social media to respond to the glimmer of hope that Romano has given for the potential signing of Kamara, with one fan tweeting:

“B. Kamara is the dream, IMO. The perfect player for us. Hope we can get him.”

Kamara, who was hailed as “out of the ordinary” by former teammate, Rolando, has made 21 appearances and scored one goal so far for his Ligue One club from his defensive midfield position and has definitely earned the attention he is attracting when you look at his defensive attributes.

According to SofaScore, in the league this season, the 22-year-old has won the majority of both his aerial duels (54%) and his ground duels (56%), has a 94% accurate pass rate in his own half proving he is effective in developing play from a defensive position and averages at 1.2 interceptions per game.

These statistics only further show the strengths that the Frenchman can add to Villa, with clear reliability in his position and has only missed three games through injury in the last three and a half years, meaning he would not only be reliable in his ability and talent, but also in fitness, with a serious injury costing Villa in their midfield already this season when Marvelous Nakamba sustained a serious knee injury.

Gerrard will need to work fast in securing the player’s signature as he is a hot prospect in defensive midfield, especially with midfield positions being a key target that many clubs in the Premier League are looking to fill or upgrade.

In other news: Journalist drops latest Yves Bissouma transfer update

Many Everton fans have been left fuming as a transfer revelation has emerged involving Anwar El Ghazi.

As per The Athletic, the former Aston Villa ace was not on their radar at the start of the January transfer window, and only came up in conversation between owner Farhad Moshiri and his advisor, Kia Joorabchian.

It suggests that there was a lack of planning before the window started over potential incomings in attacking areas, given that they had already signed full-backs Nathan Patterson and Vitaliy Mykolenko.

There must also be question marks over their scouting departments and how effectively they are using them, if Moshiri and Joorabchian have came up with the signing themselves.

Nonetheless, with a sizeable number of wingers in the squad already, El Ghazi did seem like a strange signing at the time.

Everton fans on El Ghazi transfer revelation

These members of the Goodison Park faithful fumed as the transfer revelation was shared on Twitter, with one Merseyside club supporter even going as far as to claim that it was ‘ridiculous’:

“Ridiculous”

Credit: @s_tomashevsky

“Why bother having scouts?”

Credit: @evertonskins

“Depressing”

Credit: @skjones505

“This. This is the problem with Everton Football Club.”

Credit: @MichaelF2000

“We will never make any progress under Moshiri unless he makes a dramatic change in strategy”

Credit: @EFC1878JM

“This really is a terrible way to run a football club and it shows that lessons are not being learned, and the footballing review is doomed as the person leading the review is the person who is the biggest problem.”

Credit: @EFCNovaScotia

In other news, find out who is now likely to be out for two months for the Toffees here!

Renowned Glasgow Rangers bloggers Four Lads Had a Dream hailed John Lundstram as an ‘absolute monster’ in their Scottish Cup semi-final clash on Sunday afternoon.

The Lowdown: Crunch clash at Hampden

The Gers faced another huge game after their Europa League heroics on Thursday night, taking on Celtic for a place in next month’s Scottish Cup final.

It ended up being a tense afternoon for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side, who went behind after Greg Taylor’s strike but responded thanks to captain Scott Arfield’s equaliser.

Extra-time was required to separate the two sides, with the Gers eventually prevailing to reach the final thanks to Fashion Sakala’s late strike.

The Latest: Lundstram’s influence hailed

Taking to Twitter during the match, Four Lads Had a Dream lauded Lundstram’s influence at Hampden Park:

“Been the better team but nothing to show for it. Playing ourselves into trouble the only times they have threatened. John Lundstram playing like an absolute monster. Wee bit more quality in transition needed. C’mon Rangers.”

The Verdict: Superb effort from midfielder

Lundstram hasn’t always had a big impact since trading Sheffield United for Rangers last summer, but this was undoubtedly one of his stronger days at the office.

He was a dominant presence in the middle of the park, as he hit the post with a stunning long-range effort in the first half, and the frustration that was met with him being substituted summed up his performance, as he came off to a standing ovation.

The Athletic journalist Jordan Campbell added to his praises, claiming that he was ‘superb’ and ‘got through a power of work’.

The hope is that Lundstram can continue this form until the end of the season, as van Bronckhorst’s men look to narrow the gap on Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race and win the Europa League.

In other news, a transfer expert has dropped some summer Rangers transfer news. Read more here.