All posts by z3u9t.icu

Tottenham Hotspur remain interested in a deal for Paulo Dybala this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian media outlet Tuttomercatoweb (via Sport Witness), who claim that, despite Inter Milan looking to be nearing a deal for the Juventus forward, both Tottenham and AS Roma are said to be keeping a very close eye on the situation of the 28-year-old ahead of a potential late move.

The report goes on to state that Fabio Paratici – who signed the Argentina international for Juve back in the summer of 2015 – is said to have explicitly expressed his interest in the attacker, while Roma are also said to be sending continuous signals to the player’s representatives regarding their own interest in a deal.

“Unreal”

While it would appear as if Paratici will very much have his work cut out if he is to steal Dybala from Inter’s grasp this summer, should the Italian manage to pull off a late move for the 28-year-old, it would undoubtedly be an unreal signing for Tottenham.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-much-more” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more!”]

Indeed, over his 29 Serie A appearances in 2021/22, the £31.5m-rated forward was in breathtaking form for Simone Inzaghi’s side, scoring 10 goals, providing five assists and creating 11 big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 3.4 shots, making 1.3 key passes and completing 1.6 dribbles per fixture.

These metrics saw the £225k-per-week talent who James Horncastle dubbed “unreal” average a quite astonishing SofaScore match rating of 7.43, not only ranking him as the Bianconeri’s best performer in the league but also as the joint fourth-best player in the division as a whole.

As such, the prospect of Dybala linking up with the likes of Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Harry Kane in the Tottenham attack next season will undoubtedly be an extremely tantalising one for supporters and Antonio Conte alike, while we believe that, should Paratici indeed pull off a swoop for the Argentine, it would be one of the signings of the summer.

AND in other news: “Talks are…”: Sky Sports journo drops big Spurs transfer update supporters will love

Newcastle are in the running to sign Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio, according to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness).

The lowdown

Newcastle are working on deals to sign centre-back Sven Botman from Lille and striker Hugo Ekitike from Reims, having already signed left-back Matt Targett permanently.

But manager Eddie Howe may also want to strengthen his midfield during the transfer window.

Milinkovic-Savic is predominantly a no. 8, though he can play in an attacking midfield position too.

The 27-year-old started 36 of a possible 38 Serie A games under Maurizio Sarri last season, underlining his importance to Lazio.

The latest

The report states that Newcastle and fellow Premier League side Arsenal have entered the race to sign Milinkovic-Savic.

Neither side can offer the carrot of Champions League football, after Newcastle finished 11th and Arsenal fifth, but that may not disqualify them from contention.

Lazio are said to be aware that Milinkovic-Savic’s price will continue to drop as he enters the final two years of his contract.

But they’ve still set their demands at €65million (which equates to about £56.4million) plus bonuses.

The verdict

Newcastle’s transfer record currently stands at £39.6million, the fee they paid to sign Joelinton from Hoffenheim in 2019 – is it worth breaking to land Milinkovic-Savic?

Well, his record of 11 goals and ten assists in last season’s Serie A is hugely impressive for a midfielder, ranking him in the 97th and 96th percentiles across Europe (via FBRef).

He’s able to advance the ball through dribbling (1.2 per 90, 85th percentile) and can find space to receive progressive passes (6.17 per 90, 98th percentile).

The Serbian is similar in profile to Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham and even Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne, according to his numbers.

What’s more, he’s collected a litany of individual honours, including two Lazio Player of the Year awards (2020/21 and 2021/22) and the Serie A midfielder of the year prize (2018/19).

Team-mate and former Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva believes ‘he has everything a top player needs to have’ and called him ‘unmarkable’ in the air. There’s a compelling case to make an offer.

In other news, Newcastle have made a bid for another Serie A player.

Leeds United have been linked with a transfer swoop for Paris Saint-Germain defender Colin Dagba this summer.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Foot Mercato, Leeds are one of the clubs interested in signing the full-back during the current summer window alongside Eintracht Frankfurt, Mainz and Villarreal.

The report claims that the Whites are seduced by the defender’s qualities.

The next Dani Alves

Back in the summer of 2019, the defender left Boulogne’s youth ranks to make a move to PSG’s U19 side on a free transfer.

Since then, the 23-year-old has gone on to make 105 appearances for the French champions across their senior and youth sides, scoring one goal and providing seven assists in the process.

With just three league games under his belt during the latest Ligue 1 campaign, it’s safe to say that the full-back is not at the top of the pecking order.

This makes it easy to see why he has been linked with a move away from the club this summer. That said, it doesn’t mean Leeds wouldn’t unearth an exciting player by luring him to England.

Back in 2019, Dagba spoke about how much he copied former PSG defender Dani Alves in terms of his style of play on the pitch.

He said: ” But his departure [Dani Alves] impacts me because I copied him a lot and I really appreciated him enormously for his game intelligence, his placements. He made me progress a lot.”

This could suggest that if the Yorkshire club secure the Frenchman’s signature this summer, they could then have their own version of the Brazilian at their disposal.

Taking into account how the 39-year-old has 60 goals and 171 assists in 841 club appearances in addition to a vast number of trophies under his belt, having what could be this generation’s next version of Alves would be a mouth-watering prospect for Leeds, Jesse Marsch and the fans.

In terms of the Frenchman’s attacking attributes, in the 55 league appearances he’s made for PSG, he has racked up 82 crosses, 57 shot-creating actions and a dribble success rate of 67.3%.

Labelled as a “reliable and humble player” by Thomas Tuchel, the 23-year-old could well be tempted to wave goodbye to his current club this summer if it meant that he’d be able to get the chance to play in the Premier League at a big club like Leeds.

Moving forward, if an opportunity to sign the £22k-per-week right-back crops up at some point in the next few weeks, Leeds should definitely explore the possibility of bringing him to Elland Road to see if he has what it takes to make a name for himself in England’s top division.

In other news: “Leeds are..“: Romano drops big transfer update that’ll leave supporters buzzing

Sky Sports punditSky Sports pundit Alex McLeish is excited about the thought of Liverpool completing a deal for Benfica striker Darwin Nunez, who he says could be yet ‘another’ top signing by the Reds.

The Lowdown: Liverpool close to agreement

The Uruguayan first put pen to paper on a deal with the Primeira Liga outfit when he joined the club in a £21.6m move from UD Almeria two years ago, and despite his contract with the Portuguese side not being set to expire until 2025, the 22-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Estadio da Luz.

Jurgen Klopp and Co, alongside top-flight rivals Manchester United, are both interested in his services.

After further developments, it’s been reported that the Merseysiders look to have won the race for his signature and are now close to reaching a full agreement with the forward ahead of a potential summer move.

The Latest: McLeish backs Nunez to shine

McLeish suggested that Nunez would have to prove himself in Liverpool’s starting XI, but says he’s heard really good things about the level he could reach, pondering whether he could even eventually be ‘another (Sadio) Mane’.

He told Football Insider: “For any player coming from any other country in the world to play in the English Premier League is a leap.

“The thing is that Mane and Salah have all proved their worth. That’s what Nunez will have to do, come in and prove that.

“We can’t speculate about him and say he’ll definitely come in and be another Mane. At the same time, there seems to be a good crop of players in Portugal.

“I’ve got a pal out there, he watches the Portuguese league every week. He keeps waxing lyrical about the quality of a lot of the play and indeed the players.

“If Liverpool are going for a guy like that, you would tend to think that this guy is some player. We’ve seen him, of course, but they will have assessed the whole picture, as they do very well.

“It’s rare that Liverpool are making mistakes in the transfer window.”

The Verdict: Perfect attacking addition

With Mane’s future at Anfield currently up in the air, Klopp will be wanting to find a suitable replacement in case the Senegalese star does depart ahead of the start of the new season, and Nunez possesses the qualities to fill that role perfectly.

The £49.5m-rated talisman was hitting the back of the net for fun this campaign, having scored 34 goals and provided four assists in just 41 appearances for Benfica, as per Transfermarkt, showing just how much of a threat and handful he can be for defenders in the final third.

The 6 foot 2 talent would surely flourish playing in the Premier League and is the ideal addition to the Reds’ attacking ranks, where there’s a very strong possibility that we won’t see Mane ever again.

In other news… a BBC pundit has claimed that Liverpool will be ‘raging’ after hearing a Mo Salah update.

West Ham United are reportedly edging ever closer to announcing the signing of Rennes defender Nayef Aguerd, according to respected source ExWHUemployee.

What’s the word?

Speaking on the West Ham Way podcast, the club insider has revealed that the deal to bring the centre-back to the London Stadium is nearing completion, with the Morocco international believed to have gone as far as to pose for photos with a Hammers shirt.

While the transfer guru stated that the deal is not yet totally done, he believes that the 26-year-old is all but certain to be at the club next season (quotes via West Ham Zone): “I’ve spoken to a couple of people in the club who have all confirmed it [Aguerd signing].

“There were even photos taken of him with the shirt, so unless things have dramatically changed and this doesn’t happen, because I don’t believe it’s a done deal, but I would be surprised if he doesn’t sign. It may be even announced on the day that the kits are launched, whenever that is.”

This follows a report last week that outlined that the east Londoners were ‘holding talks’ regarding a permanent switch, while the Telegraph’s latest update suggested that the club are ‘increasingly confident’ of securing the £13m move.

Supporters buzzing

That news will no doubt be music to the ears of Irons’ supporters, with David Moyes’ side having been in desperate need of new additions to help bolster the backline, with injuries hampering their progress in 2022 as the Scotsman was at times forced to name a makeshift backline.

That included having to start full-back, Aaron Cresswell, in the heart of the defence on occasion, while throughout the campaign the club had been far too reliant on the defensive pair of Craig Dawson and Kurt Zouma, following Angelo Ogbonna’s lengthy stint out with a serious knee injury.

With Frenchman Issa Diop also heavily linked with an exit after falling out of favour in recent seasons, the need for new recruits has heightened even further, with the aforementioned Aguerd set to provide real quality and at a relative bargain price to boot.

The most recent campaign saw the £10.8m-rated gem help the Ligue outfit to a fourth-place finish, having averaged four clearances, 0.9 tackles and 0.8 interceptions per game in his 31 league starts, keeping an impressive 13 clean sheets in that time and winning 62% of his total duels.

Not just a sound defensive presence, the £8.9k-per-week ace also has the quality in possession to make him a real force to be reckoned with in the Premier League, ranking in the top 10% for attempted passes and in the top 16% for pass completion among those in his position across Europe’s five big leagues.

Such impressive form has seen him compared to Liverpool’s influential rock, Virgil van Dijk, with the pair sharing a number of statistical and stylistic similarities, as per FBref.

That comparison alone will no doubt have caught the attention of Hammers’ supporters, although the former Dijon man has also been the subject of praise for his displays in France, having been dubbed a “cerebral person” by ex-Rennes boss Julien Stephen for his footballing intelligence.

The longer-term concern will be whether he can translate that form to the English top-flight, although at present the West Ham faithful simply have good reason to be getting excited.

IN other news, “Another target…”: Ex drops big WHU summer transfer claim that supporters will love

Newcastle United are reportedly now eyeing up a shock triple raid of Leeds United.

The Lowdown: Last-day survival

The Whites managed to stay up by the skin of their teeth on Sunday as they beat Brentford 2-1 on the last day of the Premier League season.

The Magpies actually did them a favour by beating relegation rivals Burnley 2-1, which ended up sending the Clarets down instead.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/newcastle-news-6/” title=”Newcastle news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Newcastle’s Elland Road raid

Writing in his latest piece for 90min, transfer insider Graeme Bailey has revealed that Newcastle are now eyeing up potential moves for Leeds trio Raphinha, Kalvin Phillips and Jack Harrison this summer.

They have had ‘conversations’ over Phillips in particular, while they have ‘followed’ the Brazilian’s situation and are also ‘considering’ a move for fellow winger Harrison.

The Verdict: Exciting

While they may not sign all three, Newcastle’s pursuit of this trio is certainly exciting for the Toon Army.

They all ranked in Leeds’ top 10 performers in the Premier League this term, while Raphinha and Harrison ended as their top two scorers with 11 and eight goals respectively. The three Magpies targets also managed five assists between them (WhoScored).

The Tynesiders already know of their qualities having watched them play in the top flight, and if the trio can perform so effectively for a relegation-threatened Leeds side, then they will surely thrive in Eddie Howe’s team as they aim to push into the top half and beyond from next season.

In other news, Howe is considering a bid for another Premier League gem

West Bromwich Albion ended up delivering a rather uninspiring attempt at winning promotion back to the Premier League this season.

With 46 Championship games played, the Baggies won 18, drew 15 and lost 13 in the process, leaving them with a tenth-place finish.

One disappointing factor throughout the campaign was West Brom’s attacking power, or lack thereof at times.

Having scored 52 goals all season, the Baggies racked up 18 games where they failed to find the back of the net.

To further highlight their ineffectiveness in front of goal, they ended the season with the lowest percentage for shots on target and the joint-lowest rate of goals per shot.

One figure in Steve Bruce’s squad that ended up being a rather useful attacking figure in terms of his goal contributions was midfielder Alex Mowatt.

In 34 league appearances, the Englishman scored four goals and delivered two assists, ending the campaign with more goal contributions than the likes of Matt Phillips and Grady Diangana among others.

Now that the season has come to an end and the summer transfer window is on the horizon, one figure that has been linked with a move to the Hawthorns that could form a deadly midfield duo with Mowatt is John Swift.

With 38 league appearances under his belt for Reading this season, the 26-year-old has scored 11 goals and delivered 13 assists, showing how capable he is in front of goal from midfield.

Having played four more games than Mowatt, the 26-year-old has racked up more shots and crosses than the Baggies figure.

Rather unsurprisingly, the Englishman also has a higher average for shots (2.1) and key passes per game (2.7) than any other player at his current club.

Back in 2019, one of Swift’s previous assists was described as “outrageous” by journalist Charles Watts.

His overall performances in this campaign have earned him an impressive season rating of 7.13/10 from WhoScored, making him the highest-rated player at Reading.

This would also make him the highest-rated player in West Brom’s squad as well, which shows how important he is to his side and why the Baggies are after him.

Taking all of this into account, having a midfield pairing of Mowatt and Swift in their side could definitely make West Brom a much deadlier team going forward, which is what they’ll need to be if they want to have any chance of winning promotion next season.

In other news: Bruce can finally axe “shocking” WBA dud with move for “dominating” £14k-p/w machine

Everton are eyeing up a move for Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher in the summer transfer window as Frank Lampard looks to utilise his connections at the west London club.

What’s the word?

According to talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook, the Toffees are looking at signing the 22-year-old ahead of next season, having excelled whilst on loan at Crystal Palace during the 2021/22 campaign.

Valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, Thomas Tuchel will reportedly look to include Gallagher in his pre-season plans at Chelsea, although this might not translate to a first-team berth, with Lampard remaining on red alert for news of any opportunity to bring the midfielder to Everton.

Lampard could love to sign Gallagher

Everton retained their Premier League status with a stunning comeback win over Gallagher’s Palace on Thursday night, but this still won’t be enough to satiate the frustration of supporters after a dreadful campaign.

Lampard will seriously need to re-evaluate the playing squad and look to improve the spine of the team ahead of the 2022/23 season.

Signing Gallagher would be a bold but wise move, as Lampard could build the Everton side around the England international given his tender years and burgeoning talent.

In all competitions this term, the 22-year-old has scored eight times (including a wonder strike against the Toffees in December) and provided five assists as Palace have had a solid start to life under Patrick Vieira.

Gallagher’s stats for this season on loan at Selhurst Park are excellent. Compared with positional peers in the big five European leagues, he ranks in the 96th percentile for touches in the opposition penalty area (3.06 per 90), the 97th percentile for non-penalty goals (0.25), and the 91st percentile for pressures (24.51).

These figures clearly show that, despite his young age, he is performing at an incredible level across several aspects of his game, and his presence in the Everton midfield could only be a good thing for the Toffees.

Having been dubbed “outrageous” earlier in the season, it’s no wonder the midfielder has gone on to make his England debut over the past six months.

With only Richarlison at Everton scoring more goals this season (10) than Gallagher, Lampard should be planning to make the Chelsea man his first signing of the summer.

Indeed, with the 22-year-old citing the current Toffees manager as his boyhood idol, and with the 43-year-old knowing what the youngster can do from his own time in charge at Stamford Bridge, Lampard might love to reunite with Gallagher at Goodison Park if at all possible.

AND in other news, Forget Richarlison: Everton “nightmare” with 17 duels won was their real star against Palace

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ enthralling draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was important for a number of reasons.

Whilst the point attained was integral to meeting their ambition of making the European places in the Premier League, the way in which they ended their three game losing streak – that saw them fail to score a single goal in that period – was important in terms of their form going into next season.

As we’ve seen in the Premier League quite recently, momentum is extremely important, as Leicester City fans will tell you after witnessing their side transition a strong end to the season into a strong start to the next, eventually leading them to Premier League glory.

So Lage will want his side to continue in that vein against Manchester City and put up the same amount of fight that they showed against Tuchel’s Chelsea, who did not know what hit them when Wolves’ secret weapon Chiquinho entered the pitch.

By deploying the starlet, he could well cause problems for Pep and Co. with Chiquinho’s “explosiveness”, something noted by his former manager, Vasco Botelho da Costa.

On the chalkboard

In what was a 20-minute cameo at Stamford Bridge, he completely changed the game on its head. When he came on, his side were losing 2-0 and when the game ended, it finished 2-2.

His impact was nothing short of mesmeric and having set up both goals, he has surely earned his chance for regular minutes in Lage’s side.

The 22-year-old’s game against the Blues was reminiscent of Adama Traore’s play style. His direct approach was integral to the Old Gold’s comeback, with his 3/3 successful dribbles evidence of this.

His effort level defensively was also impressive, having won 4/5 ground duels at a success rate of 80%.

In his six Premier League appearances for Wolves, the Sporting CP youth graduate, who has been dubbed a “ridiculous talent” by Tim Spiers, now has three assists after Saturday’s game.

His performance was noted by scorer of the last-minute equaliser Conor Coady, who gave the starlet all the plaudits: “I went into the box, hoping Chiquinho would get it. I thought he was outstanding when he came on.”

As a result, there must be no other choice but for the Wolves boss to unleash his pocket rocket on City this week. What do they have to lose in doing so?

In other news: Lage can unearth Wolves’ new Jota in “magic” £2m-rated talent who has “explosiveness”

Frank Lampard was brought in at Everton to steady the ship following a tumultuous six months with Rafa Benitez, however, it hasn’t gone quite to plan and now insider Dean Jones has made a huge claim on the manager’s future.

What’s the latest?

Speaking to Football FanCast, transfer expert and journalist Jones has given his thoughts on Lampard’s future at Goodison Park come the end of the season.

He commented: “I don’t think he’ll stay if Everton go down. I’m not even sure he’ll stay if they stay up. To be honest with you. I think this is really up in the air.

“I think if they stay up, I could see Bilić getting a chance at it if they go down, I’m not sure so sure.”

Supporters will be gutted

The last thing that Everton needs right now is further upheaval in one of the most vulnerable periods of their club’s history, and if they were to suffer their first-ever Premier League relegation this season, stability at the club is essential for them to bounce back up, so supporters will surely be gutted if Lampard was to leave.

There are many areas of improvement that are needed at Goodison Park, but sacking managers hasn’t got the Toffees in a better position over the years since Farhad Moshiri arrived, with the owner sacking five permanent managers in six years so far.

Therefore, it doesn’t seem like a path the club needs to necessarily go down to turn things around no matter the situation they find themselves in at the end of the season.

Since his arrival, the 43-year-old manager has won four, drawn one and lost eight which isn’t the record the supporters would have hoped for when he was appointed. Yet, given the squad he has inherited that has been plagued with the worst injury record in the Premier League this season, if he manages the great escape from relegation it’s a huge achievement.

With that being said, it seems premature to sack a manager who has had a limited amount of time to coach the team, no opportunities to rebuild or acquire players over a full transfer window and has a squad riddled with injuries, however, it will be interesting to see where Lampard’s fate will lie should the side drop into the Championship next season.

AND in other news: Forget Holgate: Everton must unleash “composed” 18y/o tank with “plenty of potential”