All posts by z3u9t.icu

Rangers have been linked with a move for Peterborough United striker Jonson Clarke-Harris recently, and if he were to make the move to Ibrox this summer, it could be a repeat of the deal which saw Steven Gerrard’s team sign Kemar Roofe last summer.

According to Football Insider, Rangers scouts were in attendance at Peterborough’s fixture last weekend which saw them demolish Accrington Stanley 7-0 at the Weston Homes Stadium, with Clarke-Harris hitting a hat-trick.

The 26-year-old, who joined the Posh from Bristol Rovers in the summer as a replacement for the outgoing Ivan Toney, has now struck a superb 25 goals in 37 League One appearances his season, so it is no surprise that he is attracting interest from the likes of Rangers.

His manager Darren Ferguson was full of praise for his star striker earlier this season, saying: “He is a leader, a winner and a real focal point for this team.”

There are definite similarities between Clarke-Harris and Roofe, who made the move to Ibrox from Anderlecht last summer after making his name in the lower leagues of English football.

Following some disappointing loan spells away from boyhood club West Brom with Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Northampton Town and Víkingur Reykjavík, Roofe was able to find his feet after completing a permanent move to Oxford United in 2015.

After hitting six goals in 16 league appearances in his first season, the striker enjoyed a superb campaign in 2016/17, contributing 17 goals and 10 assists in 40 league appearances, which earned him a move to Leeds United.

After a slow start, Roofe impressed with the Whites in the Championship before joining Anderlecht and then moving on to Rangers after one season in Belgium. The 28-year-old has certainly been a hit in Gerrard’s team this season, contributing 10 goals and two assists in 19 league appearances, which have seen him average an excellent 7.09 match rating from WhoScored.

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Like Roofe, Clarke-Harris has endured some difficult loan spells in his career, struggling on loan with Coventry City, Doncaster Rovers and MK Dons during his time at Rotherham United before eventually finding his feet at Bristol Rovers.

The Peterborough United man has shown this season that he can be a huge success under the right manager and in the right team, and there seems no reason why he wouldn’t continue his excellent goalscoring form if he were to make the switch to Ibrox next term.

Roofe joined Rangers for around £3.5m and a similar fee may be enough to see Peterborough part ways with Clarke-Harris this summer, as they only paid £1.25m to Bristol Rovers to sign him last summer.

Therefore, Ross Wilson should definitely look to bring Clarke-Harris to Scotland this summer, as it could prove to be a repeat of the excellent deal for Roofe last year.

In other news… Gerrard suffers potentially huge blow with £10k-p/w Rangers leader

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who scored 306 goals for Wolves during his career, admits he would take Aaron Ramsey at Molineux as they continue to look for a box-to-box midfielder.

Ramsey’s move from Arsenal to Juventus has not gone quite to plan having been handed just 23 starts over the last two seasons while scoring just five goals in Serie A.

The 61-cap Wales international left Arsenal at the end of the 2018/19 season on a free transfer and won the Serie A in his first season at Juventus, however this season has been a lot less fruitful as they currently sit fourth and have been knocked out of the Champions League.

Speaking on if he would take Ramsey at Wolves and what he would bring to the side, Bull spoke exclusively to FFC:

“‘I would take him all day long. I think if he was a few inches taller then he’d be exactly what I said early on about how we needed a box-to-box midfielder.

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“He chases, puts his foot into a tackle where it hurts and I just can’t believe he hasn’t had much of a chance over there. If he does come back to the Premier League and Wolves want him then I would take him.”

Since his move to Juventus, Ramsey has won two trophies, the Serie A title last season before he won the Italian Super Cup earlier this season.

The £400,000 per week midfielder has been linked with a move to Wolves, and it’s been reported that they would be willing to accept a bid of around £10-15 million and Wolves

If Sunderland don’t achieve promotion this season, it will cause deep-rooted frustration.

It will create sadness and perhaps an everlasting mindset that the Mackems are destined to see out their existence in the third tier of English football.

This season, however, has been that will go down in the history books. They have new owners, perhaps their most impressive manager in a number of years and they are currently in third place in League One.

The Black Cats have a wonderful opportunity to get promoted and if they secure that in the remaining games of the campaign, it will be the icing on the cake.

This has been a term where Sunderland won their first trophy in 48 years, beating Tranmere at Wembley in the EFL Trophy final a number of weeks ago.

Lee Johnson’s men didn’t have it all their own way in that game and that was largely thanks to flying right-back Otis Khan.

The 25-year-old was a constant thorn in the Sunderland defence, terrorising Callum McFadzean. On that occasion, Khan completed as many as four dribbles, the joint-highest of any player on the day.

The defender also attempted seven crosses and won five of his seven duels defensively. No wonder he’s been described as a player who “works hard” by Keith Hill. Unfortunately for Tranmere and Khan, it was the Mackems who took home the silverware.

Sunderland clearly liked what they saw from Khan because he’s now been linked with a move to the Stadium of Light.

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It would be a shrewd capture from Johnson and one that could take not only their defence to the next level but also their attack.

With Jordan Jones and Aiden McGeady on the flanks, there is always a reason to be excited heading into a Sunderland match. Both players have created goals and chances at will for Charlie Wyke this term, a man who has found the net on 26 occasions in 2020/21.

The addition of Khan, however, could give him even proper opportunities to score. You only need to look at that performance at Wembley. In delivering just over half a dozen crosses, he was a rampant threat.

He has been transformed from a winger into a full-back at Tranmere and that’s certainly evident in the way Khan gets forward.

The right-sided defender has made 1.4 key passes per game this term and 1.1 successful crosses per match. For context, only Denver Hume and McGeady in the Sunderland side have conjured up more chance creations and crosses.

Both of those players happen to be their weapons down the left. On the opposite side, Sunderland don’t quite have the same potency. The addition of Khan, therefore, could be huge.

The thought of him whipping deliveries in for Wyke to head home is something worth salivating over.

AND in other news, Fewer touches than Burge: Johnson will be fuming with SAFC ace who made just 9 passes…

Marcelo Bielsa has provided an important injury update on Adam Forshaw, Raphinha and Rodrigo ahead of Leeds United’s clash with Liverpool.

The Whites are back in action on Monday night, looking to add another famous victory to their collection, following their 2-1 win at Manchester City last time around.

Leeds welcome reigning Premier League champions Liverpool to Elland Road, in what looks set to be an entertaining game on paper.

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Bielsa gives injury update on Leeds trio

Bielsa has a number of injury concerns going into the game, however, and on Thursday, he provided an update on the current situation.

In what was the most positive news of the day, the Leeds manager confirmed (via Phil Hay) that Forshaw will play for the Under-23s against Aston Villa on Friday, as he continues to recovery from a long-term hip problem.

Meanwhile, Raphinha is still considered a doubt for the Liverpool clash and Rodrigo looks set to miss out, with a muscular issue keeping the latter sidelined.

Transfer Tavern take

The Forshaw news is heartwarming, considering the 29-year-old hasn’t featured for Leeds since the early months of the 2019/20 season.

There is clearly no chance of him playing against Liverpool, but it would be a wonderful moment to see him play for the first team again before the campaign finishes.

Raphinha’s potential absence is a big blow for the Whites though, with his trickery and end product – six goals and assists apiece in the league this season – capable of causing a makeshift Reds defence problems.

His fellow Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior caused the Reds lots of problems for Real Madrid in the Champions League, and Raphinha boasts a similar ability to drive at players one on one and make things happen out of nothing. Losing that would definitely harm Bielsa’s chances of getting a result.

In other news, a huge name has left the door open regarding a move to Leeds this summer. Read more here.

With Mamadou Sakho being linked with a summer exit from Crystal Palace, it is fair to say that signing of the Frenchman has not gone as envisaged for the Eagles.

Recruited from Liverpool for a reported fee of £26m in 2017 after initially impressing on loan, the 2013 Ligue 1 champion looked a clever buy. However, the south London club have certainly not received value for money, with the defender now apparently interesting Lazio.

In the four years since his permanent arrival at Selhurst Park, Sakho has made just 67 appearances as a full-time Eagles player due to a series of fitness issues. For context, Sakho has missed the same number of games through various injuries, indicating how often he has been ruled out.

Whilst his huge transfer fee, the second-highest in the history of Crystal Palace, looks extortionate considering the 31-year-old’s lack of action, the huge outlay on Palace’s part is worsened when taking into account the former Paris Saint-Germain defender’s wages.

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Having earned £5.2m on an annual basis, this means that Sakho has scooped approximately £20.8m in pay in his time with the Eagles.

When added to the eye-watering fee that it took to bring him to Selhurst Park in 2017, it means that he has cost the club approximately £46.8m over his time at Palace – an amount certainly not befitting a player who has not readily been available for selection on regular occasions.

With the 31-year-old out of contract at the end of the season, it’s next to impossible for Steve Parish to recoup any of that considerable outlay.

If Sakho does indeed move to Lazio come the end of his Palace deal this summer, the club will be left to reflect on what has been a hugely costly and frankly disastrous transfer.

AND in more news, read why Palace should move on from a current Championship hotshot…

As Tottenham Hotspur get off to a winning start under interim manager Ryan Mason, seeing off Southampton with a 2-1 victory, correspondent Alasdair Gold had some words of criticism for midfield maestro Giovani Lo Celso (football.london).

Spurs sacked former boss Jose Mourinho on Monday amid the European Super League saga and the search for a new boss in time for next campaign is now beginning.

In the mean time, however, interim manager Mason is tasked with helping Spurs to finish this campaign as strongly as possible – with the Lilywhites still only two points off a possible top four Champions League qualifying place (Premier League).

Gold criticises Lo Celso

Still in the running for Europe, yesterday’s crucial comeback from 1-0 down against the Saints may prove pivotal in Mason’s attempts to salvage something from what has been a strange season.

Danny Ings opened the scoring for the visitors but strikes from Gareth Bale and Son Heung-min clawed a result back for the Lilywhites.

One man who didn’t have the best of days was Lo Celso, with journalist Gold describing his play as ‘very sloppy’ at times and giving him a 5/10 match rating.

He did have his moments, as Gold explains – highlighted by his fine threaded through ball in the build up to Son’s disallowed Tottenham goal.

Overall, however, he was poor – with SofaScore also giving him the lowest rating out of any Spurs starter yesterday (6.3), and the statistics below show exactly why.

Transfer Tavern take

The former Real Betis ace lost possession of the ball 14 times and Mason will be hoping he can improve on that performance in a crucial few weeks for Tottenham.

As Mason aims for Spurs to be more ‘aggressive’, Lo Celso returning to his very best like we’ve seen in flashes this season would come as a big boost for the Lilywhites, but his passive, sloppy and frankly near anonymous showing on Wednesday is not what’s required.

The Argentine and Tanguy Ndombele are Spurs’ main creative outlets behind Harry Kane when he is in the team and both men could have a huge part to play – he must improve.

In other news: Tottenham make signing enquiry, find out more here.

Newcastle have been named as one of a number of Premier League clubs monitoring Norwich starlet Max Aarons.

What’s the story?

The England under-21 international has just helped the Canaries to promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and it’s now being reported that he could well be playing his final season at the club.

90min claimed that Steve Bruce’s side have “asked to be kept informed of his situation ahead of this summer”, but will face significant competition from the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Everton and West Ham among others.

The report added that Norwich currently value him at £30m.

Could shine in the Premier League

Given that he already has a season of Premier League football under his belt with Norwich last year, Aarons looks ready to make a real step-up this summer.

Norwich manager Daniel Farke has raved about the youngster this season, saying: “Max is outstanding in many topics. I can’t praise him enough for what he has done since his first appearance. You watch some of our games now and the opponents go man-for-man on him. That is crazy for a player who is a full-back but it says a lot about his reputation. He is just a special player and he has an unbelievable future.”

The Magpies could desperately do with some young talent to really freshen up the squad, which is the fifth-oldest in the Premier League at an average age of 28, and 21-year-old Aarons seems to fit the bill perfectly.

Signings like him could provide a real breath of fresh air at St James’ Park and help kick-start a new, more exciting era at the club; and given the level of competition for him, it really would be a major statement of intent if Newcastle could convince him to join the Magpies.

Meanwhile, Steve Bruce could finally wave goodbye to this Newcastle liability…

Former Manchester United man Keith Gillespie has urged Donny van de Beek to leave the club this summer, telling Football FanCast that he simply hasn’t been given a chance at Old Trafford.

United spent £35m to extricate the Netherlands international from Ajax, where he had become something of a star.

In total, he made 175 appearances for the Dutch club, scoring 41 goals, and he played a key role in their progression to the Champions League semi-finals in 2018, when they were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur.

Since then, he has made just two starts in the Premier League, and has only completed the 90 minutes once, in the 3-2 win over Southampton in November.

He has finished the 90 minutes three times in all competitions, also doing so against Watford in the FA Cup, Brighton and Hove Albion in the EFL Cup, and Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League.

Gillespie does not think he has been given the opportunity to become a star at United, and has urged him to move on and find a club where he can play regularly, though he believes there will be suitors queuing around the block to snap him up.

He told FFC: “If they have to cut their losses and let him move on, I’m sure there’s plenty of clubs out there who would love Donny van de Beek, so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem in terms of clubs coming in for him, but I think he probably just needs to leave.

“It’s been very unfair on him because from the very off he hasn’t been given a chance.

“He gets the odd game here and there but it’s very difficult to get up to speed when you play one game and then you’re out for five and then you maybe come on for 30 minutes, that’s the way it’s been for him all season.”

Last weekend, Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin entered a very exclusive club at Goodison Park.

In racking up 20 goals in all competitions, the forward is now only the third player for the Toffees in the Premier League era to hit that tally.

Romelu Lukaku has done so on a few occasions while Yakubu is the only other to hit such eye-catching figures.

The pair of them are both incredibly powerful players, using brute force to brush their marker aside before finding a devastating and clinical finish past the goalkeeper.

Lukaku was a key figure for Everton and during 166 outings for the Merseyside outfit he found the net on 87 occasions. It would be difficult to suggest he’s an out and out Toffees legend but he certainly made the crowd stand to attention.

Everton are fortunate they don’t miss him. Calvert-Lewin has become a force to be reckoned with but plays in a different manner; holding the ball up rather than always using his pace to get in behind.

Carlo Ancelotti could make great strides to properly replacing Lukaku’s influence this summer, however.

That’s because they’ve been linked with a £45m move for Milan forward Rafael Leao.

The 21-year-old is yet to find the net at regular intervals but that hasn’t stopped him from contributing to 12 strikes throughout the current season.

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You need not worry about his finishing abilities though because this a player who like Lukaku, can use brute force and speed to terrify the defence.

Dubbed the “Portuguese Mbappe” by Lille president Gerard Lopez, he’s also been compared to the Brazilian Ronaldo: “I’d say that he reminds me of ‘Fenomeno’ Ronaldo for his pace, technique and the quality of his finishing,” Tiago Fernandes, one of his former youth coaches said.

Similarly to Lukaku, Leao was making a splash at a young age, dominating players throughout his youth career. Former striker Rolando Bianchi once commented: “I had seen him at the U20 World Cup with Portugal and he made spectacular plays. He has great speed, he has a touch of the ball.”

Combine his extraordinary pace with his striking technique and it adds a sense of finesse to his game that Lukaku so often brought to Goodison.

The Belgian could bulldoze his way past defenders but then open up the goal in tantalising fashion, passing the ball past the goalkeeper with all the confidence in the world.

Leao has a long way to go before he’s finding the net with the same regularity, but his qualities are enough to get plenty off their seats. Just imagine what he could do under Ancelotti too.

AND in other news, Everton could sign Gomes upgrade in “incredible” £17m beast, he’s “extremely strong”…

Former Manchester United midfielder Keith Gillespie has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that it’s impossible not to like Paul Pogba.

The French World Cup winner has often been criticised for failing to live up to his world-record fee following his move from Juventus back in 2016.

But Pogba has performed impressively for United in recent months and is just 90 minutes away from securing a second Europa League title later this month after their victory over Ajax four years ago under Jose Mourinho.

And the 28-year-old’s numbers epitomise his good form. Pogba has been involved in 14 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions, scoring six times, whilst chipping in with eight assists.

The £290,000-a-week ace is back to playing some of his best football under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with the Frenchman recently praising the United boss for never going against his players when taking a swipe at former boss Mourinho at the same time.

He starred once again at Aston Villa on Sunday, assisting Edinson Cavani’s goal to seal yet three more points on the road.

And Gillespie told The Transfer Tavern that he’s a huge fan of the midfielder:

“I think it’s hard not to be a Paul Pogba fan when you see how good he can be. But it’s just about getting that consistency.

“Sometimes you think, is his head in the right place? He’s so strong on the ball at times – he can make things happen.”