Wolves fans slam managerial update

Many Wolves fans have been left to slam a managerial update as The Sun have reported that Jorge Mendes wants to get Nuno Espirito Santo to Tottenham.

As per the news outlet, Mendes, who is Nuno’s agent, has made contact with Spurs over a potential switch in the summer.

The super-agent is also believed to be working on bringing Bruno Lage to replace Nuno at the Midlands club should he move over to London.

While Lage is currently available having been out of the job since leaving Benfica last summer, several members of the Molineux faithful do not seem to be inspired about his potential appointment, and while they have endured a disappointing season so far, there is some confidence that Nuno can still turn it around in the next campaign given the return of Raul Jimenez and a good transfer window.

Wolves fans on managerial update

These WWFC supporters slammed the managerial update after it was shared on Twitter (via Talking Wolves):

“Bruno Lage is the last manager we should be looking at..”

Credit: @PaulBeest

“Just take Lage to Spurs! Simple as that”

Credit: @lauwolf79

“Bruno Lage will never get us anywhere”

Credit: @fowls21wwfc

“I am confident that Lage would be an absolute disaster appointment. Has a very underwhelming CV with limited experience. Started out well at Benfica before delivering their worst set of results in over 20 years. I would rather keep Nuno if this is the best they can come up with.”

Credit: @Kcb92

“Lol”

Credit: @DaveRos63040177

“I beg this isn’t true but then again it’s the Sun”

Credit: @Harley_V12

In other news, find out what transfer update has been lauded by Wanderers here!

Bull backs Wolves to sign Aaron Ramsey

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

AVFC: Fans react to Windass’ Alli comments

Aston Villa have been tipped to make a move for Tottenham ace Dele Alli this summer by former Premier League striker Dean Windass.

As to be expected, plenty of Villa supporters have been giving their thoughts on a potential move on social media.

Alli has fallen out of favour under Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho this season, starting just two Premier League games during the current campaign. He’s under contract with Spurs until 2024, but his lack of game-time has led to speculation of a north London exit.

Alli is on £100,000 per week at Tottenham and has seen his market value crash over the last 16 months from £81m to £28.8m.

Villa are expected to bolster their attacking ranks this summer with a new winger and another striker, but Windass believes Alli could be heading to the Midlands. Speakinh exclusively to Football Transfer Tavern, cited by Birmingham Live, he said that either Villa or Everton should make a move for the England international.

“I think Everton or Aston Villa, one of those teams where he then becomes a big fish in a small pond again. At the minute he’s a small fish in a big pond.

“The kid needs to be playing to get back into the England squad. Gareth will be on the phone saying ‘I think you’re a great player, but you need to be playing your club football.’”

Villa fans react

Birmingham Live shared the story on Twitter on Monday and here is what these Villa fans had to say in reply, with many excited by the prospect of Alli lining out in claret and blue if Windass’ recommendation is acted upon.

“Wow”

Credit: @HappyGrealish

“been begging for this for months. get it done Villa”

Credit: @1874dan

“I am on my knees”

Credit: @joegodwin_

“Please Deano”

Credit: @AVFC_Bailey

“Said this last year and I still think the same, we really should try and make this happen”

Credit: @Pred_Walters

“Certainly the level of player we should be going for #AVFC”

Credit: @Benjmeister85

In other news: Many AVFC fans react to club’s Villa Park plans, find out more here. 

Spurs’ massive Noni Madueke blunder

When Noni Madueke left Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer in 2018, nobody could’ve predicted his meteoric rise and now ultimately, it will leave Daniel Levy hurting with regret.

In the two-and-a-half seasons since his departure, the 19-year-old gem has emerged as one of England’s brightest prospects outside of the Premier League.

Following in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho, Madueke opted to swap England for Holland, rejecting Manchester United to join 24-time Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven on a three-year deal.

This season, in particular, has been a highlight as the teenage sensation has racked up 17 goal contributions (nine scored, eight assisted) in only 1,105 minutes of action, as per Transfermarkt.

As a result, his valuation has soared. Upon arrival, he was rated at just £540k but that figure now stands at £12.6m and will surely continue to rise alongside his phenomenal form.

His transformation has largely been down to former Red Devils rival Ruud van Nistelrooy, who believed his ability in one-on-one situations, combined with is speed, was far more suited to the wing than in the no.10 role. He’s certainly reaping the rewards now.

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Madueke’s one goal contribution every 65 minutes is considerably clear of many options in his role, both at Spurs and on the international stage.

Take Sancho as an example, he’s arguably Gareth Southgate’s leading contender to start at right-wing in this summer’s European Championships – despite delivering an astonishing 12 goals and 16 assists for Dortmund this season, the former City starlet is only contributing a goal once every 89 minutes.

Jose Mourinho’s best option in the position appears to be Gareth Bale, who has scored ten goals and provided three assists. He is perhaps most comparable to Madueke given his lack of regular game time (1,280 minutes), but even then, he’s still some way off with one goal contribution every 98.5 minutes.

Former PSV midfielder Tommie van de Leegte waxed lyrical about the England prodigy to Dutch radio station Omroep Brabant last year, he said (via Goal.com): “He’s fast and has the capability to trick his opponent. He brings creativity and is very explosive in his actions. That’s what PSV needs.”

As evident above, Levy should’ve done more to keep the kid in north London as by now, he could’ve been making such waves in the Premier League, and for a man who likes to make a pretty penny, that’ll be an even tougher pill to swallow.

The Spurs chairman may well forever regret losing out on Madueke.

AND in other news, Spurs could find the next Yaya Toure in £13.6m-rated prodigy…

Celtic: Southampton door open for Elyounoussi

Reports last month suggested that Celtic had set their sights on making Mohamed Elyounoussi’s loan move from Southampton permanent.

The Norwegian, who has scored 13 goals in 37 appearances for the Hoops in all competitions this season, reportedly had his valuation slashed from £8-10m last summer to just £5m ahead of a summer deal.

Southampton return on the cards?

However, Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has appeared to have opened the door to a St Mary’s return for the 26-year-old.

Talking to Hampshire Live on Friday, Hasenhuttl was asked asked if returning loan stars like Elyounoussi could be the answer to his lack of attacking squad depth, to which the Austrian said:

“You can be sure that we have a few players in our mind, yes.”

Transfer Tavern take

Elyounoussi has fallen out of favour in recent months, starting just one of the club’s last eight league fixtures.

He’s proven his quality during his two-year loan stint in Scotland, though, with this season’s highlights coming in a 2-2 draw with Lille and 4-1 win over Motherwell.

His current Transfermarkt valuation stands at £10.8m, so if Celtic could bring him to Parkhead permanently for under half of that, it could prove a real shrewd piece of business.

However, by the sounds of it, the versatile attacker could be on the way back down south.

In other news: Celtic are keen on talking with 18-year-old winger, find out more here.

Sunderland’s big tactical dilemma

Sunderland are firmly back in the hunt for promotion with Lee Johnson’s appointment as manager sparking a magnificent revival.

Gone are the days of the boring football that Phil Parkinson brought to the Stadium of Light, and as a result, there is now a swagger to the Mackems’ attacking play. Aiden McGeady’s ten assists in 14 matches is enough to testify that.

On the chalkboard

McGeady has been superb on the left-hand side in recent months but he’s been let down time and time again by the man playing behind him.

Since Denver Hume was injured back in early December, the Black Cats have had difficulties when it’s come to the left-back position.

They tried to eradicate those worries by signing Jake Vokins in January but he’s not had an encouraging start to life in the north-east. In fact, the Southampton loanee has been pretty disastrous.

He had what Sunderland blog Roker Report described as one of the worst debuts in a Sunderland shirt before he was at fault for one of the goals in the defeat to Shrewsbury. Vokins failed to track his man at the back post which allowed for a simple tap in.

With that in mind, it doesn’t seem as though there is an easy solution to their woes.

What needs to happen?

Johnson brought McFadzean back into the fray following his bout with concussion last weekend but as he has been in recent months, was relatively disappointing.

He was largely anonymous down the left, completing just 70% of his passes and losing the ball on 23 occasions. Those were the worst tallies for both statistics of anyone in the red and white of Sunderland.

Offensively he was particularly poor, failing to pick a teammate out with any of his three crosses. Though, we should hardly be surprised by this performance. He gave away a penalty against Wimbledon and then let both of the goals in the defeat to Plymouth come down his side.

The warning signs were there for Johnson but he continues to pick him. Thus, the £2.4k-per-week earner has to be axed from the starting XI.

If Johnson operates with a three-man defence – something he did against Burton and Fleetwood – it would allow them to play Jordan Jones.

The Rangers loanee has started only twice since signing for the club in January but from the small glimpses we’ve seen, he’s been lively.

One of Jones’ best performances came from left wing back when he was introduced against the Brewers. The winger was on the field for just 23 minutes but created three key passes – the second-highest number of anyone in a Black Cats jersey. Jones also finished the clash with a pass success rate of 100%.

Blessed with real pace and creativity, he could conjure quite the partnership alongside McGeady on the left.

With a clash against 11th-placed Crewe to come on Saturday, Jones simply has to play. McFadzean has been letting his team down and there is only so long that Johnson can withstand his inconsistent displays.

AND in other news, Maja 2.0: Sunderland must rue losing 16-goal “top striker”, he’s shades of Harry Kane…

Sheffield Wednesday man facing axe vs Bees

Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to bounce back from defeat at the weekend when they head to west London to face promotion-chasing Brentford.

Neil Thompson’s men slipped back down to second-bottom in the Championship table following a 1-0 defeat to relegation rivals Birmingham City at Hillsborough on Saturday, and now they are cut three points adrift from safety.

Although getting a result at the Bees will be a tough ask, they will be boosted by the fact that the division’s free-scoring striker Ivan Toney (24 goals in 30 games) is set to miss the clash through injury.

The Owls need to find a source of goals themselves as they rank amongst the divisions lowest scorers, so it leaves the interim Thompson with plenty to ponder…

On the Chalkboard

He handed the reins to Josh Windass, who started his first Wednesday outing in nearly a month, but it was a decision that failed to pay dividends as the Owls could not score against the Blues.

Speaking after the match, Thompson told reporters (via YorkshireLive):

“He showed a lot of energy and like any of the boys, I think he’ll get better with more games. But we want people to be firing as soon as they come in.”

And it is that last bit of information that is rather telling.

Undoubtedly, the “explosive” 27-year-old can be a big threat for the Owls on his day, having bagged three goals before his injury over the festive period, but there’s a desperate need for instant returns right now, which is why Thompson ought to turn back to Jordan Rhodes, who perhaps has been unfairly dropped in recent games.

Windass drew the lowest rating (6.5) of any attacker on the pitch at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon and failed to even register a single shot before being hooked in the 75th minute – if you don’t shoot, you’re not going to score.

It’s that simple.

“You have got to score goals to win games,” added Thompson post-game.

The £15k-per-week forward was also weak in his battles, winning only four of nine duels (44%), both in the air and on the ground, via SofaScore.

Rhodes has scored twice in the Owls’ last five league outings, including a crucial last-minute winner at fellow promotion hopefuls Bournemouth.

It means he’s nearly matched Windass’ season total in a fraction of the matches and merely reinforces the fact that he was perhaps unjustly axed from the starting XI himself at the weekend.

Windass, who as Thompson says, needs a run of matches but likewise, the Owls cannot afford to wait around for him to get up to speed, so as brutal as a decision it would be, the former Wigan man must be axed against Brentford tomorrow night.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Carlton Palmer drops Sheffield Wednesday manager claim…

Williams loan could lead to Bertrand exit

Southampton are continuing to be linked with a loan move for Manchester United left-back Brandon Williams this month, with the latest reports suggesting that the South Coast club are ‘in the driving seat’ to sign the 20-year-old and if he were to join, it could lead to Ryan Bertrand departing the club this summer.

Eurosport claim that Southampton are currently leading the race to sign the England U21 international this month, although Sheffield United are also showing an interest in the young defender.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has suggested that any deals Southampton do this month will be in a similar vein to the one that saw Kyle Walker-Peters join in the summer, where a loan deal becomes a permanent one should the player do enough to impress the Austrian manager and his coaching staff.

Therefore, they are clearly contemplating the idea of Williams joining on a permanent deal in the summer if he is able to perform well in his loan spell, which could be bad news for the future of Bertrand.

The former Chelsea man is out of contract this summer and whilst Southampton are said to be keen to extend his deal, the signing of another left-back is unlikely to help them to convince the 31-year-old to stay.

In December, the experienced defender did suggest that he was keen to stay with Southampton for the long haul whilst also hinting that a new deal was potentially not too far away.

However, it is nearly a month later and there has not been any official announcement of a new contract for Bertrand, with foreign clubs now free to negotiate with the Englishman with the view to signing him on a Bosman transfer in the summer.

Certainly, Bertrand’s attacking returns have dipped in recent seasons, whilst no goals or assists in 16 top-flight appearances this season, whilst Williams has managed one goal and three assists in his 42 senior appearances for Manchester United, whilst also regularly providing assists with the academy sides.

Therefore, if Hasenhuttl wants to add some more attacking gusto on his left-hand side, he may well favour Williams over Bertrand if he arrives on loan from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side this month, which could, as a result, lead to Bertrand departing the South Coast club for nothing this summer.

And, in other news… Southampton signing 29 y/o beast will be bad news for Saints gem with “a lot of potential”

مدافع ليفربول يتفوق على ثنائي مانشستر سيتي ويفوز بجائزة لاعب شهر نوفمبر في الدوري الإنجليزي

أعلنت رابطة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، عن الفائز بجائزة لاعب الشهر في البريميرليج، عن نوفمبر الماضي.

وكانت الرابطة قد أعلنت يوم الجمعة الماضية، أن ثنائي ليفربول، ترينت ألكسندر أرنولد ودييجو جوتا، بجانب ثنائي مانشستر سيتي، جواو كانسيلو وبرناردو سيلفا، فضلًا عن متوسط ميدان أستون فيلا، جون ماكجين ومُهاجم واتفورد، إيمانويل دنيس يتنافسون على جائزة لاعب شهر نوفمبر في البريميرليج.

اقرأ أيضًا.. أرنولد: كافحت لأفوز بجائزة لاعب الشهر في وجود محمد صلاح

وقالت الرابطة إن الدولي الإنجليزي، ترينت ألكسندر أرنولد هو من حصل على جائزة أفضل لاعب في البريميرليج عن شهر نوفمبر.

الظهير الأيمن لـ ليفربول في الشهر الماضي، قدم أداءً رائعًا حيث تمكن صاحب الـ”23″ عامًا من تسجّيل هدف وقدم أربع تمريرات حاسمة.

Dele Alli: Tottenham outcast proves his worth to Jose Mourinho vs Ludogorets

Dele Alli has proven why Jose Mourinho can finally trust the Tottenham Hotspur outcast after producing a creative display in victory over Ludogorets on Thursday night.

Mourinho returned Alli to the starting line-up for the visit of Spurs’ Bulgarian opposition, having opted to omit the 24-year-old from his last five Premier League matchday squads and benching the midfielder at Ludogorets earlier this month.

Former Tottenham defender Danny Mills believes Alli should be “raging” over his recent treatment, which has sparked rumours Everton could look to forge a swoop on north London seeking a loan deal in the upcoming January window.

Mourinho’s reluctance to field Alli was capitalised last weekend when the Portuguese tactician only saw fit to name the £46.8m-rated star as the 19th-man against Manchester City, and left him to watch the win from the stands.

But Alli grabbed his chance to impress the former Chelsea boss against Ludogorets ahead of Tottenham’s trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with the MK Dons product display the touch of magic Spurs icon Gary Mabbutt recently told Football FanCast he believes the midfielder is capable of.

“Having watched Dele Alli grow as a player from when he first arrived at the club to where he is now, in a game you don’t deserve to win, he can create a bit of magic, he creates that opportunity for you, or scores a goal for you. He has an incredible potential to be a top player,” Mabbutt said.

Tottenham’s night got off to the perfect start when summer signing Carlos Vinicius opened the scoring in the 16th-minute at home to Ludogorets, before doubling Spurs’ advantage with his second goal of the Group Stage thanks to Alli’s first assist of the season.

Just 243 minutes of first-team football across all competitions this season had restricted Alli’s opportunities to impress Mourinho prior to Thursday night’s Europa League tie, which saw the 37-cap England international register three key balls and complete 51 of 64 total passes, including two of three long balls, per SofaScore.

He further won each of his two aerial duels, two of his five ground duels, struck three shots on goal, completed one of two attempted dribbles and delivered an accurate delivery with his sole cross of the game.

Alli may have lost possession 17 times but proved to Mourinho why he can be relied on to offer a creative spark in behind the sole striker, even if he lacks defensively with just one interception to his name against Ludogorets.

AND in other news, a Spurs gem who isn’t “shy” has a mountain to climb if he’s to win Jose Mourinho over.

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