All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Paul John Dykes has dropped a worrying claim on the future of Celtic winger Karamoko Dembele.

What’s been said?

In comments made on a recent episode of the A Celtic State of Mind podcast, Dykes stated his belief that – with the 19-year-old’s current contract at Parkhead set to expire at the end of the season, and, as yet, the winger being yet to agree a new deal with Ange Postecoglou’s side – the former England U18 international looks as if he will be on his way out of the club this summer.

Speaking about Dembele’s contractual situation, the podcaster said: “I think that Dembele – I feel as though he’s run his race at Celtic. I hope I’m wrong. I hope Ange Postecoglou can convince him to stay another two or three years.”

Disaster for Celtic

Considering how much expectation there has been regarding Dembele’s future ever since his debut for Celtic’s U20 side as a 13-year-old back in 2016, should the winger go on to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season, it would undoubtedly be a disaster for Postecoglou and his side.

Indeed, the £225k-rated sensation was named on the shortlist for the European Golden Boy award as recently as 2020, while, shortly after his arrival at Parkhead, the 56-year-old Bhoys boss also stated his excitement at the potential the £2k-per-week forward possessed, saying:

“He is obviously a hugely talented boy. He has been here for a while and I guess he gets an opportunity now. I think the way we play will suit him.”

However, despite recovering from an ankle injury that had kept him sidelined for the first half of the season towards the beginning of February, Dembele has since played just six minutes of Premiership football, as well as being completely left out of Postecoglou’s matchday squad for Celtic’s last two league fixtures – something that does not exactly appear to be the opportunity the Greek-Australian manager suggested the 19-year-old would receive.

And, following the news that fellow Celtic prospect Ben Doak also appears extremely close to sealing a move to Liverpool, should Dembele indeed join the 16-year-old in moving onto pastures new this summer, it would certainly come as a huge blow to everyone involved with the club – with the Parkhead faithful surely being devastated at the thought of losing a talent as promising as the forward for free.

AND in other news: Ange can axe “infectious” ace as Celtic become “serious contenders” for “massive” deal

[ad_pod ]

Jack Rodwell has started each of Blackburn Rovers’ last seven Championship games. However, last time out against Middlesbrough, after a truly miserable first half display, the 27-year-old was hauled off at half time by Tony Mowbray.

Should Darragh Lenihan be back to fitness in time to face Birmingham City at St Andrew’s Stadium on Saturday, then he must come into the starting XI in Rodwell’s place.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Rodwell looked against Boro like a player who needs some time out of the firing line. Given that Rovers have lost their last four consecutive league games, Mowbray has to change something in order to inspire his team to get back to their best.

Swapping out Rodwell would likely make Rovers a more solid unit at the back, and being dropped should also encourage the 3-cap former England international to concentrate on rediscovering his best form.

After last week’s woeful first half performance at Ewood Park, Mowbray needs something different, and taking Rodwell out of the team would be a positive alteration to make.

West Ham United have made an approach in a bid to bring Leandro Trossard to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Pete O’Rourke, with the journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that West Ham have made an enquiry with Brighton & Hove Albion regarding a deal to sign the 27-year-old forward, with David Moyes desperate to bring in attacking reinforcements prior to Monday’s transfer deadline.

In his tweet, O’Rourke said: “Understand West Ham have made a shock enquiry for Brighton attacker Leandro Trossard.”

Fans will finally be pleased

While it is true that Trossard is naturally a winger, the Belgium international’s impressive positional versatility – being able to operate on either flank, in attacking midfield or at centre-forward – is undoubtedly a major reason for West Ham’s interest in the attacker.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/check-out-the-latest-west-ham-news” title=”Check out the latest West Ham News”]

Furthermore, the £15.3m-rated forward is also proven in the Premier League, something that the 58-year-old Hammers manager typically prefers his signings to be – in order to reduce the amount of time it takes for a player to settle into the club.

However, not only does Trossard possess top-flight experience, the winger demonstrated over his 35 league outings last season that he has the ability to thrive in the division, scoring five goals, registering five assists and creating six big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.7 shots and making 1.5 key passes per game.

These returns saw the £35k-per-week Belgian earn a highly impressive seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.03, ranking him as Graham Potter’s fifth-best performer in the Premier League last time out.

As such, while the 27-year-old is not an out and out centre-forward, considering his impressive returns in the final third, his versatility in attacking roles and his experience in the division, the Brighton star would very much appear to make an excellent addition to Moyes’ attacking arsenal at the London Stadium – with fans undoubtedly being delighted to hear that the 58-year-old is finally addressing a problem position in his squad.

In other news: Deal off: WHU insider reveals fresh transfer setback, Moyes can kiss top four goodbye

In what has been a hitherto disastrous season for the club, Everton must now look towards their latest signing and current outcast Dele Alli.

Just a few seasons ago, his form earned him comparisons to Premier League greats Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes, as Dele was branded a “freak of a talent” by former Tottenham midfielder Darren Anderton.

Unfortunately, during his time at Spurs, the £19.8m-rated former England international has been “destroyed” systematically by Jose Mourinho (in the words of Kevin Campbell) and more recently, Nuno Espirito Santo.

After signing from MK Dons, Dele announced himself to the Premier League with some stellar performances for Tottenham. His first two seasons in the Premier League saw him rack up 18 goals coming in his second season in England’s top flight.

Since then, he has endured a slow and painful descent from the very top of his game, although the fluctuation in management has not helped the 25-year-old by any stretch of the imagination.

Over the course of the last few years, Dele has developed somewhat of a positional identity crisis. Comments from the likes of Mourinho, who said that “Dele Alli is not a midfield player”, will not have helped; with contrasting views from his compatriot and successor Nuno Espirito Santo, who played Dele as a central midfielder, bound to have confused the player even more.

We now know that Dele’s best position is when he is deployed as an attacking midfielder. This is evidenced within his best season in 2016/17, when he netted an incredible 22 goals and chipped in with a further 14 assists in 50 games for then-Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.

If Frank Lampard correctly understands Dele’s potential in terms of goal threat, he could shape Everton’s attacking setup around the 25-year-old.

Everton have often struggled to get a grip on games this season, as indicated by their average possession of 41.6%. A big part of this struggle is their lack of ability to win possession in the final third, which is often the first opportunity to nullify the opponent’s attacking transition.

The Toffees rank 17th when it comes to possession won in the final third, which indicates a lack of pressing authority to win back possession high up the pitch. Interestingly, whilst Dele’s decline has seen his end product diminish, his defensive statistics have been exceptional, with his pressures in the attacking third placing him in the 90th percentile among positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues.

If Lampard does what Mourinho and Nuno didn’t and trust in Dele as a playmaker, the 25-year-old could well repay his manager’s trust with the type of performances which we so often saw five years ago. Therefore, the time has come for the ex-Spurs maestro to be granted his first start in Merseyside blue when they take on West Ham on Sunday.

In other news – Everton now already lining up Lampard’s successor, supporters will be livid

Newcastle United return to action this evening as they face off against Wolves at St James’ Park in the Premier League.

The Magpies are currently on a run of three straight defeats and will be looking to put their poor form to an end with a positive result against Bruno Lage’s side.

Eddie Howe’s men were given a thrashing last time out in the top flight as they were hammered 5-1 by Antonio Conte’s Tottenham last weekend.

The ex-Cherries head coach will surely make changes to his team in the hope of turning in an improved performance, and one player he must finally unleash from the start is Bruno Guimaraes after benching him last week.

The midfielder came on as a substitute against Spurs and caught the eye with a strong showing amid a number of poor displays from his team-mates. As per SofaScore, he won seven of his nine duels, made four tackles and completed 96% of his attempted passes – resulting in one key pass – in just 31 minutes on the pitch.

To put those statistics into context, Joe Willock (six), Jonjo Shelvey (three) and Joelinton (two) all failed to win as many duels as the Brazilian despite all of them starting the match, with the former two playing the full 90 minutes and Joelinton coming off in the 59th minute.

His former Lyon team-mate Houssem Aouar dubbed Bruno as someone who “constantly offers solutions” for his team’s defenders by sweeping up ahead of them. This was on full display in his cameo performance in north London as the 24-year-old got stuck in and won possession back for his team in the little time that he had on the pitch.

Howe previously hailed the midfielder as a “standout” player and that is exactly what he can be for Newcastle against Wolves if he is named in the starting XI.

In his last Premier League start – against Everton in mid-March – Bruno impressed in the middle of the park. As per SofaScore, he won seven of his nine duels and made three tackles, whilst completing 97% of his passes and all nine of his long pass attempts.

This display – along with his ability to outshine Willock, Shelvey and Joelinton against Spurs – suggests that he has the quality to run the midfield for the Magpies. He can excel both on and off the ball and it is time for Howe to throw him in from the start at St James’ Park tonight.

AND in other news, Signed for free, now worth £9m: Ashley sealed his final NUFC gift in £35k-p/w “dream”…

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte could make Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni his top defensive target ahead of the summer transfer window, according to journalist Dean Jones.

The Lowdown: Bastoni linked with Spurs

Despite his desire to bring one in during January, Tottenham failed to sign a central defender for Conte. As a result, the Italian has ended up employing left-back Ben Davies as a makeshift left-sided centre-back.

However, according to Spanish sources, Spurs are already in the process of bolstering their defensive options and have submitted a £42m bid for Bastoni.

Inter remain reluctant to sanction a sale, so the 23-year-old remains on a list with the likes of Sven Botman, Josko Gvardiol and Nico Schlotterbeck as potential additions (via The Athletic).

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-news-copy/” title=”Tottenham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Jones’ claim on Bastoni

Jones believes that Conte will make a big push to sign Bastoni from his former club.

Speaking with GiveMeSport, the reporter claimed: “I think there’s a good chance that Bastoni will emerge as the guy.

“At this stage, I keep being told there is no order at the moment, that they’ll see at the end of the season where they’re at and they’ll go from there.

“They have a shortlist, but it’s not in any sort of ranking, as it stands.”

The Verdict: Great signing if it comes off

Described by journalist Mario Sconcerti as a “young Bonucci”, Bastoni is clearly valued quite highly in Italy. This praise is warranted by his underlying statistics – the 23-year-old ranks in the 99th percentile for progressive passes received, the 94th percentile for shot-creating actions and the 91th percentile for progressive carries (via FBRef) among positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues.

With Conte’s preferred back-three formation, Bastoni would suit playing on the left-hand side of the defence, with his ability on the ball complimenting this style of play.

Therefore, it would not be a surprise to see Conte make a big push for the Inter centre-back, who certainly seems like he would be an ideal signing in terms of what the Lilywhites boss is seeking in a defender.

In other news: One Tottenham man could lead a potential N17 mass exodus

Glasgow Rangers have now been gifted a triple injury boost as some early team news has emerged ahead of their match on Thursday night.

The Lowdown: Big game for Rangers

With the Teddy Bears now six points behind their Glasgow arch-rivals in the race for the Premiership title, all would be forgiven if they put all of their eggs in the Europa League basket.

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

Currently trailing 1-0 from the first leg against Braga, they take the Portuguese side to Ibrox tomorrow night with the aim of reversing the deficit and going through to the semi-finals of the competition.

The Latest: Rangers team news

Speaking to the media in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match, Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst has revealed that both Ryan Jack and Calvin Bassey are ‘available’, while he hopes that John Lundstram will join them after training today.

However, Filip Helander is now going to miss the rest of the season after sustaining an injury.

The Verdict: Boost for Rangers

Even though the news on Helander is disappointing, the manager’s claim that the Light Blues look set to welcome three players back to the squad will no doubt come as a timely boost.

Jack, Bassey and Lundstram all rank in the top 10 in terms of average tackles, interceptions, clearances and blocks in the Europa League for the Gers, while the trio also average a large number of passes between them at a high success rate (WhoScored).

Those statistics suggest that all three will be very useful in maintaining possession, and also help out with defending when required, so they could provide the catalyst for Rangers to get the result that they need on Thursday.

In other news, one man is almost certain to leave Rangers this summer 

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Boubacar Kamara to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Goal, who claim that all of Tottenham, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Southampton are keeping a very close eye on the situation of the Olympique de Marseille central midfielder, who is set to leave the Orange Velodrome on a free transfer upon the expiry of his contract with the Ligue 1 side this summer.

However, the report goes on to state that it is Atletico Madrid who are currently in pole position for the 22-year-old’s signature, with the France U21 international believed to be keen on the challenge of LaLiga and working with Diego Simeone.

Although, Goal also suggest that, with Antonio Conte – as well as the other interested parties from England – being able to offer the youngster a much bigger salary than the Spanish side, Kamara could yet decide on a move to the Premier League ahead of a switch to Spain.

Conte can axe Winks with Kamara

Considering the sheer amount of potential Kamara quite clearly possesses, in addition to Harry Winks having regressed greatly over the last year, it is easy to see why Tottenham would be interested in a move for the Marseille starlet this summer.

Indeed, over his 25 Ligue 1 appearances this season, the £22.5m-rated midfielder has been in breathtaking form for Jorge Sampaoli’s side, scoring one goal and creating two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 0.8 key passes, 1.2 interceptions, two tackles, 59.1 passes and winning 5.6 duels per game.

These returns have seen the £46k-per-week dynamo who Rolando dubbed a “phenomenon” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.09, ranking him as the Phocaeans’ second-best performer in the top flight of French football.

Furthermore, FBref rank the 22-year-old in the top 5% of midfielders in Europe’s big five leagues for passes attempted per 90, in addition to the top 6% for passes completed, the top 28% for progressive passes, the top 26% for progressive carries, the top 33% for tackles and the top 35% for interceptions over the last 365 days.

As such, with the £91k-per-week Harry Winks – who Dan Kilpatrick dubbed “out of form” earlier this season – looking as if he does not have a future at Spurs under Conte, having been offered to Leeds United in the January transfer window, it would appear wise for the 52-year-old to finally axe the England international on a permanent basis this summer, before reinvesting the money saved from his hefty weekly wage into a move for the much more exciting Kamara.

AND in other news: “I understand…”: Gold drops big behind-the-scenes Spurs update, Conte will be fuming

Luke Edwards has now revealed some Newcastle United transfer news involving Jamal Lewis.

The Lowdown: Left out

In an update shared from the official website of the St. James’ Park faithful on Thursday, Lewis is now one of three players to have been left out of their 25-man squad for the second half of the Premier League season.

Ciaran Clark and Isaac Hayden also miss out to make way for new signings Bruno Guimaraes, Matt Targett and Dan Burn.

This feels a pretty significant moment for Lewis in particular, being younger than his two teammates and hailed as ‘excellent’ and ‘so athletic’ by Eddie Howe.

The Latest: Leaving?

Taking to Twitter, The Daily Telegraph journalist Edwards has revealed that Lewis will now be going out on loan abroad, after being left out of the squad:

“I believe Jamal Lewis will be heading abroad on loan after he was left out of #nufc 25-man squad.”

Some transfer windows are still open, such as in Turkey, Switzerland and Russia.

The Verdict: Let him go

After the North East club brought in left-back Targett from Aston Villa on Transfer Deadline Day, it should now pave way for Lewis to go.

They already have cover in that position in Matt Ritchie, and Lewis needs to try and rekindle some form elsewhere now that he will not be playing top flight games.

The Northern Ireland international currently ranks in the bottom six Magpies players in terms of performance in the league so far this term, and with only five appearances made in total (WhoScored), needs to get some game time elsewhere.

He could have gone on loan to Birmingham City in the Championship, but with the domestic window now shut, going abroad is his only other option.

In other news, find out who should now be ‘fine’ for Everton after a previous ‘concern’ here!

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has hinted that Sadio Mane could sign a new deal, after claiming he could play at the top well into his 30s.

The Lowdown: Mane’s deal expiring

The 30-year-old has been one of the superstars of this memorable era at Anfield, maturing into one of the world’s best attacking players.

Mane has sealed Premier League and Champions League glory during his time at Liverpool, also scoring 115 goals and registering 45 assists in 259 Reds appearances.

Recent reports suggested that the Senegalese sensation could sign a new deal at Anfield, with his current contract expiring at the end of next season.

The Latest: Klopp hints at extension

Speaking in his pre-Manchester United press conference on Monday [via the Express], Klopp hinted at him wanting Mane at Liverpool for years to come, with his current level likely to remain for a long time:

“His physicality shows his dedication, yes, and he is a talent too. If you do the same training as Sadio – or I do – we will never look like him…it is not possible.

“He is blessed, let me put it like this. He does a lot (of training) absolutely, but he is a bit lucky as well. He will play on well into his 30s…if he wants to.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-29/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: No-brainer for Liverpool

When it comes to Liverpool offering Mane a new deal or not, it should be considered an absolute no-brainer, with the forward still such a huge force in the game.

Granted, he has lost a little bit of the explosive pace that he once had, but he is excelling in a new central attacking role and already has 18 goals this season, including two against Manchester City on Saturday.

It may be that Mane has to accept a long-term contract may not come his way, but assuming he wants to stay put, extending his time as a Liverpool player by at least a couple of years would be a massive positive.

In other news, the race for one Liverpool target is heating up. Read more here.