All posts by z3u9t.icu

Leeds United retain an interest in Todd Cantwell, according to reports.

Over the weekend, journalist Pete O’Rourke revealed that the Yorkshire outfit have long held an interest in the Norwich City dynamo and he believes they are still keen on signing him during this month’s transfer window.

“Todd Cantwell’s an interesting one. Leeds were very keen on him last summer and maybe the window before that as well, he is someone who’s been on their radar for a long time,” he revealed to GIVEMESPORT.

The 23-year-old is thought to be available for around £15m to £20m, as per the Telegraph.

Leeds broke their club record to sign a winger during the summer transfer window in Daniel James and he has endured quite an inconsistent campaign thus far but so has Marcelo Bielsa regular Jack Harrison.

Of all the players to start ten or more games in the Premier League this term, the former Manchester City man ranks as the Argentine’s second-worst player, as per WhoScored ratings.

From his 16 appearances, the 25-year-old has delivered just one goal and one assist, a vast regression on his returns of eight goals and eight assists in 2020/21.

Meanwhile, even though Cantwell has struggled for minutes for the doomed Canaries this season, he would be an ideal upgrade to Bielsa’s attacking department as he fits the atypical profile of what the 66-year-old likes.

Described as a “god-given” talent by former youth coach Gary Cockaday to The Athletic, the £18m-rated dynamo has been likened to Man City star Jack Grealish in terms of playing style, as well as Spurs midfielder Dele Alli.

He is the sort of player that likes to take on the opposition’s full-back and he can easily change up the pace of a game at a click of a finger. Not to mention the way he can strike a ball so cleanly and his impressive work rate.

A career average of 1.4 key passes and 2.8 dribbles, via WhoScored, suggests that he’s certainly a nuisance in the final third, whilst 1.9 tackles per game in the Premier League this season alone would back up his non-stop energy and commitment to the cause.

“He trains unbelievably hard and in an outstanding way,” once claimed his former manager, Daniel Farke.

Harrison is managing half that number of dribbles per game in the top-flight and is tracking slightly behind in creativity, too, thus showing that there is possibly more potential in the versatile Canaries midfielder.

As such, it would be wise for Leeds to follow up their interest with a bid this month. For around £15m, it could be an absolute steal and in turn, Bielsa would be getting an big upgrade on the misfiring and out-of-form Harrison.

AND in other news, Alan Nixon issues big Leeds United transfer update, Bielsa will be buzzing…

Sunderland moved up to third in the League One table on Tuesday night as they thrashed Morecambe 5-0 at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats were at their clinical best as they swept their opponents aside with ease, scoring two of their goals in the opening 17 minutes of the match.

Lee Johnson’s men are now two points off first place, currently held by Wigan, and two points behind second-placed Wycombe, who have played a game more than Sunderland.

Forget Broadhead

Nathan Broadhead scored two of the five goals and may take the plaudits for his fine performance, but another Black Cats star stole the show with a sublime showing on the night – Lynden Gooch.

The American winger was exceptional throughout the match and was pivotal to setting the tone with his direct running and ability on the ball.

He set up the first goal in the 13th minute with a sublime mazy run down the left wing, as he jinked past a number of challenges before firing the ball into Ross Stewart’s path for him to find the back of the net. Four minutes later, he produced a couple of stepovers to beat the full-back and clipped up a brilliant cross for Broadhead to find the corner of the goal.

On the ball, he was a threat all night down the flanks. As per SofaScore, he completed a whopping five dribbles, out of six attempts, and created three chances for his teammates – two of those resulting in the aforementioned assists for Broadhead and Stewart. He also completed three of his six long pass attempts and two crosses, whilst having 85 touches of the ball overall.

Gooch also competed out of possession. As per SofaScore, he won 60% of his ground duels (6/10) and made one clearance and one tackle. Given that Sunderland had 62% of the ball and he had little defensive work to do, this was a strong showing from him against the ball and shows that he can compete in physical battles to get the better of his opponents.

Therefore, the £5k-per-week wizard stole the show as he was able to win the majority of his battles off the ball and was a constant menace to the Morecambe defence on it. He was able to consistently cause problems for the opposition with his dribbling and chance creation, ultimately leading – directly – to two of the five goals and setting the tone for the night.

Despite currently sitting in fourth place in the Championship table and just four points off the top spot, West Brom have scored the fewest number of goals out of any of the top five teams in the league at the moment with 30 scored in 23 games.

With this in mind and the fact that the January transfer window is close to opening, this could provide the Midlands club with the opportunity to strengthen their squad to put themselves in the best possible shape to attack the second half of the campaign and push for promotion.

In recent days, it has been reported by The Athletic that Barnsley striker Cauley Woodrow is “under consideration” for the Baggies to sign in January, which could be just what they need to progress.

The 27-year-old originally joined Barnsley on a loan deal from Fulham back in the 2018 summer transfer window before signing on a permanent basis in January 2019.

Overall, the striker, who is currently valued at £2.7m according to Transfermarkt, has made 151 appearances for Barnsley across all competitions, scoring 53 goals and providing ten assists along the way, showing how much of a goalscoring threat he could be for the Baggies.

With 42 appearances under Valerien Ismael during the duo’s time together at Barnsley, Woodrow managed to score 12 goals and provide six assists, showing that the West Brom manager knows how to get a tune out of the player and why it would make sense for them to reunite in January at The Hawthorns.

Labelled as a player that “carries a goal threat” by former Huddersfield Town boss and pundit Danny Cowley, Woodrow could be a great January signing for West Brom if he’s able to hit the ground running in terms of scoring goals and push the Baggies to promotion back to the Premier League.

However, with the striker playing the full 90 minutes in all but one of the 22 Championship games he’s appeared in so far this season, it could be tough for the Baggies to get Woodrow out of Barnsley based on how important he clearly is to their team.

Although, with Barnsley in the relegation zone with just 14 points on the board, a chance to secure promotion and play in the Premier League with West Brom could be rather tempting for Woodrow and possibly give hope to the Midlands club that they would be able to work out a deal to sign him in January.

In other news: Lai still wants to sell the Baggies

With their 3-2 defeat against West Ham United now behind them, Liverpool’s next Premier League clash sees them take on another tough opponent in Arsenal who are not only one place and two points behind Jurgen Klopp’s side in the league table, but they are also unbeaten in the league since August.

On the chalkboard

With this in mind and the fact that Mikel Arteta’s side have managed to score eight goals in their previous four league games, one player that should be in consideration to be in Klopp’s starting XI on this occasion is centre-back Ibrahima Konate.

Despite only playing in four games for the Merseyside club so far this season after arriving at Anfield during the previous summer transfer window from German club RB Leipzig in a deal worth a reported fee of £35m, Konate has managed to keep a clean sheet in three of those games, including their 5-0 win over Manchester United, keeping Cristiano Ronaldo quiet in the process.

This performance, in particular, not only earned the Frenchman an overall match rating of 7.2/10 from SofaScore but also heavy praise from Reds captain Jordan Henderson who described Konate’s performance against the Manchester club as “outstanding” after Konate made eight clearances, one tackle and won three of the four duels he was involved in.

[snack-amp-story url = “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/check-out-the-latest-liverpool-news” title=”Check out the latest Liverpool news!”]

Despite this, Konate, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £70k-per-week according to Spotrac, didn’t manage to have a similar sort of impact during their 2-2 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion where the Liverpool Echo said that he was “a little slack on occasion” in terms of his distribution and decision-making.

However, with Joel Matip racking up a fairly disappointing overall match rating of 6.4/10 for his performance against West Ham from SofaScore, this could be a good time for Klopp to give Konate his chance back in the team again and put his shaky display against Brighton behind him.

Looking ahead to the Arsenal match, Konate has definitely shown during his time with the Reds that he has what it takes to step up to the plate in big fixtures such as the match at Old Trafford and dominate opposition attacking players, which he could well do against the Gunners.

In other news: FSG could seal Klopp’s dream transfer with swoop for “undefendable” £27m-rated machine – opinion

Wolves could hand academy youngster Luke Cundle a chance to prove his worth during the December period, journalist Liam Keen has hinted.

The Lowdown: Busy period ahead

Bruno Lage’s side have done impressively to sit sixth in the Premier League after 12 matches, overcoming an iffy start to find a strong run of form.

Wolves have seven Premier League fixtures to tackle in December, though, which is going to be a massive test of their squad, especially with injuries mounting.

Lage has hinted in press briefings that the Molineux faithful may see an unnamed new face take to the field in order to tackle the relentless run of games.

The Latest: Cundle could feature

According to Keen on Twitter, an ‘unnamed academy player’, potentially Cundle, looks set to be given an opportunity to excel in the first team. He tweeted: “Bruno Lage has some injury issues and a smaller than ideal squad, meaning he is anticipating a tough December. An unnamed academy player (suspected to be Luke Cundle) could get his chance too.”

The 19-year-old midfielder has a contract keeping him at Molineux until 2023 and he has shone for the club’s youth teams, registering nine assists in 43 appearances for Wolves’ under-23s.

He has featured twice for the first team (both in Carabao Cup matches) and has made the bench for all but two Premier League matches this season, although he is still awaiting his top-flight debut.

The Verdict: Big test of the squad

As mentioned, Wolves are in a good position right now, but the key is to stay amongst the big clubs and continue to kick on throughout a hectic December.

We may learn a lot about Lage’s squad in the next month, with legs tested amid so many games and the depth of the squad potentially coming into question.

It would be great to see someone like Cundle given a chance, though, and it is encouraging that Lage looks set to show some faith in youth.

In other news, one Wolves player has been linked with a move to a big club. Find out who it is here.

Tottenham Hotspur have once again been linked with a move for a Championship defender ahead of the January transfer window…

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, Spurs boss Nuno Santo is keen to sign Stoke City colossus Harry Souttar, having previously sanctioned a move for him during his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Earlier this month, the same outlet reported that several Premier League clubs were keen to sign the 6 foot 5 giant, who has been watched multiple times by scouts since penning a long-term deal at the bet365 Stadium.

The Lilywhites may need to battle Everton and Aston Villa to his signature, though it still remains to be seen what sort of fee such a deal would command.

Ex-Potters player Mike Pejic believes that Souttar is worth more than £20m, but Transfermarkt currently value him at a lowly £3.6m.

Imagine him and Romero

Heading into the new campaign, Spurs’ backline was quite a contentious topic as they were riddled with inconsistencies and a lack of leadership, whilst they were often let down by numerous individual errors.

The bulk of the defensive armoury still remains in N17 as only Toby Alderweireld departed the club, meaning that the likes of Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez are still playing matches.

New sporting director Fabio Paratici brought in Cristian Romero from Atalanta and he’s largely looked the part whenever he’s been involved. If he’s to sign permanently, then he could need a long-term partner, and perhaps Souttar can be that man.

The Australia international would hand Nuno height like no other in defence, which could be a scary prospect alongside the ruthless Romero.

He has won an average of 4.6 headers per game in the Championship this term, on top of 1.9 interceptions and two tackles per match, via WhoScored. It’s no wonder his manager Michael O’Neill once claimed that the 23-year-old is a “player blessed with great natural attributes” and “good game intelligence.”

By comparison, no Spurs player has managed more than an average of 3.6 aerials won, with Romero currently the best central defender (2.2) for that aspect.

Meanwhile, Souttar has been likened to players such as Harry Maguire and Virgil van Dijk, who started their careers elsewhere before becoming two of the most recognised centre-backs in the Premier League, so it’s already an early sign that he could follow suit.

Also dubbed a “Rolls-Royce” by former Stoke legend Ryan Shawcross – who himself played well over 300 times in the top-flight – it seems as if Spurs could be onto something with the 23-year-old Nuno target.

Paratici must look to seal a move for Souttar when January swings around. It could be a smart decision as the Portuguese looks to build a colossal backline for years to come.

AND in other news, Paratici could seal Spurs’ biggest signing since Son with “complete” £27m-rated beast…

After being knocked out of the Carabao Cup for the first time in five years by West Ham United, followed by losing 2-0 at home against Crystal Palace at the weekend in the Premier League, it’s safe to say it has been a disappointing week for Manchester City.

Their next match sees them back in Champions League action on Wednesday evening with a clash against Club Brugge, who City managed to convincingly beat 5-1 in their previous match against the Belgium club last month.

On the chalkboard

One player that did not feature in the defeat against Patrick Vieira’s side at the weekend that we feel should be in the starting XI in midweek to take on Brugge is midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.

Gundogan’s two previous appearances for the Manchester club saw him score a goal and earn himself an impressive overall match rating of 8/10 from SofaScore in their 4-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League as well as being City’s highest-rated player in the Cup defeat at West Ham with a rating of 7.9/10, also from SofaScore.

This shows that the midfielder, who has been described as one of the most “intelligent” players Pep Guardiola has seen throughout his career, can be a vital figure for the Citizens and why we feel he should be in the starting XI to face Brugge. That’s especially given how he should be well-rested for the game after he didn’t play against Palace.

The German international joined City back during the 2016 summer transfer window from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth a reported fee of £20m.

Since then, the 31-year-old, who is currently valued at £36m according to Transfermarkt, has made 220 appearances for the current reigning Premier League champions across all competitions in which he has managed to score 41 goals and provide 28 assists along the way, showing how much of an attacking threat he is from midfield and a real game-changer for the team.

Last season saw Gundogan end City’s Premier League campaign as their top goalscorer with 13 goals under his belt.

Looking ahead to the Brugge match, we feel that the £140k-per-week earner should be in the starting XI so Guardiola can rotate some of his midfield options and rest some that he may want to be fully prepared for their next Premier League match at the weekend against rivals Manchester United.

In other news: Fernandino heir apparent: Pep could save Man City millions with “aggressive” 17 y/o – opinion

Everton are set to receive a big injury boost ahead of their Premier League encounter with West Ham United following the international break.

What’s the word?

Toffees manager Rafael Benitez has confirmed he’s hopeful that multiple players will be available to return from injury after the current pause in Premier League action.

Although Everton have made a fast start under their new boss, the Spanish tactician was unable to call upon the services of Seamus Coleman, Andre Gomes, Fabian Delph, Alex Iwobi, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin for the draw against Manchester United last time out.

And while Benitez hasn’t given any specific information about when his injured stars will be ready to return, he does expect to have a stronger squad for his side’s game against the Hammers at Goodison Park a week on Sunday.

“Hopefully, we can rest some players (during the international break). We can recover some players who are a little bit tired – and then the others, if we have one or two coming back, we will be grateful, because we need legs,” the 61-year-old said (as relayed by the Liverpool ECHO).

“I am really pleased with the players we have at the moment, but if you have two or three players that will come back and help the others, then hopefully, it will be very useful for the team.”

Benitez will be delighted

Benitez’s arrival at Everton over the summer was a controversial one given his previous history with local rivals Liverpool, but the Champions League-winning manager is quickly winning over the fanbase.

A healthy total of 14 points from their opening seven top-flight fixtures has left the Toffees in fifth position at this moment in time, sparking genuine hope of a European push.

The fact they’ve managed to achieve that despite having a number of their star players on the treatment table, therefore, is quite incredible. They haven’t missed the goals of Calvert-Lewin who had netted three times in his opening three outings with Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray hitting the ground running so well in Merseyside.

Gray has four goal involvements to his name while Townsend has five strikes and three assists in ten outings.

Therefore, if you combine that sort of form with returning players like Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, the Toffees should become even better in the weeks to come.

Benitez will no doubt be delighted that several of his injured players are nearing a return to full fitness as the visit of West Ham will be a tough test for his threadbare charges.

And, in other news…Bought for £26m, left for £0: Everton endured transfer nightmare over 32 y/o flop 

West Ham United got back to winning ways in the Premier League thanks to an Angelo Ogbonna header on his 199th appearance for the club.

David Moyes’ return to his former stomping ground, Goodison Park, was a positive one as the Irons ended Everton’s 100% home record with a 1-0 victory.

There were few clear-cut chances for either side but you’d feel the visitors would be the more gutted of the two sides to have not come away with all three points as they dominated large parts of the match – that much was echoed by their 62% possession.

The Italian colossus was one of many standout performers in Merseyside, with another being Declan Rice, who undoubtedly ran the show for the Hammers in midfield.

Sky Sports opted for Ogbonna as the ‘Man of the Match’ award, whilst many supporters on social media seemed to side with the England international.

However, there is another West Ham star who deserves his fair share of plaudits – Aaron Cresswell.

The 31-year-old left-back is a crucial cog in Moyes’ system and that influence was seen once again this afternoon. He was actually rated as their second-best player (7.4), as per SofaScore ratings, even ahead of Rice (6.9).

Cresswell’s importance to the Irons was shown by the fact he recorded a match-high 121 touches, which was a whopping 27 more than the English powerhouse in the engine room and that speaks volumes.

A constant threat down the left flank, the veteran defender attempted nine crosses but perhaps more imperatively, he did his defensive duties immensely.

The £50k-per-week West Ham star registered a squad-high five clearances, put in one tackle and won 89% of his nine duels, both on the ground and in the air.

He dealt with an in-form Andros Townsend with aplomb and that’s a large reason as to why they managed to keep a much-needed clean sheet – just their second in the league this term.

The Evening Standard’s Simon Collings described Cresswell as a player “who looked to cause problems when he was able to get forward” and that he was “solid in defence.”

Ogbonna and Rice might have ran things at Goodison Park but their teammate certainly played his part too.

AND in other news, Signed for £18m, now worth 81% less: GSB endured nightmare with “special” West Ham dud…

A number of West Brom supporters have been showing their love for injured Albion ace Dara O’Shea following a social media update from the defender.

The Baggies have made a strong start to the season as they look to make a swift return to the Premier League following relegation in the spring.

Valerien Ismael’s side sit top of the Championship table after picking up 14 points from their opening six matches, and they look like genuine promotion contenders.

The biggest setback West Brom have suffered is a long-term injury to O’Shea, however, with the centre-back an ever-present in the league this season before being ruled out for several months following an injury on international duty recently.

On Monday, the Republic of Ireland defender posted on Instagram [shared via his club’s official Twitter account] to confirm that his surgery was complete as his recovery continues.

West Brom fans react to O’Shea post

These Baggies supporters were quick to show their support for the 22-year-old on Twitter, with the defender hopefully returning stronger than ever and as quickly as possible given the nature of his injury.

“King Dara”

Credit: @AlexSkidmore17

“Come back stronger lad”

Credit: @KyleJnes

“Future captain”

Credit: @dizzysnade

“Love you king”

Credit: @wbanath

“Goat”

Credit: @leo_woodfield

“Best CB in the championship”

Credit: @electrodecay

In other news, some West Brom fans have reacted to Ismael’s recent comments. Read more here.