According to Portuguese news outlet Record, Newcastle United are interested in signing Benfica goalkeeper Bruno Varela.
What’s the story?
The 23-year-old Portuguese ‘keeper returned to Benfica last summer after leaving the club for a year, and the 6ft3 shot-stopper went on to make 29 appearances in the Liga Nos over the season.
Varela has represented Portugal at every level up to U23 and has consolidated his place as Benfica’s no.1 despite his age.
According to the report, Watford are also interested in signing the youngster who is valued at £7.2million on Transfermarkt.
Not an area that needs strengthening
If Rafa Benitez does indeed move to sign Bruno Varela, it would be a surprising move for Newcastle.
The one addition Rafa Benitez has made to the squad is the signing of Martin Dubravka, and it seems unlikely that Benfica’s no.1 would move to play second fiddle to him.
He is clearly a young talented ‘keeper, but Newcastle have other areas that need investment and a substitute goalkeeper isn’t a priority at the moment.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Varela probably wouldn’t come cheap either, and if Newcastle have a limited transfer budget, it seems silly to spend a large proportion of it on a player who’s unlikely to feature much next season.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255847″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Newcastle’s opening fixtures for the 201819 Premier League season”]
West Ham United attacker Michail Antonio is hopeful that he will be able to hit the goal trail for the Hammers between now and the end of the season.
The 27-year-old netted just his second Premier League goal of the campaign in West Ham’s 4-1 loss at Liverpool last weekend.
It has been a frustrating season for Antonio due to a number of injury problems, with a calf issue seeing the Englishman miss six of his team’s last nine league fixtures.
The attacker, who is valued at £16.2m by transfermarkt.co.uk, came off the bench to register at Anfield last time out, and he is now targeting more goals for the Hammers – starting with Saturday’s clash against Swansea City.
Antonio told West Ham’s official website:
“Everyone loves scoring, it’s one of the best things in the world, so to get back on the scoresheet has given me confidence. It was obviously a bad result for us, but hopefully now I can go on a goalscoring run.
“I’m going to try and play my part and do what I can for the team. I hope I can add more goals to my tally between now and the end of the season.”
West Ham have only won one of their last five Premier League matches, with that disappointing run of form leaving them in 13th position in the table.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
David Moyes’ side will enter this weekend’s clash with Swansea just three point clear of the relegation zone.
Dortmund’s ‘lost son’ Shinji Kagawa has returned home after an unsuccessful two seasons of bench warming at Manchester United, but will they regret selling him back to the Germans?
The first Japanese player to play for United, originally signed by Sir Alex Ferguson, struggled at his new club since his arrival. He came with a lot of promise after helping Dortmund to winning two Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012 and the high expectations where not lived up to. Sir Alex was in his last season as United manager and used the midfielder sparingly, choosing to focus more on his desire to win the title in his last season as manager than help blood the talented Asian youngster into the team.
When given a chance however, the Japanese star did well and earned himself the records of first ever Asian to score a Premiership hat-trick and the first Japanese player to win a Premiership title. He scored six times in total for United and put in his fair share of assists as well. It was no secret that the boy came with bags of talent and it was obvious to see every time he did get to play, and his former manager Jurgen Klopp had rated him highly.
It wasn’t to be for him in his first season and it was even worse for him under David Moyes who also found himself having to focus more on getting results than taking time to integrate any young promising future stars into the team.
It was hard for the Scotsman to try and do any sort of re-building at United, having been thrown in at the deep end as the ‘chosen one’ he wanted to hit the ground running and make a good impression. So Kagawa was put on the back burner yet again and made even fewer appearances under Moyes than he had done under Ferguson.
Since returning to Dortmund the player has received a hero’s welcome from the fans and repaid them as early as his first match by providing them with an assist and a goal. First he set up Kevin Grosskreutz, whose cut back found Adrian Ramos for the lead, then the attacking midfielder fired in from 12 metres in the 41st minute as hundreds of Japanese flags were unfurled in the stands. His manager spoke after that game, a long term admirer of the talented Kagawa who was surprised to have had the chance to re-sign him from United in the first place. He said: “Shinji played an outstanding game and he had cramps at the end which is a good sign, we know very well that he can play football and also create a special atmosphere”
The Dortmund fans absolutely adore him and with the sort of faith that his manager shows in him he has been given the chance to truly flourish. He will have a fantastic season at the German club and no doubt play a very big part in their push for a league title and their chase of European glory as well.
Man United will definitely regret selling him, as if he had been given the chance he needed when he was there then he would no doubt have shown what he was capable of doing and become a big part of the setup at Old Trafford. Moyes should have given the player a chance, it’s not as if his team were playing very well last season anyway and he might have added that magic that they were lacking and helped them win a few more games. You cannot blame Fergie for not using the player as much in his last season in charge, but Moyes would have benefited greatly from using him, as would new United manager Louis Van Gaal who decided to ship him back to where he came from in favour of his new super star summer signings.
If he had stayed, even after all the players they have recruited he would still have made a big impact over there this season. United’s loss is Dortmund’s gain by a mile and it is a shame for English football to lose such a promising star. At least Man Utd won’t have to worry about him scoring against them in Europe this season.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes that his side’s performance in their goalless draw with Swansea illustrated the progress being made at the club.
The Reds suffered defeat during their last visit to the Liberty Stadium in May, but came close to taking all three points this time out.
Jose Enrique had an effort ruled out for offside before Raheem Sterling crashed a half-volley against the crossbar.
Rodgers was happy with his team’s display despite failing to come out on top:
“I was really pleased with the quality of our game today, I thought our build-up play was good and we got through the thirds well.” He told SkySports.
“I just thought we needed a fraction more belief in the final third. There were opportunities around the box where we could have got a shot off a bit quicker.
“That comes from certain types of player and personnel you have in.
“I thought the method in our game was good, and people who would have seen the game at the end of last season would have seen a difference today, hopefully.
The Northern Irishman believes they may have claimed the win if luck were on their side:
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
“We were unfortunate with the offside goal that was ruled out. I thought that was a goal having seen the replays of it.
“I’ll never say coming here is two points dropped because it’s a difficult place to come. Our performance level is continually improving. We’re just chipping away at climbing up the league, and we’ll do that.”
Birkir Bjarnason is currently being linked with a move away from Aston Villa in this summer’s transfer window.
The 30-year-old joined Villa from FC Basel in January 2017, and he has scored four times and registered three assists in 37 appearances for his English club in all competitions.
[ad_pod ]
Last term, Bjarnason, who is believed to be attracting interest from Italy, scored three times in 23 Championship appearances as Steve Bruce’s side reached the final of the playoffs before losing to Fulham.
The midfielder, who is valued at £1.8m by Transfermarkt, is currently with Iceland at the 2018 World Cup, but his nation have failed to make it through the group stages of this summer’s tournament.
According to Takvim, Trabzonspor are extremely interested in signing Bjarnason this summer, and the Villa supporters have been reacting to the transfer speculation.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”257647″ player=”12034″ title=”Three reasons we love to hate… Brazil and Argentina”]
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
There are some Villa fans who are entirely against the sale, and others have put extortionate values on the midfielder, which is just another way of saying that the Iceland international should be kept ahead of the new Championship season.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
Arsenal are in the midst of a busy schedule at the moment. They survived a scare in last night’s 2-1 second leg defeat to Ostersund but up next is a tasty battle for silverware as they play Premier leaders Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Arsene Wenger had a chance to rest a few of his key players – especially those with injury problems – last night and will be hoping that the added rest whittles down his injury list.
Here’s the lowdown on the injury issues facing three of Arsenal’s most important players, according to PremierInjuries:
Alexandre Lacazette
When was he injured?: Lacazette’s injury has been an ongoing issue, but the club made the decision to send the player for knee surgery on February 13th.
Potential injury return date: 11/03/2018
Will he be missed?: Lacazette has only scored once in the league since early December, so the Gunners should be able to cope without him – especially after signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January. Danny Welbeck can lead the line as well if needed.
What the manager has said: “He is doing well, I think he will be ahead of the planned recovery – four weeks, maybe three and a half.”
[ad_pod ]
Aaron Ramsey
When was he injured?: Ramsey missed six games after limping off in a 1-1 draw with Southampton on December 10th, and has only seen limited action in the new year.
Potential injury return date: 25/02/2018
Will he be missed?: Ramsey has a habit of coming up big at Wembley, having scored the winner for Arsenal in two FA Cup Finals, so Wenger will be eager to have him in his side for Sunday and would provide a handy welcome bonus were he fit.
What the manager has said: “I don’t rule him out yet, it depends on how well he can improve with the intensity of training until Sunday.”
Mesut Ozil
Soccer Football – Premier League – Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal – Wembley Stadium, London, Britain – February 10, 2018 Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil looks dejected after taking a free-kick REUTERS/David Klein EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative f
When did he become ill?: He contracted sickness for the fourth time in fourteen months on Monday (19/02/2018).
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Potential injury return date: 25/02/2018
Will he be missed?: Some would argue Ozil’s absence from a game that will require Arsenal to defend can be as much a blessing as a curse. But on paper at least, he’s still the Gunners’ most talismanic talent and the likeliest player to produce some magic in Sunday’s cup final.
What the manager has said: “Mesut was sick until today, he was in bed on Monday and Tuesday for sickness. I would have played him, but he will not be involved tomorrow. He should be OK for Sunday.”
It’s over and done with now. Cesc Fabregas is a Chelsea player.
Trying to find logic in Arsene Wenger’s thoughts on this one is a pointless task. The Arsenal manager keeps his cards so close to his chest that few at the club appear to have an idea of where he’ll move next. It’s to an extent that some have even questioned whether Wenger himself knows what his next move will be.
But this one is entirely on him, not the player, who apparently wanted a return to the club that rounded out the final years of his education and made him the player he is today.
I’m not buying the argument that the signing of Mesut Ozil last summer offsets the need for a player in the mould of Fabregas this year. How can having too many world-class players be a bad thing? Are Arsenal really in a position where they can turn their noses up at a player who will make them better in every sense?
Here’s the thing about Ozil: he doesn’t have the personality to be a leader, at least not a vocal one. He can lead with his performances, but he generally strikes as a kind of introverted genius. At Real Madrid his numbers were outstanding, but the focus was on Cristiano Ronaldo. Ozil helped pull the strings at the Bernabeu, but Xabi Alonso was equally as important at getting Real to play.
Of course, Arsenal have Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla, but Fabregas is something else. Ramsey was phenomenal last season when he made it onto the pitch, but let him have an injury-free 38-game season where he replicates that form before we declare players of Fabregas’ quality wholly unnecessary.
The popular defence of Wenger’s refusal to re-sign Fabregas is in questioning where he’d fit into the current Arsenal side. He’d play in midfield, obviously, in the central position he held for much of his time in north London; there’s no ambiguity about that. Sarcasm aside (ask a silly question, get a silly answer), no one can say Fabregas would never have gotten a game (or Ramsey or Ozil) when the club’s horrific injury record is staring back at them.
Arsenal’s problem in every title race they’ve been in since moving to the Emirates is the running out of steam sometime around the three-quarter mark; the big injuries always seem to hit during or after January, with cruel, humorous consistency. You look to other clubs in England like Manchester City and Manchester United who have gone the distance in recent seasons, but better examples would be those from the continent.
Bayern Munich’s midfield talent pool is ludicrous. Thiago Alcantara’s injury last season was more an annoyance that one which would derail their campaign. Mario Goetze stole the headlines last year ahead of his switch to Bavaria, but he was in and out of the side. Pep Guardiola had the option of fielding either Philipp Lahm or Javi Martinez in the midfield, both to much success. The point is, that team never ran out of energy; ideas maybe, or just became far too entrenched in Pep’s ideals, but they never looked like they were running on empty.
Barcelona were the same when they signed Fabregas in 2011, Real Madrid’s swelled midfield department brought them two trophies last season, while Juventus had the luxury of being able to rotate Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo, and Claudio Marchisio. Strength in depth and depth in quality did nothing to damage those clubs’ pursuit of silverware and ultimate success.
The other annoyance about this Fabregas situation is that the Spaniard is an Arsenal player. Not in the sense that he was once on the books of the club, but in his style of play. Wenger doesn’t stray too heavily from the possession-based game, essentially wanting to walk the ball into the net, and Fabregas would have continued to improve on the current product. It’s a similar statement made following Ozil’s signing: Arsenal didn’t really need him. Well they did, because he has obviously helped to better the team’s play. What Arsenal definitely didn’t need was a lumbering Marouane Fellaini sitting in front of the back four, yet his signing was trumpeted by a large group.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Part of Arsenal signing Fabregas for a second time would have been in keeping him away from a rival team, but the majority of it should have been because a world-class player came on the market for what was, relatively speaking, a very good price, at £27 million.
There’s no other way to paint this other than an incredible loss to Arsenal, a reckless decision that will without doubt come back to haunt the club somewhere down the line.
Gylfi Sigurdsson believes Tottenham Hotspur must score early against Maribor in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Andre Villas-Boas’ team have drawn all three of their Group J games so far this season and could only manage a 1-1 draw against the Slovenian champions last time out.
But the Tottenham midfielder is hopeful that an early lead will open the game up and encourage the White Hart Lane crowd to get behind the team.
He told Tottenham’s official website: “It would be ideal if we get an early goal. That means Maribor cannot just sit there and defend and it would the game up.
“That would also get the crowd right behind us and it will be a great atmosphere. That is important for us.”
Sigurdsson, who scored the equaliser at the Ljudski vrt Stadium two weeks ago, also believes the size of the White Hart Lane pitch will work in their favour and that Spurs still have a realistic chance of progressing in to the knock out stages.
“It’s a big pitch at White Hart Lane so hopefully we will get wide, get some crosses in and break them down this time,” he added.
“It is still in our hands and we now have the advantage of playing at home. Hopefully we will use that advantage and take the three points.
“We want to progress to the knockout stage, so it is important for us.”
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
According to Dutch media outlet Voetbal Inside, Brighton and Hove Albion are in talks with AZ Alkmaar over a deal for winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh, rated at €25m (around £22m) by the Eredivisie outfit, and Southampton should be watching developments closely.
What’s the word, then?
Well, VI report that the Seagulls are negotiating with the Dutch club to bring the highly-rated Iran international to the Premier League, with AZ demanding around £22m for the top goalscorer in the top flight of the Netherlands last term.
VI say that the 24-year-old could join the south coast club on a four-year deal with the option of a fifth if a deal is agreed, as Chris Hughton looks to strengthen his squad following an impressive debut campaign in the Premier League.
One of their main problems was scoring goals though, and adding Jahanbakhsh to the squad should go some way to eradicating that issue given his record during the 2017/18 campaign.
How did he do last season?
He was excellent, and showed why he is ready for a big move to the Premier League.
The tricky winger scored a remarkable 22 goals and provided a further 14 assists from out wide in 39 appearances in all competitions, according to Transfermarkt.
The 24-year-old brings far more than just goals and assists though, and he showed why he is feared so much by opposition defenders by the fact he successfully completed 111 of the 178 dribbles he attempted 33 Eredivisie outings last term.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255885″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Southampton’s opening fixtures for the 201819 Premier League season”]
Why should Southampton hijack Brighton’s move?
Like the Seagulls, one of Saints’ main issues during the 2017/18 campaign was their shortcomings in the final third, and adding Jahanbakhsh to their squad would surely sort that out.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The Iranian wideman’s brilliant record shows that he could make a huge impact at St Mary’s, and at £22m he is well in the south coast outfit’s price range – even if he would be a club-record purchase.
The 24-year-old would certainly be a welcome addition for the likes of Charlie Austin and Manolo Gabbiadini, who were often starved of service as Southampton, whose move for a 26-year-old midfielder would surely seal Mario Lemina’s exit, only narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship.
Liverpool conceded a last-gasp equaliser in their 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday, and Reds fans weren’t impressed with Georginio Wijnaldum’s performance from the substitutes’ bench.
The hosts were leading 1-0 when the Netherlands international replaced captain Jordan Henderson in the 65th minute, but the 27-year-old failed to bring the energy and impact at both ends of the pitch that Jurgen Klopp and the Anfield faithful would have been expecting.
Instead, the Merseyside outfit could have found themselves 2-1 behind when they failed to close down Victor Wanyama before he fired into the top corner, but Harry Kane missed the chance to score from the penalty spot before eventually getting another opportunity to do so in stoppage-time after Mo Salah looked to have netted the winner just minutes earlier.
Liverpool supporters were quick to have their say on the Dutchman’s display via social media, and while one labelled him as a ‘horrible player’, another said he “offered nothing”.