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Liverpool midfielder Thiago has hinted that he is unhappy playing a deep-lying midfield role for the Reds, wanting more freedom in the middle of the park. 

The Lowdown: Thiago key for Reds

The 30-year-old joined Liverpool from Bayern Munich last September in what looked like a hugely exciting signing at the time.

Thiago took time to settle at Anfield, partly due to injuries, but by the end of the campaign, he was arguably one of the Reds’ best players.

The Spaniard was often used in a number six role by Jurgen Klopp, allowing him to sit deep and dictate games with his playmaking brilliance.

The Latest: Superstar hints at unhappiness

It appears as though Thiago wants more attacking freedom, however, after he told L’Equipe [via Sport Witness] that he likes playing as a number 10. He said:

“I would say it (his ability to create) has been more limited because of a positional issue.

“If I play number 6 instead of number 10, I’ll have less room to manoeuvre, less freedom to dribble, because I’ll have to take fewer risks.

“In the history of football, strikers have always been admired more than defenders. Because a defender can’t make a mistake, unlike the striker (who can try harder).

“So, for me, it’s a question of position.”

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The Verdict: No major issue

Not too much should be made of Thiago’s remarks, with the Spain international very much a team player who is happy to do what is best for Liverpool.

That being said, it seems fairly clear where he enjoys playing most, and there are occasions when his guile could be most devastating when he is let off the leash.

Thiago’s versatility can only be a good thing for Klopp and Liverpool, though, allowing him to excel across two different positions.

In other news, Liverpool are believed to be interested in signing a prolific attacking player this summer. Read more here. 

A source from Newcastle United has dropped a bombshell ahead of the opening of the summer window.

The Lowdown: Transfer window awaits

The summer transfer window is fast approaching, with the St. James’ Park faithful looking to bring in some good additions as well as shift deadwood in order to have the best squad possible to compete in the 2021/22 Premier League season.

Joe Willock is likely to be a player that they will look to try and sign on a permanent deal from Arsenal given his impact in the North East, while other players, namely Andy Carroll and Dwight Gayle for example, face uncertain futures.

The Latest: Transfer bombshell dropped

Football Insider revealed a “bombshell” on Tuesday evening – Mike Ashley is refusing to spend big while talks over a potential takeover of the Tyneside club by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group continue.

A source from the Magpies has told the news outlet that the board have now passed on the message to Steve Bruce that he will only have a transfer budget of between £8-10m to work with.

That would rule out the possibility of signing Willock permanently as the Gunners are thought to want closer to £20m, while quite frankly it is just a ridiculously low transfer kitty for an established top flight side in 2021.

The Verdict: Transfer blow

If the Toon only have a mere £8-10m to spend in the market, then that really is a big blow.

Not only would they likely miss out on Willock unless they could raise funds by selling other players, but it means that they would hardly be able to compete in the market against their fellow rivals in the top flight, despite the financial impact of the global pandemic.

NUFC will really want to kick on next season with fans back in the ground, but this latest piece of news will surely not appease them one bit, and now a takeover cannot come soon enough.

In other news, find out what ‘fascinating’ takeover insight a sports lawyer has dropped here!

Fabio Paratici is ‘one step away’ from becoming the new sporting director of Tottenham Hotspur, according to emerging reports in Italy…

What’s the word?

Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness) claim talks between Spurs and Paratici are at an ‘advanced stage’ and he is set to be appointed in the near future, even despite the uncertainty over Antonio Conte, whom he worked with at Juventus.

The 48-year-old recently left his role in Turin, where he was a part of 19 major trophies in 11 years but is said to be keen to get straight back into the game.

Whilst Conte has stalled on taking the reigns in the dugout, it seems his Italian counterpart is on the verge of being hired.

Worrying endorsement

Spurs have sunk down the Premier League table in recent seasons, recording back-to-back finishes which are their worst since 2009, so it is interesting that Daniel Levy feels it is time for a change upstairs.

The North London outfit have not had someone in this role since Franco Baldini left in 2015. He was largely responsible for signings like Erik Lamela, Roberto Soldado, Christian Eriksen and Paulinho.

Paratici’s record at Juventus is undeniable and he, along with Conte, built one of their most successful teams together but he quickly became known for splashing the cash.

In 2018. he signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid for €100m (£86m), where he signed a whopping £500k-per-week contract and a year later, he clinched young Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt for €75m (£65m).

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By comparison, Spurs’ record signing is £55m and Levy has only paid a fee above £30m four times in his career, so you’d have to wonder if Paratici is a good fit for the club.

His transfer activity has recently been slammed by Forza Italian Football editor-in-chief Conor Clancy, who told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that the director was “incapable.”

“It’s unbelievable that they had Joao Cancelo there, they let him go for Danilo.

“They had Miralem Pjanic who was one of the best midfielders in Italy and Europe. They did a weird swap deal with Barcelona that has worked out for neither Juventus nor Barcelona nor either of the players.

“And he has proven himself incapable of selling. He had all of these players on huge wages.”

A move for Paratici fails to make much sense without the arrival of Conte, either, especially given the names on Levy’s mooted shortlist.

As per The Athletic, Belgium boss Roberto Martinez, Brighton’s Graham Potter, Ajax champion Erik ten Hag, and the unemployed Ralf Rangnick are all being considered for the role.

None have worked under Paratici, nor has the Italian been able to see any of them first-hand. He could well have his own list of potential managerial candidates, meaning Spurs are some way off finding their next boss.

Levy is on the verge of making one simply unforgivable mistake here. On the above evidence, the appointment of Paratici – with or without Conte – just seems a recipe for disaster.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano reveals fresh twist in Spurs’ bid to secure Antonio Conte…

Sheffield United will be looking to secure back-to-back wins when they take on Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Wednesday evening.

Paul Heckingbottom’s side picked up an impressive 1-0 win against Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday evening, with 17-year-old sensation Daniel Jebbison scoring the only goal of the game.

The Blades will be desperate to finish the season strongly to take some momentum into next season, where they will be hoping to secure an immediate return to the top-flight via promotion from the Championship.

Newcastle United meanwhile, secured their safety in the top-flight recently thanks to a strong run of form, with Steve Bruce awarded the manager of the month award, and they were spirited in a 4-3 defeat against champions Manchester City last time out.

Here’s how Football FanCast thinks Heckingbottom should line his side up on Wednesday evening, with two changes from the team that started in the win at Goodison Park…

After an incredible display against Carlo Ancelotti’s side to earn a clean sheets, Aaron Ramsdale keeps his place in between the sticks.

There’s one change in defence, as Jayden Bogle starts ahead of George Baldock at right wing-back, with the rest of the defence keeping their place after the rare shut out against the Toffees.

Oliver Norwood and John Fleck continue together in midfield, with Sander Berge unfortunately suffering another setback in his injury, which should rule him out of the trip to St James’ Park.

There’s one change in attack, as the “exceptional” Rhian Brewster replaces Ben Osborn, with David McGoldrick supporting the former Liverpool man and Jebbison in an attacking midfield role, in the hope that Brewster can break his duck and grab his first Blades goal ahead of next season.

And, in other news… Sheffield United suffer huge blow as CL giants eye seven-goal beast, Blades fans will be fuming

Plenty of Aston Villa fans were left disappointed after defender Ezri Konsa was left out of Gareth Southgate’s provisional England squad for this summer’s European Championships.

Southgate named Tyrone Mings, Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins in his 33-man squad, with no room for Konsa or Matt Targett.

That squad will have to be trimmed down to 26 players over the coming days, but plenty of Villa supporters were baffled at Konsa not making the initial 33.

He missed just two Premier League games all season and was key in a Villa defence that kept 15 clean sheets during the 2020/21 campaign.

Konsa, who can also represent Portugal, has turned out for the Three Lions at Under-21 level, but a maiden senior call up will, unfortunately, have to wait.

Villa fans react

Villa shared the news on Mings, Grealish and Watkins on their official Twitter page on Tuesday afternoon.

However, these supporters wanted to talk about Konsa’s exclusion, with one describing the decision to overlook him as ‘terrible’.

“Disgusting that Konsa hasn’t gone”Credit: @Harry34740948″How Konsa hasn’t been named is a travesty. He’s our best defender and a Rolls Royce of a player. He only called up Jack after major pressure from fans/pundits and squad injuries. No doubt he’ll bin off Ollie too later for his favourites.”Credit: @Scott84764090″Konsa robbed”Credit: @joshkentx”How konsa hasn’t gone is terrible”Credit: @harry79050597″justice for konsa I say”Credit: @catrinedwards18″Feel for Konsa. Deserves a chance.”Credit: @JayVtid

In other news: Many AVFC fans buzz at Emiliano Buendia latest, find out more here. 

Newcastle United claimed a vital win in their fight for Premier League survival by beating West Ham 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.

Here are our Magpies player ratings from St James’ Park…

Starting XI:

Martin Dubravka: 6/10

Enjoyed a quiet first half with West Ham playing on the backfoot despite dominating much of the possession. Positioned well to keep out a Vladimir Coufal header midway through the second period and confidently commanded his box. Little more he could have done for either of the visitors’ goals.

Jacob Murphy: 7/10

Involved in a handful of promising attacking moves before the break, but failed to beat Lukasz Fabianski with an early effort and chose the wrong decision when a pass was on to Sean Longstaff. Could have sealed the game when Ben Johnson cleared off the line.

Federico Fernandez: 5/10

A couple of spicy moments with Jesse Lingard gave the visitors chances to get forward, and was caught ball-watching when Issa Diop stayed up top to head West Ham back into the game.

Ciaran Clark: 5/10

Never put a foot wrong in the first half as Newcastle weathered an almost relentless West Ham storm and ended the day with a game-high 10 clearances. But Left referee Kevin Friend with little choice but to point to the spot when he challenged Tomas Soucek in the air with his arm in a very unnatural position.

Paul Dummett: 5/10

Gave the ball away a handful of times in the first half and lost possession a joint-high 16 times for the home side. Misjudged the flight of the ball and gifted West Ham a free-kick in a dangerous position shortly after the interval but the visitors could not capitalise for a route back into the game. A poor day from Newcastle’s £3.6m-rated ace.

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Matt Ritchie: 7/10

A passionate player for the Magpies, calling for the ball and getting into promising positions at both ends of the field. Delivered a wonderful cross for Joe Willock to score the winner.

Miguel Almiron: 7/10

Plenty of drive from Newcastle’s Paraguayan playmaker to run at the West Ham defence in the first period. Kept pushing after the break and produced a clever through ball for Callum Wilson, but arguably should have scored before Willock headed home.

Jonjo Shelvey: 6/10

Had to play much of the game on a yellow card after a needless foul on Jarrod Bowen near to the halfway line after just a quarter of an hour as the West Ham winger drove across the field. Kept things tidy in the engine room and moved the ball nicely.

Sean Longstaff: 6/10

Produced a nice tackle to deny Lingard in the penalty area on the quarter-hour mark and saw one shot deflected wide in the first half. Eventually taken off for Willock, who made the difference from the bench.

Joelinton: 7/10

A very quiet start but was alive to Lukasz Fabianski dropping the ball inches from his line from a late first half corner to tap home, what was only Joelinton’s fifth Premier League goal in 64 games. Needed better quality with his delivery to find Wilson unmarked in the box after the summer signing’s introduction.

Allan Saint-Maximin: 8/10

A real positive presence in attack for Newcastle on his return to the starting line-up for the first time in six games after a groin injury, and saw his shot open the scoring after driving at the West Ham backline. Taken off just after the hour mark having taken a few knocks which Steve Bruce will hope are nothing serious.

Substitutes:

Callum Wilson: 6/10 (on 64th min)

Clearly not 100% match fit following seven games out with a hamstring injury but held the ball up well following his introduction and saw a late shot blocked.

Joe Willock: N/A (on 81st min)

Made an immediate impact from the bench after replacing Longstaff to head home minutes after West Ham drew level from the spot.

Andy Carroll: N/A (on 90+7)

Unused subs: Mark Gillespie (GK), Jamal Lewis, Emil Krafth, Javier Manquillo, Jeff Hendrick, Dwight Gayle

AND in other news, Newcastle undecided on St. James’ future of £25,000-per-week star Steve Bruce wants to keep…

Many Manchester United fans have been left to fume after The Old Trafford faithful announced that Eric Bailly has signed a new deal at the club.

As per the official website of the Red Devils, the Ivory Coast international will stay at MUFC until June 2024, with the option of a further year.

This has certainly caused a stir among several United supporters, given that his injury record is nothing short of woeful (16 separate injuries at Old Trafford), and he has now been given a bumper contract despite having no guarantees over how many games he will be able to play due to his ongoing injury problems.

At 27 years of age, Bailly still has some resale value, and some Red Devils may have been wanting to sell the central defender in the summer transfer window as they may miss the chance to profit from his eventual departure as he approaches his thirties.

Manchester United fans on Bailly contract

These MUFC supporters fumed upon reading the news of Bailly’s deal on Twitter, with one fan even going as far as to claim that it was a ‘ridiculous’ decision:

“We should be shipping this guy out, how did he manage to get an extension?”

Credit: @Mo_Abdul14

“Crazy decision.”

Credit: @Lyncho_11

“Why do you like keeping hospital patients? Jones now Eric…”

Credit: @OsikomayaOmogb1

“Total waste of money and time. 100 appearances in 6 seasons is woeful. Phil Jones mark 2”

Credit: @robertf1986

“Ridiculous decision I like Bailly but giving 3 years at the club to the most injury prone defender we have barring Jones is absolutely ridiculous”

Credit: @DavidGi74108779

“Really poor business imo, really like Bailly but his injury record is ridiculous. For me this means we are not signing a CB this summer.. and we will be stuck with Maguire and Lindelof”

Credit: @davveneij1

In other news, find out whose display against Leeds United was slammed here!

A major update has emerged on Leeds United target Romain Faivre with a suspected huge offer from the Middle East, but the Stade Brest midfielder has his sights set on a move to England.

The 22-year-old is enjoying an excellent season in France, scoring five goals and registering four assists in Ligue 1.

Not only that, but he is averaging an amazing 2.6 dribbles per game in the league this season, which is more than Paris Saint-Germain superstar Angel Di Maria (1.5), playing a similar attacking midfield position in the same league.

Leeds have been linked with a move for the attacking midfielder in the past with reports calling him a long term target, but they may have to act fast if they want to sign him now.

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Bid made for Leeds target Faivre

According to France Football [via Sport Witness], Saudi side Al-Hilal have offered Faivre a contract – one described as ‘pharaonic’ in the report, which we presume to mean an awful lot of money.

It is stated that the youngster still holds a ‘dream’ of moving to England, however, acting as a boost to Leeds’ hopes of snapping him up.

Transfer Tavern take

Marcelo Bielsa could arguably do with a little more guile in attacking midfield next season and Faivre seems to tick a number of boxes when it comes to being a strong addition in that area.

His aforementioned dribbling ability speaks for itself, adding more unpredictability to an already exciting Whites side, while he has also shown that he has end product, both in terms of scoring and creating.

At 22, he represents the long-term future, too, perhaps being identified as a replacement for the ageing Pablo Hernandez.

In other news, Marcelo Bielsa has provided an important update on a key Leeds player. Find out who it is here.

Southampton fans are far from happy with comments from Nathan Redmond ahead of their F.A Cup semi-final this weekend.

The Saints will travel to Wembley on Sunday to play Leicester City for a place in the final. Despite losing 3-0 to West Bromwich Albion on Monday, the St. Mary’s Stadium outfit will at least be happy to be playing a side who themselves are struggling for form in the Foxes – they have lost their last two games (lcfc.co.uk).

Redmond was speaking ahead of the clash, and he was discussing the contrast with Southampton’s last semi-final appearance in 2018. On that occasion, they were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea, and the £16.2m-valued 27-year-old (Transfermarkt) said that at the time there was no aspiration for success amongst the Saints players, although now they are in a far better position to prevail.

These comments were shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and it is fair to say the fans were disappointed. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the comments from Redmond below

“Appreciate his honesty but what a disgrace. In a semi final and no aspiration to succeed?!!”

Credit: @saintdansmith

“Behave”

Credit: @BuildABonfire

“This is throwing it on the line. Saying how up for it everyone is and how good the atmosphere is after a 3-0 spanking by a poor team means if we don’t turn up then we have some very big questions to answer.”

Credit: @Andrew_Stokes_

“He knows people actually watched the West Brom match right!?”

Credit: @JamesBrooksAP

“Imagine saying that out loud in any other job? Let alone a well paid one.”

Credit: @papaschmoo

“how can he say this after the wba game”

Credit: @jahgsvlayso

In other news, Southampton fans slammed this man against West Brom.

Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita has not had the best time of things since arriving at Anfield from RB Leipzig.

Brought to the club by Jurgen Klopp officially in the summer of 2018, the Guinean penned a five-year contract for a fee of approximately £48m.

His arrival looked a steal for the Reds, with Keita having harnessed a reputation as one of the most exciting midfielders in Europe with the German outfit. It certainly looked as though Michael Edwards had pulled off another masterstroke in the transfer market.

However, it has not panned out the way he or the club will have envisaged, with the 26-year-old’s transfer rating taking a nose-dive from its peak of £58.5m all the way down to his current valuation of £34.2m.

Even during Liverpool’s glorious 2019/20 campaign, his value dropped habitually, only plateauing in July of 2020.

It is the result of an inconsistent few years on Merseyside for Keita.

Since his arrival, he has started just 42 out of a possible 151 matches in all competitions for the Reds, that being down to a combination of poor form and consistent injury problems.

As it stands, should Liverpool have all of their midfielders fit and available, it is likely that he ranks below the likes of Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum in the pecking order at Anfield.

In all of his time with Liverpool, Keita has also scored just seven goals and notched four assists in all competitions. For context, he scored nine goals and contributed seven assists in his final season at the Red Bull Arena – indicating his huge drop-off at Anfield.

Despite Liverpool colossus Virgil van Dijk labelling the Guinean midfielder as “world class” prior to the 2020/21 season, Keita is yet to really show that with Liverpool, an aspect that has contributed to the dramatic decrease in his transfer valuation.

He and manager Klopp will certainly be hoping that his time with the club takes on somewhat of a more positive outlook in the next few seasons.

AND in more news, we take a closer look at Trent Alexander-Arnold’s poor form in March…