All posts by z3u9t.icu

Newcastle United are now reportedly targeting a move for Mauro Icardi after the takeover by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium went through.

The Lowdown: Game time limited

The 28-year-old is currently enduring a tough time at Paris Saint-Germain, where he has seen his game-time becoming limited following the arrival of Lionel Messi from Barcelona.

Icardi has only managed to play the full 90 minutes on two separate occasions so far this season, with many of his appearances coming as a substitute.

The Latest: Icardi targeted

As per Calciomercato, Newcastle are now targeting a move for Icardi ahead of the January transfer window coming up.

However, they will reportedly face competition from both Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus for his signature.

The Verdict: Sign

As money is no object to the new owners, the Tyneside club should be looking to sign the £31.5m-rated Icardi. He should be relatively easy to acquire given his lack of game-time at PSG, and he may be a player who they would consider selling for the right price.

At 28 years of age, the Argentina international is a goalscorer in his prime, and with no fewer than 172 senior goals to his name for club and country combined, he certainly knows how to find the back of the net.

The striker would certainly be a statement signing which should hopefully persuade other global stars to follow him to St James’ Park.

In other news, find out which ‘phenomenal’ ace Newcastle are also eyeing

Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster is set to leave for free next summer in what has been described by Hampshire Live as a massive boost to Celtic.

The Lowdown: Forster links

The Hoops have bolstered their goalkeeping ranks this summer with the signing of Joe Hart for just over £1m.

He’s played every minute under Ange Postecoglou since arriving from Tottenham, however, before his arrival, Celtic were linked with a move for Forster.

Reports last month suggested that Forster wouldn’t be allowed to depart St Mary’s, but that has all changed going forward.

The Latest: Free transfer

Hampshire Live shared a story on Wednesday, claiming Forster is set to leave next summer on a free transfer when his contract expired.

The report labels it as a massive boost to Celtic, with Forster, described as ‘unbelievable’ by Scott Bain, a long-term target for the Hoops.

The Verdict: Avoid

Even though Dominic McKay will now have the chance in January to tie up a pre-contract agreement for Forster ahead of a free transfer the following summer, Celtic should avoid any deal.

They already have Hart, Bain, Vasilis Barkas and Conor Hazard on the books, so don’t need to add a fifth shot-stopper on £70,000-a-week.

If they hadn’t secured Hart and Ange Postecoglou had the same troubles as Neil Lennon did deciding between Bain, Barkas or Hazard, then perhaps a New Year swoop for Forster could have been a shrewd call, but not now.

It appears as if Celtic may still be keeping tabs on Forster, though, with Hampshire Live continuing to link Forster with another return to Parkhead, so it could be one to keep an eye on over the course of the season.

In other news: Derek Rae shares ‘important’ transfer development in Celtic’s pursuit of Georgios Giakoumakis. 

Celtic face off against Aberdeen at Parkhead today as they return to Premiership action following their loss to Bayer Leverkusen three days ago.

Ange Postecoglou’s side were left frustrated as they lost 3-2 to the German outfit in the Europa League on Thursday night, with Moussa Diaby scoring a late winner for the hosts. Goals from Josip Juranovic and Jota had put Celtic 2-1 heading into the last half an hour, but Robert Andrich and Diaby struck late for Leverkusen.

How many changes will Ange make to the Hoops team for today? Here is our predicted XI…

We are predicting that he will make three changes from Thursday, with Liel Abada, Mikey Johnston and James McCarthy coming in.

Celtic are facing a busy period of games heading into December and they could benefit from utilising their squad depth in the coming weeks. This means that Postecoglou may need to rotate his side and make changes irrespective of individuals’ form to hand some players opportunities to impress and others a chance to have a rest and avoid burnout.

The Australian may be forced into one change, though, as Nir Bitton could miss out through injury. He said after the loss to Leverkusen: “I was a bit disappointed to see Nir come off. In terms of how he is going to be, I’m not really sure. We will assess him, but he has been pretty influential for us and did well to help set up our second goal in Germany.”

We published an article explaining why McCarthy should start, with the Irishman potentially lining up at the base of the midfield.

We also predict that Abada will line up on the right of midfield ahead of James Forrest. The 20-year-old should be handed a start, due to his ability to be a game-changer for the Hoops, with seven goals and five assists this season. He could come in and provide a spark out wide after a disappointing display from the £19k-per-week Forrest on Thursday night – as he recorded a SofaScore rating of 6.2.

Finally, Johnston could start ahead of David Turnbull in midfield. The latter might be offered a rest ahead of the busy December schedule, whilst the former could have an opportunity to show his manager that he deserves more minutes in the team. Johnston has only started once in the Premiership this season, but came off the bench against Leverkusen and created one chance in 18 minutes, showing a glimpse of what he is capable of producing when afforded the opportunity.

AND in other news, Forget Bitton: Ange must unleash “top-class” £14k-p/w Celtic maestro vs Aberdeen…

Many Nottingham Forest fans have been left slamming the display of Lyle Taylor in their 0-0 draw to Luton Town in the Championship on Tuesday night.

The striker endured yet another frustrating game in a Forest shirt, as he could not add to the three goals that he has only managed to score so far this season, and was subsequently hauled off in the 65th minute for Tobias Figueiredo.

Taylor did not put much of a fight up top, losing out on all six of his duels, as he also failed to record a single shot on target, dribble or key pass in the match, losing possession of the ball five times and even picking himself up an early booking midway through the first half (SofaScore).

Nottingham Forest fans on Taylor display

These members of the City Ground faithful slammed his performance on Twitter, with one NFFC supporter even going as far as to claim that he is ‘dreadful’:

“Taylor really is a terrible striker. Tonight demonstrated how the poor depth of the squad is, when you see Taylor, Bong and Cafu on the pitch.”

Credit: @_mrjoey

“If only Lyle Taylor’s arrogance translated to him being a half decent footballer…”

Credit: @95Redss

“Drop your main striker to play a team we aren’t going to probably beat regardless then fail to beat Luton. I will never understand the logic. If Grabban was on that pitch that a different game. Taylor is dreadful”

Credit: @Bobisyour

“Lyle Taylor once again proves to me yet again that he is League One at best”

Credit: @stekallen

“The only thing Taylor has done right is pretend to be injured so we can make the sub”

Credit: @ruddred

“Swap Taylor for Grabban so we can stop playing with 10 men”

Credit: @mikewood77

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

Sheffield Wednesday reportedly face fresh competition for the signing of Solihull Moors attacker Kyle Hudlin, with Cardiff City linked with a move.

The Lowdown: Sheff Wed keen on Hudlin move

Darren Moore is looking to mastermind the Owls’ return to the Championship following a hugely disappointing 2020/21 season.

A host of experienced faces are expected to leave this summer as their contracts near expiry, so the main aim is to sign emerging talent who can bring a freshness to the squad.

Hudlin is someone who has been linked with a move to Hillsborough, with the 6ft9in striker currently the tallest outfield player in Britain.

The Latest: Cardiff emerge as rivals to sign striker

According to Yorkshire Live, Cardiff are now also eyeing a move for the 20-year-old, with Mick McCarthy hoping that Championship football turns the striker’s head at the expense of Sheffield Wednesday.

Hudlin only joined Solihull last October but he has impressed in that time, scoring 10 goals in 36 appearances for the National League side.

The Verdict: Potential blow for Owls

Hudlin looks an exciting prospect, so it would be a blow if Cardiff were to swoop in over Wednesday and snap him up this summer.

Unfortunately, the Bluebirds have the advantage of playing in a higher division that the Owls, which could be enough to persuade him to move there.

The hope is that Hudlin sees Wednesday as someone for whom he could start regularly, becoming a prominent figure over time.

In other news, a Championship side are believed to be preparing a bid for one Sheff Wed player. Find out who it is here.

Former Glasgow Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic has urged Borna Barisic to leave Ibrox as he could compete at a higher level.

The Lowdown: Barisic attracting interest

The £5.4m-valued Barisic (Transfermarkt) has been linked with a move away from the 55-time Scottish champions in recent times.

AS Roma, in particular, were said to be in pursuit of the Croatia international in the previous transfer window (The Scotsman), although Barisic’s family said there had been no official contact (Sportske Novosti).

The Latest: Jelavic urges departure

Speaking to The Daily Record, Jelavic suggested it is time for the left-back to leave Ibrox. He said:

“I’m friends with Borna, we’re very close.

“There are always speculation and rumours because Borna, if you ask me, is one of the top five left- backs in Europe over the last couple of years.

“He has been playing a very high level of football. But I think he definitely needs to think about moving on.

“It’s not about moving to a bigger club because Rangers are one of the biggest clubs in the world.

“It’s more about achieving in a better league than the Scottish Premiership. He has the quality.

“But the fact he did not leave is only a positive for Rangers.

“He’s a very good player and a top lad too.”

The Verdict: Time is running out

Barisic has been an important signing for the Gers. He has made 117 appearances for the club in all competitions (Transfermarkt), really coming into his own last season as Rangers won the Premiership title for the first time in 10 years. With five goals and 14 assists, he proved to be one of his side’s biggest attacking threats.

The former Ojisek player will be 29 in November. If he wants a big move to one of Europe’s biggest leagues, time is running out for him. One more impressive season with the 55-time Scottish champions may be enough to see that happen.

In other news, one pundit has made this Rangers title claim.

Sheffield Wednesday bounced back from their 1-0 loss to Morecambe at the weekend with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Newcastle’s under-23 side in the EFL Trophy.

The Owls swept the young team aside with relative ease as they picked up their first win in the group stage of the competition. Liam Palmer, Sylla Sow and Marvin Johnson scored the goals for Darren Moore’s side, whilst Joe Wildsmith was able to come away with a clean sheet after the game.

There were plenty of positives to take from such a spirit-lifting win, but there was one player who failed to show the best of his talents – Theo Corbeanu.

The winger, on loan from Wolves, was handed an opportunity by Moore to start on the right-wing and show that he is capable of being a regular starter this season. Instead, he struggled to catch the eye and may have come away from the game feeling that he could have done more on the pitch.

As per SofaScore, Corbeanu lost the ball 23 times from just 59 touches. This means that he was lost possession once every 2.5 touches of the ball, showing that he was unable to sustain attacks.

He was unsuccessful with six of his nine attempted dribbles, failed with six of his seven crossing attempts and had four shots without scoring. This is somewhat promising in the sense that he was active in the game, trying to get involved in the final third, but the quality of his actions was far from good enough.

Defensively against Newcastle, he lost eight of his ground duels on the pitch, winning the other eight. Along with that, he made zero interceptions, zero clearances and zero blocks, whilst only making two tackles to help out his full-back on the night. This shows that he was average, at best, in his duels and disappointing with his defensive work rate to ease the load on Liam Palmer.

Therefore, Corbeanu let Moore down with his performance against the Magpies. He did not have the desired impact in the attacking areas and was average-to-poor defensively. This display seems unlikely to convince the manager that he is deserving of a chance to start in League One, which means that he may now need to bide his time and prove his quality in substitute cameos.

Carlton Palmer has told Football FanCast that he thought Nuno Espirito Santo was nailed on to become the Tottenham manager following his shock departure from Wolves last week.

Just 48 hours before the Premier League season finished, the Portuguese made a surprise announcement that he’ll be leaving the Midlands outfit after four years.

Santo was then almost immediately backed into the favourite for the Spurs job, although Alasdair Gold confirmed that he’s not a candidate to replace his compatriot, Jose Mourinho.

Countless names have been linked with the vacancy in N17, with the likes of Roberto Martinez, Antonio Conte and even Mauricio Pochettino all being reportedly considered, although it doesn’t appear that Spurs are any closer to naming Mourinho’s successor.

But one man it won’t be is Santo despite taking Wolves from the Championship to the top-seven in the Premier League and then quarter finals of the Europa League, much to the confusion of Palmer.

He told Football FanCast:

“I am still quite bemused as to why Nuno left Wolves. Why has he stepped down? There’s no reasons why he stepped down, I thought he 100 per cent stepped down because he was in with a shout for the Spurs job.

“But there will be a lot of people linked with the Spurs situation, and anybody will be honoured to be linked with Spurs, it’s a massive club.”

Rangers return to European action tonight as they travel away from Ibrox in the first leg of their semi-final clash in Germany.

The Gers are in with a shot at reaching the final of the Europa League and can put one foot through the door with a win tonight.

Gio van Bronckhorst’s men come into the game off the back of a 3-1 win against Motherwell in the Premiership at the weekend, with an own goal from Liam Kelly and strikes from Scott Wright and James Tavernier securing the three points.

Despite the comfortable win, the Dutch head coach may look to make changes to his XI to get the best possible team out to face RB Leipzig. In doing so, one player he must brutally axe from the side is underperforming loanee Amad Diallo.

The Manchester United man started out on the right against Motherwell and only lasted 31 minutes before being substituted after Leon Balogun was sent off. In his short time on the pitch, he missed one ‘big chance’, lost all three of his duels and lost possession five times – suggesting that he struggled to make the most of a rare opportunity.

In the Premiership this season, Diallo has averaged a dismal SofaScore rating of 6.32 across six appearances in the division – starting three of those games.

Earlier this year, journalist Andrew Dickson suggested United want to “toughen” him up and criticised his lack of strength for the Gers as he dubbed the £28k-per-week dud’s decision to back out of a challenge as “really poor.”

His weak play off the ball for Rangers has been a clear issue since arriving in Glasgow. He has lost a whopping 74% of his duels in the league and averaged 0.4 tackles and interceptions, which shows that he is being dominated by opposition defenders and he is not getting stuck in to help his own defence out enough.

Therefore, van Bronckhorst will surely not want to start Diallo in a massive European clash tonight. He cannot rely on the Ivorian to put the graft in for the team and his one goal and zero assists in the Premiership do not suggest that he has the attacking quality to make up for him being a liability out of possession.

So, Diallo must be brutally axed from the starting XI in favour of Joe Aribo on the right. The Nigeria international registered two assists in his last Europa League outing against Braga and has contributed directly to 13 goals domestically for the Light Blues, showing that he carries more of a threat than the teenager.

AND in other news, Huge boost: Gvb issues UEL injury claim that’ll leave Rangers supporters buzzing…

Rangers announced the signing of John Lundstram earlier this week and he could prove to be an excellent addition to Steven Gerrard’s side at Ibrox ahead of next season.

The former Sheffield United man was available on a free transfer after his exit from Bramall Lane and Ross Wilson worked quickly to bring him to Ibrox ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

Gerrard’s thoughts on Lundstram signing

After he was announced on Monday, Gerrard had this to say about his arrival:

“John is a player I have known for some time and knew he would enhance our squad.

“Having played in the Premiership, he has the undoubted quality to enhance our midfield with his technical ability and physicality and I was impressed with his attitude and ambition when we spoke over recent weeks. John is a winner and knows what is required to succeed at a club of this stature.

“He will add steel and presence to our midfield along with his quality which makes our squad much stronger, and to procure a player of John’s profile and experience is very pleasing.

“Myself and the staff are looking forward to working with John. We know he is also very excited to get started at Rangers.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-rangers-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read the latest Rangers transfer rumours and news!”]

Will he be a good addition at Ibrox?

Although Lundstram’s performances with Sheffield United last season were less than impressive, as he managed no goals and two assists in 28 Premier League appearances, his previous performances in the 2019/20 season suggest that if he can rediscover his best form at Ibrox, he will quickly prove himself to be an excellent addition to Gerrard’s squad.

The 41-year-old arguably needed to add some depth in midfield ahead of next season, especially when you consider that Glen Kamara has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League, whilst Scott Arfield and Steven Davis will turn 33 and 37 respectively next season, so long-term replacements for those two were definitely required.

[freshpress-quiz id=“593776″]

Although the former Oxford United man may struggle to break into the impressive midfield of Davis, Kamara and Joe Aribo at first, added competition is only a good thing for Rangers, and the signing of Lundstram should help them improve ahead of next season, as they look to defend their Premiership title and make a mark in the Champions League.

And, in other news… Gerrard handed big boost with Ibrox “warrior” ahead of new season