All posts by h716a5.icu

Everton have reportedly made a move to try and sign Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins.

The Lowdown: Conflict with Gerrard?

According to Football Insider, Steven Gerrard and Watkins ‘do not see eye to eye’, fuelling speculation that he may be willing to let the striker go in this transfer window for the right price.

Gerrard also stripped Tyrone Mings of the captaincy just days before the Premier League started, and he was an unused substitute in their opening game away at Bournemouth (Mirror), suggesting that all might not be rosy behind the scenes at Villa Park.

The Latest: Everton move

As per Football Insider, the Goodison Park outfit have now made their move to try and sign Watkins, and have officially registered their interest in the England international.

Villa are ‘open’ to letting him go, as they work on bringing in a new ‘A-list’ frontman to the Midlands.

The Verdict: Big coup

It would certainly be a big coup if the Merseyside club could steal Watkins off of the hands of their rivals.

Hailed as ‘one of the best strikers in the Premier League’ by former top-flight manager Alex McLeish, Watkins has reached double figures for goals in each of the last two seasons in the division, while also registering a handy nine assists (Transfermarkt).

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Two of those goal involvements actually came against Frank Lampard’s team last weekend, so they know full well what he is capable of.

Nonetheless, the Toffees are desperate for a striker following the injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and Watkins offers the quality and experience needed in order to lead the line.

West Ham United are set to make an improved bid for Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken, according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.

The Lowdown: Previous bids

As previously reported by The Guardian, the Hammers are keen on signing the 29-year-old Belgian before next Thursday’s transfer deadline.

After the Irons had an initial £8m rejected, reports claim that an improved bid was submitted to Brugge, with the east London club reportedly waiting on a response.

However, new information has now emerged which contradicts these proceedings.

The Latest: Sheth’s news

Sheth has now shared news surrounding West Ham’s approach to the Vanaken deal, revealing that a further offer hasn’t actually been made yet, and will go in this week instead.

Taking to Twitter, the reliable journalist claimed: “Improved bid for Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken to go in this week. #WHUFC”

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The Verdict: Get it done…

When looking at the Belgium international’s underlying stats, it is easy to see why David Moyes is so keen on bringing him to the London Stadium this summer, given his defensive strengths and his clinical nature in the final third.

As per FBRef, compared with positional peers across Europe over the past year, the 29-year-old ranks in the top two percent for aerials won, in the top three percent for progressive passes, in the top six percent for interceptions and in the top seven percent for non-penalty goals.

The stats-based website even compares his skill-set to Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen.

With such a vast range of qualities on and off the ball, Vanaken would be able to add goals to West Ham’s game whilst adding a real experienced presence through the spine of the XI.

GSB should do all they can to secure the player’s signature before next week’s transfer deadline.

Southampton have reportedly submitted an offer to sign PSV Eindhoven winger Cody Gakpo this summer, according to The Athletic. 

The lowdown: Hot property

A product of the academy system at PSV, the 23-year-old has successfully come through the ranks at the Eredivisie giants and become a fully-fledged senior international in the process.

The attacker has directly contributed to 123 goals in 206 outings for his club at senior and youth levels, scoring 46 and providing 39 assists for the first team in the process.

Having previously been targeted by Manchester United, Leeds United, Arsenal and Everton, it now appears as though the Saints are also keen on bringing Gakpo to the Premier League…

The latest: ‘Concrete approach’

As per The Athletic, Southampton are understood to have made a ‘concrete approach’ to sign the seven-cap Netherlands star.

It’s claimed that the south coast club submitted an offer for Gakpo, although the bid was ‘turned down’ by PSV, with previous reports stating that the club will demand at least £42.5m for the player.

The report also states that the versatile forward – who was described as a ‘sensational player’ by Dutch football expert Michael Bell – is a ‘key target’ at St Mary’s and Rasmus Ankersen has ‘led talks’ with the ace’s club.

The verdict: Marquee target

Clearly a much sought-after commodity given the widespread interest in him, signing a player of Gakpo’s calibre would be a superb coup for Southampton and would suitably bolster the attacking options at Ralph Hasenhuttl’s disposal.

So far this season, the £27m-valued man has scored four times and provided six assists in just eight appearances across all competitions, earning a remarkable 8.70 SofaScore rating whilst winning 2.7 duels, completing one dribble and playing 2.7 key passes per game in the Dutch top flight.

With in-form marksman Che Adams still linked with a move away from St Mary’s, it’s important that Gakpo remains on the list of potential targets heading into the final days of the transfer window.

Leeds United have been handed a boost in their bid to bring Hwang Hee-chan to Elland Road this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Alan Nixon, who revealed in a recent post on Twitter that, following a number of reports linking Jesse Marsch with a move for the Wolverhampton Wanderers forward in the coming days, Bruno Lage will part with the 26-year-old for the right price prior to Thursday’s transfer deadline – with previous reports suggesting that the South Korean’s asking price will be around the £25m mark.

In response to a supporter asking whether Wolves’ recent €18m (£15.4m) signing of Sasa Kalajdzic could see Hwang secure a move away from Molineux, The Sun journalist replied: “Lad can go at right price.”

This comes as something of a twist in the Whites’ pursuit of the winger, as Lage had previously suggested that he is desperate to keep hold of the former RB Leipzig attacker beyond the closure of the summer transfer window.

A boost for Marsch

Considering just how much success Marsch enjoyed with Hwang at Red Bull Salzburg – with the duo securing a league and cup double in 2019/20 – Nixon’s claim that Wolves would be willing to part with the forward this summer is likely to have come as a great boost to the 48-year-old manager.

Indeed, in Salzburg’s aforementioned victorious Austrian Bundesliga campaign, the £14.4m-rated Hwang was in sensational form for Marsch’s side over his 27 appearances, scoring 11 goals, registering 13 assists and creating 15 big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.7 shots, making 1.6 key passes and completing 1.2 dribbles per game.

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These metrics saw the £19k-per-week talent who Richard Buxton dubbed “incredible” average a quite remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.29, not only ranking him as his club’s joint sixth-best player in the league but also as the joint seventh-best performer in the Austrian top flight as a whole in 2019/20.

The 47-cap international was also in astonishing form over his six Champions League appearances that season, scoring three goals, providing five assists and creating four big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.3 shots – 1.5 of which hit the target – making 2.3 key passes and completing 1.3 dribbles per game.

These returns saw the Korean average a simply breathtaking SofaScore match rating of 7.70, ranking him by far and away as Marsch’s best performer in Europe’s most prestigious club competition – a quite extraordinary feat considering Salzburg were in a group alongside Liverpool, Napoli and Genk.

Furthermore, with Hwang being able to operate from attacking midfield, on either wing and as a centre-forward, should Leeds manage to get a deal over the line for the 26-year-old in the coming days, not only would he provide Marsch with much greater depth on the flanks, but he would also be capable of providing the increasingly injury-prone Patrick Bamford with cover up top.

As such, should the American coach believe that he can help Hwang refind his Salzburg form at Elland Road, the Wolves winger could well prove to be an incredible signing for the Whites this summer – with Nixon’s lastest update suggesting that there very much is a deal there to be done for the attacker.

Kenneth Zohore’s time at West Brom has truly proven to be a disaster and Steve Bruce must look to get rid of the striker as he continues to steal a wage at the Hawthorns.

Expectations were high when former Baggies boss Slaven Bilic paid £8m to sign the Danish forward from Cardiff City in 2019 but he has struggled to ever establish himself as a regular goalscorer with the club, hitting just five goals in 23 appearances.

He is clearly not fancied at the Hawthorns, as he spent the 2020/21 season on loan with Millwall, where he also failed to impress, managing just three goals in 19 outings for the Lions.

Last season saw the 28-year-old manage only 22 minutes of Championship action under both Valerian Ismael and Bruce, which emphasises that he is well and truly surplus to requirements in the Midlands.

Even this season, which has seen the Baggies struggle so much in front of goal, as they sit in 21st despite an impressive xG score which ranks them top of the expected goals table, Bruce has still not called on Zohore.

The Dane is clearly an outcast at the club and it seems remarkable that he wasn’t moved on during the summer, as it now seems likely that he will depart on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the current campaign.

During his time with Cardiff City, Neil Warnock labelled Zohore as “lazy” and unfortunately for the Baggies, this is the player they have seen for the past three seasons, rather than the one that hit 21 goals and registered ten assists in two seasons for the Bluebirds.

As well as the £8m transfer fee, West Brom have been paying the Danish striker £22.5k per week for the past 165 weeks, resulting in an added £3,712,500 in wages.

This means that the Baggies have essentially wasted £11.7m on Zohore, as he looks likely to leave the club for nothing having made very little impact during his three years at the Hawthorns.

Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United have had a mixed start to the 2022/23 Premier League as they sit 11th in the table after six outings in the division.

The Whites have spread out their results equally with two wins, two draws, and two losses in the top-flight so far, whilst scoring 10 goals and conceding 10.

They avoided relegation back down to the Championship by the skin of their teeth last season as they finished three points above 18th-placed Burnley and will be hoping that they are further clear of the drop zone this time around.

Only Norwich (84) conceded more games than the Whites (79) in the Premier League in 2021/22 and their struggling defence has reared its ugly head again this term, with 10 goals conceded so far – including five against Brentford in their last outing.

Whilst the quality of the defending could be brought into question, Illan Meslier’s form has been a cause for concern over the last few months or so.

In 2021/22, Meslier ranked 18th out of the 21 listed Premier League goalkeepers in terms of save percentage, stopping 65.6% of the shots against him.

Out of the 42 goalkeepers used throughout the campaign, the Frenchman ranked bottom for goals conceded compared to the post-shot xG he faced. He conceded 7.3 more goals than the average goalkeeper would be expected to let in based on the quality of the shots against him.

This season, he ranks 19th out of 24 goalkeepers as he has allowed 1.4 more goals than expected after six appearances and these statistics suggests that he has been below par since the start of 2021/22.

The Leeds glovesman is – quite simply – not saving enough of the shots that he should be saving – if he wants to be a competent Premier League shot-stopper – and it is costing Marsch’s team on the pitch.

Fabrizio Romano described the gem as being “untouchable” during the summer transfer window but director of football Victor Orta could now land an upgrade on him by signing Yassine Bounou, who has been linked with a January switch to Elland Road, from Sevilla.

Journalist Josh Bunting previously claimed that the Morocco international has “outstanding reflexes” and his statistics back that up, as he ranks in the 92nd percentile among goalkeepers in Europe’s top five leagues over the last 365 days for goals conceded compared to post-shot xG – saving 0.20 more than expected.

During the 2021/22 La Liga campaign, he saved 76% of the shots that he faced and his shot-stopping statistics suggest that he would be a major upgrade on Meslier between the sticks and improve the club’s defensive record.

Over the last 365 days, he has also stopped a higher percentage (8.6%) of crosses into his box than the Leeds man (7.1%) and this means that the Sevilla man could be more effective at dominating his box.

Meslier, 22, is still learning and gaining experience in the game and spending some time on the sidelines as the number two to Bono, 31, could be a tough learning curve that he needs to go through to take his game to the next level.

He could learn from the 6 foot 4 Moroccan machine and improve his own performances and this is why Orta must bring the Sevilla man in during the January window because he can be an upgrade on the Frenchman in the short-term whilst also helping the young gem to develop for the future.

Celtic made a winning return to Scottish Premiership action on Saturday afternoon following the recent international break, securing a narrow 2-1 victory over Motherwell in what was an eventful encounter at Parkhead on Saturday.

The Hoops had succumbed to a first defeat in 38 top-flight games away at St Mirren two weeks ago, although were able to maintain their two-point advantage over Glasgow rivals Rangers at the top of the table following the win over the Fir Park outfit.

Goals from Japanese duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate helped to steer Ange Postecoglou’s side to all three points, with the hosts surviving a late scare following captain Callum McGregor’s dismissal to make it seven wins from eight in what appears to be a relentless defence of their title for the Old Firm giants.

A key performer in yesterday’s clash was that of the aforementioned Hatate, with the 24-year-old once again proving his worth to the Hoops boss after netting a stunning second-half strike to seal the win, after Josip Juranovic’s calamitous own goal had drawn the visitors level midway through the first period.

The one-cap gem – who arrived in Scotland for a bargain fee of just £1.4m last summer – picked up the ball just outside the box before unleashing a fierce effort past a helpless Liam Kelly, with that the midfielder’s tenth goal contribution in just 29 games for the club to date.

The diminutive ace had warned the away side prior to that fabulous effort having seen another fierce strike canon off the woodwork from distance, with the £2.25m-rated playmaker developing something of a knack for a long-range stunner, having produced similar heroics in the win over the Gers back in February.

The 5 foot 8 machine recorded a stunning 7.6 match rating as a result of his performance, as per SofaScore, with that by far the highest of any player for either side, despite squandering possession on 19 occasions.

As that latter metric showcases, there is still perhaps improvement to be made in the player’s game – with Postecoglou suggesting that there is still a “lot more to come” from his star asset – albeit with this recent triumph showcasing yet again just what a key figure he has become at Celtic Park in such a short space of time.

West Brom slipped into the Championship relegation places after a 0-0 draw with Luton Town on Saturday but it seems as if Baggies fans will have to wait a while longer before Steve Bruce is sacked.

What’s the word?

Despite just one win in the second tier this season, Bruce seemingly has the backing of Steve Gourlay, with pre-season hopes of a promotion push a distant memory for the Baggies.

Alan Nixon provided the latest on his position as manager at the Hawthorns following Saturday’s stalemate, writing in The Sun:

“Steve Bruce looks like he is staying in charge of the Baggies for now and has the backing of chief executive Ron Gourlay.”

Gourlay must act now

In 32 matches in charge of West Brom, Bruce has won just eight games, drawing 12 and losing 12, which has earned him an extremely disappointing points per game average of 1.13.

When the 61-year-old took charge of the Baggies, they were fifth in the Championship, which was enough to see Valerian Ismael sacked by Gourlay.

Bruce was brought in with the aim of getting the Baggies promoted in his first season but they would finish tenth in the second tier, so the fact that he is still in charge eight months later having made West Brom significantly worse than they were under Ismael, is baffling.

Eye-catching summer additions such as John Swift and Jed Wallace looked as if they would steer the Baggies back towards the top of the Championship but this season has been a complete disaster so far.

While Bruce can’t take all of the blame, as the expected goals statistics suggest that West Brom should be much better off, it still isn’t good enough and the results show no sign of improving under Bruce.

Indeed, Albion are now on a run without a win since the back end of August, with nine matches passing since their last three points.

Nixon suggests that Gourlay still has faith in the 61-year-old but if West Brom are to have any chance of recovering this season, then he must be sacked as soon as possible.

Glasgow Rangers suffered yet another Champions League meltdown on Wednesday evening. Liverpool emerged from Ibrox with three points and a 7-1 victory that leaves the Ibrox side pointless at the bottom of Group A.

Much has been made about weaknesses in certain positions and the fact that Giovanni van Bronckhorst hasn’t significantly improved the starting XI, however, the problem appears to be more mentality based, especially in the elite of the Champions League.

The Light Blues missed out on a few targets in the summer transfer window, however, it was a player they were linked with back in January that might have improved the team…

Francis Amuzu would have been an excellent signing

Back in December last year, Rangers were linked with Amuzu ahead of the January transfer window, with Van Bronckhorst keen to bolster his squad.

Unfortunately, a move didn’t materialise as the Dutchman had to persist for the rest of the campaign with Scott Wright on the right wing, and with no real backup to the 25-year-old, many were played out of position.

Wright netted seven times in 37 matches last season, but aside from that, his input was marginal at best, receiving a SofaScore rating of 6.96.

Amuzu scored nine goals alone in the Jupiler Pro League for Anderlecht last season, chipping in with three assists to prove that he could shine at the highest level.

The 23-year-old, although primarily a midfielder, can operate on either wing, and this versatility would have been perfect for Van Bronckhorst last season.

Although born in Ghana, Amuzu represents Belgium at youth level, winning 14 caps for the U21 side, scoring twice.

After 18 matches in all competitions this season, the player has five goal contributions already, four more than Wright, and the decision to not bring him to Ibrox is looking like it’s coming back to haunt the manager.

Amuzu was dubbed a “baller” by the NXGN Twitter account, which focuses on up-and-coming talent throughout the world of football, and it’s clear that he will move on from Anderlecht.

It looks like the Ibrox side have missed their chance when it comes to bringing the 23-year-old to Glasgow, as bigger clubs will soon be sniffing around the player before long.

Glasgow Rangers secured a 1-1 against Livingston at Ibrox in their Scottish Premiership clash this afternoon, with an injury-time equaliser by John Lundstram sparing some blushes.

Following on from the drab victory over Dundee in midweek, there were hopes the side could redeem themselves and put in a positive performance today, however, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s position as Light Blues manager is looking fairly precarious, despite salvaging a point.

Despite boasting 80% possession during the match, a lack of composure from the home team resulted in two points dropped.

And, with poor performances across the board from the likes of Scott Arfield, who won just two duels, the Dutchman will be unhappy with the result.

Striker Antonio Colak didn’t impress either, as he failed to add to his goal tally this season with an uncharacteristically poor performance.

Colak let Van Bronckhorst down

With 13 goals in 17 appearances before today’s match, the majority of the Ibrox faithful would have been confident the striker would add to his tally against a mid-table Livingston side.

A SofaScore rating of 6.9 wasn’t the worst in the team, however, his lack of composure in front of goal cost the Gers dearly, with the Croatian having only one shot on target from the seven he attempted.

During his spell on the pitch, the 29-year-old made just 13 passes, proving that he was extremely isolated leading the line, while he took just 26 touches.

He did succeed with his only dribble attempted and won four out of his seven duels, but these are the type of matches that the hitman should thrive in and it clearly was a bad day at the office.

With only a few minutes remaining Colak’s “powerful header” was well saved, tweeted by the official Rangers account, and it wasn’t the only chance he had to win the tie, heading another great chance just inches over the bar just before the final whistle.

If the Croat had been more composed, Rangers could have easily scored three or four goals today. However, it proved a major struggle to break down Livingston and the Dutchman will need to find a way to resolve this problem sooner rather than later.

If he doesn’t, Ross Wilson might be looking for a new manager.