All posts by z3u9t.icu

Former Liverpool midfielder Jay Spearing is set to return to Anfield as an overage player for the Under-23s, according to reliable journalist Chris Bascombe.

The Lowdown: Spearing a former Red

The 33-year-old was once a youth team captain at Anfield, skippering the Reds to FA Youth Cup glory back in 2007.

Spearing then went on to make 55 appearances for Liverpool’s first team, even starting the 2012 FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea, prior to moving on in 2013.

Nine years later, it looks as though a shock return is on the cards.

The Latest: Shock return

According to The Telegraph‘s Bascombe, Spearing will come back as an overage player in the U23s this summer, also coaching players in younger age groups at the same time.

The midfielder is a free agent after leaving Tranmere Rovers at the end of the season.

Darwin’s a Red! Get your special edition Darwin Nunez tee here. The Verdict: Shrewd move by Liverpool

While some may fume at the prospect of Spearing somehow being part of Jurgen Klopp’s setup, that is something that looks highly unlikely, barring an unprecedented injury crisis in midfield.

This is actually a shrewd piece of business by Liverpool, bringing in someone who knows and loves the club, allowing him to influence younger players and putting his experience to good use.

Having local figures in and around the club is vital in terms of not allowing Liverpool’s traditions to go away and Spearing is someone who could thrive in this intriguing new role.

In other news, Liverpool are reportedly eyeing up a surprise move for one attacking player. Find out who it is here.

Aston Villa are said to be in talks with Ashley Young over a new deal with reporter Fabrizio Romano revealing on Tuesday that there are “very good chances” the player will continue his stint in the Midlands.

Young was initially named as one of the eight players who were set to be released, as per Birmingham Mail.

Their own Milner

At the age of 36, Young still has a lot to offer to a Premier League side who are looking to instil success as Villa seemingly are.

The sale of Matt Targett to Newcastle United has left the Villans short of depth at left full-back and with the majority of Young’s appearances coming in that position, it is a no-brainer to renew his contract.

Besides a winning mentality and stacks of experience, Young offers Villa boss Gerrard versatility, having played throughout seven different positions in the Premier League this season, featuring at; left-back, left midfield, left-wing, central midfield, attacking midfield, right midfield, and right-back – making at least one appearance in each of the aforementioned positions.

If you think of the smartest teams in the league, they have a utility man. For instance, Manchester City have Oleksandr Zinchenko and Liverpool have James Milner. Coincidentally, they both occupy the role of full-back and central midfield, a service that Young can offer to Villa.

Zinchenko has shown specifically just capable he is in those roles of late, occupying a left-sided position in Manchester City’s defence before starring for Ukraine in the middle of the park during the recent international fixtures.

As for Milner, he started out as a midfielder but like Young, has since transitioned into a consistent full-back at the elite level.

That kind of versatility is invaluable to a side and Gerrard will be aware of the “outstanding” Young’s impact on the squad, and as one of the few players in the team with genuine seniority too.

The £88k-per-week earner’s presence at the club is integral – particularly in helping the new signings to bed in – but more so, in terms of helping Villa to transition into a consistent top-six challenging team.

In other news: AVFC keen on signing £25m “great wall”, it’ll be their best business of the window 

Reliable journalist Rob Dawson of ESPN has now shared a big Manchester City transfer update involving Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong.

The Lowdown: Sky Blues eye more signings…

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, having watched the Blues retain their Premier League crown in such dramatic fashion, later confirmed that there will be even mores summer signings after Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez.

Fernandinho’s glittering nine-year stay at Eastlands has now come to an end with the fan favourite set to leave, prompting manager Pep Guardiola to set his sights on a midfield heir to the Brazilian.

Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips and West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice have both been linked with moves to Eastlands as well as Barcelona sensation de Jong.

Sharing news on the latter man, Dawson has a big update.

The Latest: Dawson shares big de Jong update…

According to the ESPN reporter, a Man City correspondent, the marquee Catalans star has been ‘offered’ to Guardiola and co with Barcelona desperately trying to raise £70million for new arrivals.

However, despite Barca handing City a chance to sign de Jong, the La Liga giants have only received positive responses from Man United and Paris-Saint Germain.

The Verdict: Reconsider?

As the Netherlands international gets placed on the table, we believe City sporting director Txiki Begiristain and Guardiola should, at the very least, consider a move carefully.

De Jong has been a mainstay under Barca boss Xavi, playing the fourth-most league minutes over 2021/2022 behind veteran stars Sergio Busquets, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Jordi Alba (WhoScored).

His impressive pass accuracy of 91.3% is also on par with crucial City stars like Rodri, Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias – backing how seamlessly de Jong would fit into Guardiola’s starting eleven (WhoScored).

Called a ‘phenomenal’ player by Spanish football expert and ex-Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell, the only red herring to this potential deal would be the 25-year-old’s lofty €85 million (£73m) price tag.

In other news: Journalist: Man City ‘offer’ on the cards to sign ‘unplayable’ star, Pep called him ‘incredible’…find out more here.

Celtic are reportedly readying a scouting mission to watch Maccabi Haifa midfielder Mohammad Abu Fani, according to Israeli outlet Sport 5.

The lowdown: Career so far

So far, Abu Fani has spent his entire professional career in his homeland, only spending time away from Maccabi Haifa out on loan at Hapoel Hadera and Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim in two separate spells.

Overall, the 24-year-old has made 178 senior outings, 99 of which have been for Haifa, contributing directly to 28 goals in that time.

Now as Hoops’ boss Ange Postecoglou starts to plan for the summer transfer window, a move to Glasgow could be on the horizon…

The latest: Report makes scouting claim

As per Sport 5, Celtic will send scouts to watch Israel face Iceland and Albania in the UEFA Nations League.

It’s claimed both the Hoops and Belgian top-flight outfit Standard Liege want to ‘track’ Abu Fani, who has been ‘gaining interest’ for his performances for both club and country.

The report also states that the 13-cap international ace – described as ‘lively, mobile and technical’ with a ‘fearsome’ long-range shot by football analyst Julien San James – has ‘ambitions’ to play elsewhere in Europe.

The verdict: Compatriot’s successor?

Following the departure of Nir Bitton, Postecoglou certainly needs to add a central midfielder to the ranks and a compatriot of the ex-Bhoys favourite could be the ideal candidate.

During 2021/22, Abu Fani scored six times and provided another six assists in 44 appearances across all competitions, gaining European experience in the Europa Conference League in the process.

Predominantly operating as an attack-minded midfielder last term, the Israeli star is equally adept in a deeper-lying role and would therefore add a welcome versatility to the Lennoxtown ranks should he follow in the footsteps of Bitton, Beram Kayal, Liel Abada, Hatem Abd Elhamed, Eyal Berkovich and Rami Gershon as players from his nation to ply their trade at Celtic Park.

In other news, a journalist has provided a key Celtic transfer update. Read more here.

Wolves have made an approach for Atletico Mineiro left-back Guilherme Arana, according to TEAMtalk.

The Lowdown: Previous interest

According to Turkish journalist Ekrem Konur [via Molineux News], the Old Gold added the Brazilian defender to their transfer list back in October, ahead of the January window.

Konur claimed that Wolves had planned to “talk with Atletico MG in January” but a winter move failed to materialise and the 25-year-old remained in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

The Latest: Wolves make approach for Arana

According to a report by TEAMtalk on Friday, West Ham and Wolves have both made approaches for Arana.

Journalist Jorge Nicola has claimed that the Irons have now made contact with the left-back’s representatives, whilst TEAMtalk reported that Wolves have touched base to gain information about the defender’s situation.

The Verdict: He’d be a good signing

Whilst some Wolves fans may feel underwhelmed with being linked with a left-back playing in the Brazilian league, Arana has previously had opportunities in Europe. The 25-year-old was at Sevilla between 2018 and 2019 before heading out on loan to Atalanta for the 2019/20 season.

Internationally, Arana has been on the receiving end of strong plaudits. André Jardine, Brazil’s coach at last year’s Olympics, has heaped praise on the defender, claiming: “He is going through a spectacular phase, he was the best full-back at the last Brazilian Championship, with a great resourcefulness, defensively and offensively.”

With Arana’s indefatigable engine allowing him to bomb up and down the wing, this could be an ideal signing for Bruno Lage, who is looking to build a squad capable of improving upon this season’s 10th-place finish.

With reports suggesting that an expected offer worth €19m (£16.3m) is to come from the Premier League, Wolves could be set to sign a player who has largely gone under the radar.

In other news: Two clubs are targeting this Wolves gem

Sky Sports pundit Gabby Agbonlahor has backed Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan to sign a new deal with the club, amid reports that he could leave the Etihad Stadium.

The Lowdown: Gundogan’s title-winning heroics

The 31-year-old joined the recently-crowned Premier League champions from Borussia Dortmund in 2016 for a reported fee of around £20m, and in the intervening six years, he has made 253 appearances for the Sky Blues across all competitions.

Despite having just over 12 months remaining on his current contract with Pep Guardiola’s side, it was reported by the Daily Mail earlier this month that the Germany international is set to depart City this summer.

However, Gundogan was introduced from the bench in the 68th minute to score two goals within the space of five minutes during City’s 3-2 victory over Aston Villa on the last day of the Premier League season, which ultimately secured the top-flight title and may have added a fresh twist in the contract tale.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/man-city-latest-developments-3/” title=”Man City latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Agbonlahor backs Gundogan to stay

When asked by Football Insider whether or not he thinks Gundogan will now leave the club after his recent heroics, Agbonlahor replied: “I don’t think so, no.

“There was the same sort of talks about Bernardo Silva last summer. After what he’s done, especially in that last game, I cannot see Gundogan going.

“Next season you need more players. Man City are losing Fernandinho already so they won’t want to lose another midfielder.

“I don’t believe that. Gundogan will be there and sign a new contract.”

The Verdict: Hugely valuable player

Even though the 56-cap Germany international isn’t getting any younger, you can’t deny the difference he makes to this City side, just as Sunday afternoon proved.

Gundogan has scored 49 goals and provided 33 assists since arriving at City (as per Transfermarkt), and despite only making 20 Premier League starts this season, he has shown that he can still make a massive impact off the bench.

There is no greater evidence of that than last Sunday, for if it weren’t for him, it would have been Liverpool lifting thePremier League trophy last weekend.

Guardiola has already admitted that he doesn’t want to lose the £140k-per-week midfielder, and hopefully we will continue to see the 31-year-old in a City shirt at the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign.

In other news… a BBC pundit has dropped this huge Man City transfer claim

Celtic have a number of exciting young players in their ranks that could potentially become regular first-team players in the future.

One name that immediately springs to mind is 19-year-old winger Karamoko Dembele.

As a product of Celtic’s youth academy, the winger has gone on to make ten appearances in the senior side.

With those ten appearances under his belt, the teenager found the back of the net during their 4-0 win over St. Johnstone in December.

Now that Ange Postecoglou’s side have ended the 2021/22 SPFL season as league champions, the upcoming summer transfer window will give the Parkhead club the chance to make whatever changes to their squad that they see fit.

With that in mind, it seems as though the Hoops may have already identified one figure that could come in and potentially be their next version of Dembele.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Football.Scotland, Celtic are eyeing a summer move for Cardiff City youngster Japhet Matondo.

The 16-year-old can reportedly play on the left and right wings and has already featured for Wales’ U23 side.

The report also claims that the Bhoys “would benefit from the cross border compensation fee rule which would mean they would only have to stump up around £130k for the teenager.”

Taking into account how the Hoops have seen some of their young players leave the club in recent times such as Ben Doak and Leo Hjelde, this apparent interest in Matondo shows that the club aren’t allowing their youth ranks to be depleted.

Their deals to sign Osaze Urhoghide and Liam Shaw, both from Sheffield Wednesday, also show that the Parkhead club aren’t shy when it comes to signing players from down south, and in particular, the EFL.

If the SPFL champions are able to secure a deal for the Welsh youngster and add him to their ranks this summer, this will provide the club with another potential future first-team star.

Should Matondo find himself performing to a high standard in Celtic’s youth sides, he could well follow in the footsteps of fellow winger and highly-rated teenager, Dembele, and start to get the odd chance to shine in the senior team and show Postecoglou what he’s made of.

In other news: “Very soon”: Insider drops big Celtic transfer claim that’ll have supporters ecstatic

Everton will host Crystal Palace in their penultimate Premier League game and final home fixture of the season, and Patrick Boyland has revealed a huge fitness update ahead of the clash tonight.

What’s the latest?

The Everton reporter for The Athletic took to Twitter to confirm a triple fitness boost for the Toffees with Michael Keane, Donny van de Beek and Ben Godfrey all available for selection.

Boyland tweeted:

“Ben Godfrey could be in the squad to face Crystal Palace. Michael Keane has fully recovered from sickness and Donny van de Beek also ready to return.”

The reporter also confirmed: “Mina and Delph still out.”

Frank will be buzzing

Despite Yerry Mina and Fabian Delph being unavailable for the game, Frank will surely be buzzing to have three new players fit and ready for the last two games of the season, with Everton in a position to secure survival in the Premier League if they can win the game tonight.

Keane’s return from illness gives Lampard the opportunity to strengthen his backline after Jarrad Branthwaite was red-carded in the clash with Brentford on Sunday afternoon, so it will be a massive silver lining for the manager to have him back in the squad.

Another defender returning after almost a month out of action is Ben Godfrey who again can help to bolster the defence this evening alongside Keane to give Everton the best chance of protecting their goal against Palace’s relentless attackers in Conor Gallagher and Wilfried Zaha.

The final returnee in Van de Beek has been out of action since March and has not made an appearance in 11 games which will be massively disappointing to Lampard who signed the Man United loanee on Deadline Day.

Due to injuries the 25-year-old has only featured seven times for the Toffees during his five-month spell at Goodison Park, but could be deployed in the centre of the pitch over the next two games following Delph’s injury woes.

Ultimately, with the last game of the season for Everton over in North London at the Emirates, the side must capitalise on their opportunity to seal safety at home this evening, taking all the pressure off the final day away against Arsenal.

AND in other news: Everton plotting swoop for 18y/o “shining light”, he can be the next Calvert-Lewin

Wolves have had a wonderful spell in the Premier League since their promotion from the Championship in 2018.

Nuno Espirito Santo delivered two consecutive seventh-place finishes before a slightly more disappointing 13th place spot in the 2020/2021 season before he joined Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2021.

There is no doubt the majority of his transfer business was excellent, bringing the likes of Ruben Neves and Rui Patricio to Molineux as they aimed to make the next step up.

Yet there were a couple of transfer mistakes, with the costliest one being that of striker Fabio Silva, who was signed from Porto for a club-record fee of £35.6m and quite frankly, hasn’t lived up to the hype.

The striker, who earns £37k-per-week has received his fair share of criticism since joining the club, with journalist Tariq Panja describing the whole transfer as “baffling” and with just four goals and six assists in 64 matches for the club, it’s clear to see why.

The 19-year-old has yet to score in 21 Premier League matches this season as Wolves aim to finish in eighth spot, but it looks like time could be running out for the youngster.

There is no doubt there is significant potential there, a club wouldn’t spend close to £40m if there wasn’t, but he has got to start scoring goals sooner rather than later.

His market value sat at £10.8m when he joined Wolves, proving that they overpaid. With his value currently sitting at £16.2m as of March 2022, the player’s value has dropped a mammoth £19.4m since his move to the side in 2020.

Nuno had a major howler with the Portuguese striker, and it is now Bruno Lage who has to work out if he has a future at the club or not.

With his value dropping, another team might be willing to take a punt on him, the question is, how much money will Wolves recoup from their original outlay?

AND in other news, big boost: Major Wolves transfer development emerges that’ll leave Lage ecstatic – opinion

Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a huge boost in their bid to bring Memphis Depay to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

What’s the word?

That’s according to a report by Spanish publication Sport, who claim that Barcelona are now willing to part with the centre-forward at the end of the current campaign, while the Netherlands international himself is also believed to be happy to move onto pastures new this summer.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-much-more” title= “Read the latest Spurs news!”]

This is sure to come as a huge boost to Fabio Paratici and Spurs, who were reported to have made the LaLiga side an offer for the 28-year-old back in March, with it now appearing as if the Italian sporting director has something of a free run at the former Lyon forward.

Paratici must move

While it is true that, following his June 2021 switch to the Camp Nou, Depay has somewhat struggled to hold down a place in the Barca starting XI, the centre-forward would nevertheless make an extremely impressive addition to Antonio Conte’s current attacking options at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Indeed, over his 25 LaLiga appearances this season – only 18 of which have come as starts – the £42.75m-rated striker has highly impressed, scoring 11 goals, registering two assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.3 shots, making 1.8 key passes and completing 1.6 dribbles per game.

These returns have seen the £158k-per-week forward who Marco van Basten dubbed a “special talent” average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.29, not only ranking him as Xavi’s third-best performer in the league but also as the 11th-best player in the division as a whole.

And, with Tottenham having been desperately lacking back up to and competition for Harry Kane in recent years, the signing of a player who possesses Depay’s particular skillset in the final third would very much appear to be something of a priority for Paratici and Conte this summer.

As such, with it being reported that the 28-year-old will be available for a very reasonable €40m (£34m) in the summer transfer window, Paratici simply must take advantage of Barcelona’s willingness to sanction Depay’s sale, as the Dutchman could finally solve Spurs’ lack of depth up top.

AND in other news: “Are interested…”: Romano drops £17m transfer update, he’s perfect for Conte’s Spurs