All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Former Crystal Palace striker Marcus Bent has told The Transfer Tavern in an exclusive interview that joining the Eagles would be a good move for Jack Wilshere.

Wilshere is without a club after being released by Bournemouth, where he spent the second half of the 2020/21 season.

His injury record will be a concern for clubs who weigh up whether to offer him a contract or not, though he managed to stay fit during his time on the south coast.

If one of those clubs end up being an outfit like Palace and they do decide to take a punt on him, Bent believes it could be a very good move for the English midfielder.

“I think Palace would be a good move for him,” the ex-Premier League forward exclusively told TT. “Playing in London, being in London. His injuries have set him back massively, but what a talent.”

It remains to be seen what kind of transfer budget Palace’s new manager will get. But given the south London club are not renowned for splashing the cash, you would have to imagine that there is not going to be too much to spend.

Considering that, perhaps free agents like Wilshere will be looked at this transfer window.

Some West Ham United fans have been left delighted as a transfer update emerged on Duje Caleta-Car.

As per The Athletic, the East London club are set to re-enter in the race to sign the Marseille central defender once the summer transfer window opens.

Although David Moyes’ team were very impressive in the Premier League in the 2020/21 term, finishing in sixth spot, they conceded no fewer than 47 goals in total, which was more than Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion, who all finished below them in the table (BBC Sport).

Thus, a new centre-back will be needed in order to bolster the defence, especially given that they will be playing in the UEFA Europa League as well.

Caleta-Car could well fit the bill, given his monster six-foot-three frame, which would be useful in both boxes in the top flight and in Europe, as well as coming off the back of an impressive Ligue 1 season in which he won 3.7 of his duels per match and averaged an impressive 3.9 clearances and 1.3 interceptions per game too (Sofascore).

Nonetheless, he is certainly a player that some members of the London Stadium faithful seemingly want to see come through the door.

West Ham fans on Caleta-Car transfer update

These Hammers supporters raved as the transfer update was shared on Twitter (via West Ham Central):

“This would be great if we can get it done for £25 million like we was close to before”

Credit: @Irons_Stuff

“I’m on my knees”

Credit: @1bbyWHU

“YESSSSSSSSS”

Credit: @whujoe

“Oooooh yes”

Credit: @_ghzst

“Him and Milenkovic would be a class window”

Credit: @JamieWHU__

“Vroom, vroom, get in me Car!!”

Credit: @whuamen

In other news, find out what transfer update has left Irons buzzing here!

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa must make a ruthless call and sell Tyler Roberts this summer.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that the 22-year-old has snubbed a contract offer from Leeds, with the forward’s current deal at Elland Road expiring next summer.

The Wales international has now delivered an update on his long-term future at Elland Road, saying: “I think my agent has had a talk with them about what’s going to happen.

“I think it’s one of those where the season is so close to ending, you stay focused on the last few games and you sort that then. I think it’s all positive and, as I’ve said, I do love it at Leeds. The city, the fans, the experiences I’m getting are great so I’m happy.”

Not good enough for Bielsa

Whilst Roberts has delivered a positive update on his chances of signing a new deal at Elland Road, Bielsa must be ruthless with the under-performing Welshman this summer.

Former Leeds striker Noel Whelan insisted that the £9m-rated forward hasn’t shown enough in the Premier League to “convince” Bielsa – he managed just one goal in 27 top-flight appearances all season, and even that came in the penultimate game against Southampton.

The 46-year-old said: “With Leeds this season, he’s been given a long spell of games to convince Bielsa he’s worth keeping. In my opinion, I’m still undecided. I don’t think he affected the game during his time on the field.

“The only thing tempting me to keep him at Leeds is the fact that he’s young. He may still have a bit of growth to come.  If there’s interest from Newcastle and the contract isn’t signed, he might feel he needs a new start in his career. It’s massive to leave a club like Leeds. But once he comes back to Leeds I doubt he’ll start considering how Rodrigo finished the season.”

Whelan added: “Is he good enough? In my opinion he isn’t. I would love him to go out there and prove me wrong because I want everyone to succeed. I need him to show me more. He needs to show more fight and desire. I just do not see that.”

Given that Leeds will hope to see the best of Rodrigo next season after a year of adaptation at Elland Road, and that Bielsa will likely be looking to strengthen his squad in the summer, it’s difficult to see how Roberts’ current form and ability is anywhere near the kind of level that Leeds require if they are to kick on.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/leeds-united-marcelo-bielsa-transfer-gossip-rumours-news-elland-road-rodrigo-de-paul” title=”Read the latest Leeds transfer rumours and news!”]

Roberts was handed plenty of opportunities to shine and lay down a claim this season, but he didn’t grab those. This summer must be the time for Bielsa to just be ruthless and get rid of him if the right offer comes in.

Meanwhile, Leeds must finally unleash this talented starlet next season…

Sheffield Wednesday striker Jordan Rhodes looks set to leave the club, with a move to former team Huddersfield Town on the cards.

The Lowdown: Rhodes unable to prevent Wednesday relegation

The Owls were relegated to League One last weekend following a dramatic 3-3 draw away to Derby County.

Rhodes did his best to keep Wednesday in the Championship, scoring seven goals in 2020/21, but they ultimately didn’t do enough to remain in the division together thanks to the six point deduction, providing we do not see a similar punishment for Derby County over the coming weeks.

The Latest: Return to Huddersfield on the cards

Relegation means a number of key men could end up leaving Hillsborough this summer and Rhodes looks increasingly likely to be one of them, despite being described as ‘fantastic’ by Neil Thompson.

According to YorkshireLive, the 31-year-old could rejoin former club Huddersfield imminently, with the Terriers the front-runners to snap him up.

The Verdict: Impossible to keep hold of Rhodes

Rhodes is out of contract this summer, and given his pedigree, it is hard to see the £810,000-rated Scot playing League One football next season.

It is a bitter pill that Wednesday simply have to swallow, but they must use the funds they earn by clearing Rhodes off the wage bill on an effective new signing – one who can score at a reliable rate and fire the Owls back into the Championship.

The aim has to be an immediate return to the second tier, but that may only happen if the outgoing stars are sufficiently replaced – just look at Sunderland.

In other news, some Sheff Wed supporters slammed one player after last weekend’s draw at Derby. Find out who it is here.

An official Police Scotland document has branded Glasgow Rangers’ players and staff as “disgraceful” following their celebrations when they beat St. Mirren earlier this year.

The Lowdown: Gers closed in on title

On March 6th, the Gers beat St. Mirren 3-0 at Ibrox to all but confirm their status as Premiership champions. Following the match, the players celebrated with supporters outside Ibrox from the stadium’s windows.

The title was confirmed to be going to Rangers the following day when Celtic could only draw 0-0 with Dundee United (The Guardian).

The Latest: Police Scotland slam Rangers

Now, an official document has been released through a Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Government which criticised the Gers supporters. The memo said (via The Daily Record):

“On conclusion of the event engagement with Police Scotland and Rangers FC continued to encourage the Club to strongly support a stay at home message.

“Whilst assurances were given this did not materialise.

“Further engagement did not result in any further statement relating to fan behaviour or responsibilities being issued, despite numerous statements encouraging celebration, including from the Manager.

“Both the Manager and players actively engaged from within the stadium with fans gathered in disgraceful displays of encouragement, in solid opposition to the public safety issues arising, to their responsibilities given the privileges under which football operates, and to the commitments they had made around public communications.”

The Verdict: Fashionable

At the moment, it seems to be fashionable to criticise Rangers. In this situation, the fans themselves had already congregated outside the stadium as the Gers won what would be prove to be a decisive match. It is only understandable that the players and staff would acknowledge their presence at Ibrox.

We have seen gatherings across Glasgow in recent weeks, such as the Solidarity for Palestine demonstration. Yet, despite that, it is only Rangers supporters that appear to be blamed for disregarding coronavirus regulations. It should not be one rule for some and another one for others, regardless of the reason for people taking to the streets.

In other news, Rangers fans are livid at this article.

Many Manchester United fans have been left to fume as their U23s team lost 3-0 to Manchester City.

It was not the best of nights for Neil Wood’s side in the Manchester derby and perhaps shows where City’s academy is at the moment compared to United’s.

It is never a good feeling losing a derby but for the Red Devils to lose to their noisy neighbours by such a margin would have really hurt, even if it was not the senior teams playing.

Nonetheless, the U23s will have to dust themselves down and put all of their preparation into getting a positive result in their next game, while the senior side face Burnley at home in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, with another three points at Old Trafford potentially big in terms of cementing their spot in the top four of the table.

Manchester United fans on Manchester City result

These MUFC supporters fumed as the result was shared on Twitter:

“Not good at all. That’s put 3 months on each of them getting a call up to the first team.”

Credit: @JustAskKev

“The future is very bleak”

Credit: @Ebb1

“We’re finished”

Credit: @AMufc9

“Delete asap”

Credit: @joseph_utd

“We’re a joke”

Credit: @UtdMiII

“Disgrace”

Credit: @AOjaide

In other news, find out whose display versus Granada was slammed here!

Plenty have been calling for Tottenham Hotspur to appoint Marcelo Bielsa as Jose Mourinho’s successor this week…

What’s the word?

The ‘Special One’ was sacked after 17 months at the helm, with former midfielder Ryan Mason taking the reins until the end of the season, when Daniel Levy will look to appoint a permanent replacement.

Several names have been linked with the vacant role, ranging from mooted number one target Julian Naglesmann to Brendan Rodgers and even Athletic Bilbao’s Marcelino, but it is Bielsa’s name which is on the lips of many.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Dean Windass claimed the Leeds United boss “would be the one on the lips of Daniel Levy” and he’s not the only one thinking this.

Former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara stoked the fire even more when he told talkSPORT: “I think he’d be absolutely brilliant and the fans would love him. If you can try and prise him away form there it’d be unbelievable.”

Meanwhile, according to Tony Cascarino in his column for The Times, Bielsa “could regenerate Tottenham”.

Could ruin Kane

The 65-year-old is a very intriguing option to consider, but there must be a few question marks over whether or not he’s actually the right fit for Levy and Tottenham.

He has exceeded expectations at Elland Road and has delivered a strong maiden season back in the Premier League, especially as he’s largely been deploying what is the bulk of his Championship title-winning squad.

They sit tied on points with Arsenal in 10th place and have won away to Manchester City and Leicester, who occupy two of the top three spots.

Mauricio Pochettino is a huge admirer of his, having played under him at Newell’s Old Boys. “For me, he’s a person I will always admire,” revealed the former Spurs manager. “He’s a genius. A person with charisma and a personality very different from us normal coaches, and that’s what makes him special.”

However, the bulk of this success has come down to the 65-year-old’s philosophy – a relentless press, the mantra of putting the side before self, and working on the method before the result.

This means a lot of work is put into training, such as his ‘murderball’ sessions which Leeds’ top scorer Patrick Bamford recently described as “about ten times harder than a [Premier League] game.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-manager-transfer-news-and-rumours” title=”Read this week’s latest Spurs manager news, transfer rumours and more!”]

It’s also claimed that Bielsa’s teams suffer from burnout in the final thirds of the season due to built-up fatigue because his high-intensity system places such serious physical demands on the players.

Ultimately, this may well spell serious trouble for Harry Kane, who suffered another ankle injury this week.

In 2019, BT Sport presenter Gary Lineker expressed his fears over the England skipper in an interview with Goal. He said: “It is always a worry when you get a recurring injury and there is clearly a little weakness in there,” adding: “The more you do it, the more you worry the weakness will become a problem.”

Given Bielsa’s ruthless training sessions, let alone his intense pressing from the front in matches, you’d have to have major concerns over the 27-year-old talisman if the Argentine replaces Mourinho.

Spurs rely heavily on the goalscoring and creative exploits of Kane; he has accounted for 60.7% of their 54 league goals this term through either scoring or setting them up.

There’s one other factor which should put Bielsa down the pecking order, as his Leeds side has often suffered from profligacy. Despite winning the Championship last term, the Whites ranked amongst the five worst teams for goal conversion at just 12.5%.

That hasn’t really risen in the Premier League, with Leeds only converting 8.1% of their 614 shots at goal, as per Transfermarkt. In some games they find the net three, four, even five times, but in others they draw a serious blank despite creating so many chances – Kane could well suffer as a result of that, too.

If Levy listens to the aforementioned calls, then he would risk ruining his superstar striker. As good as Bielsa is, he just isn’t the right man to replace Mourinho in N17.

AND in other news, Levy would be appointing Mourinho 2.0 in “stubborn” 62 y/o flop…

A relegation claim has been dropped on a potential takeover of Newcastle United involving Mike Ashley.

Speaking to Football Insider, football finance expert Kieran Maguire has claimed that the chief executive of Sports Direct would be ‘doing well’ if he gets half of his original £300m asking price of the club if they were to find themselves relegated from the Premier League by the end of the season. Maguire outlined:

“I think Ashley is trying to ensure that the club is in the Premier League when he sells it.

“Newcastle is worth £300m as a Premier League club. If he gets half of that in the Championship, he’ll be doing well.”

Newcastle must stay up

If Newcastle have any chance of being taken over by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group, then they must ensure that they stay in the top flight come the end of the season.

The KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would surely see the Tyneside club as a far less attractive one to buy if they are stuck in a lower division, and so they may not want to come back onto the table.

This may open the door for other potential investors to swoop in, but question marks would then have to be raised about Ashley if he would like to sell the Magpies for a potentially much lower price than what he had originally stipulated given that they were in the top flight.

Nonetheless, it is a dilemma which will come into fruition at the end of the campaign when the fate of Steve Bruce’s team is known.

In other news, find out what big claim Luke Edwards has dropped on the potential takeover.

Liverpool finally halted their Anfield woes on Saturday afternoon with a late victory against Aston Villa.

Jurgen Klopp’s Reds had initially gone behind to Ollie Watkins’ strike, with Roberto Firmino seeing his equaliser ruled out by a tight offside call from VAR.

However, they did manage to roar back through Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, the latter firing in a 90th minute winner.

Despite the right-back proving key for the reigning champions, it was actually his defensive colleague Nathaniel Phillips who should indeed be earning more praise for his performance.

The centre-back, who earns £64k per-week at Anfield, turned in a thoroughly dominant defensive showing throughout the afternoon.

According to WhoScored, the 24-year-old contributed two tackles and a further seven clearances. For comparison, the rest of the Liverpool side could only contribute nine clearances between them throughout the match.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-liverpool-news%2c-transfer-rumours-and-more-gravenberch-keita-mane-williams-kabak” title=”Read the latest Liverpool news, transfer rumours and more…”]

Whilst his anticipation of danger was extremely impressive, Phillips was also tough to deal with when faced up with his direct opponents.

Of the 17 duels he attempted against Aston Villa both on the ground and in the air, he won a huge 13 of those according to SofaScore – a huge increase on his 7.1 average per match in the Premier League this season.

Phillips was of course pivotal from a defensive standpoint but the Englishman also had his fair share of influence on the ball for the Reds, too.

Of the 72 passes that he completed, the most of every single player in the entire match, three of those were key. Once again, no player for either side completed more key passes than the Liverpool centre-back.

So, whilst Trent Alexander-Arnold will draw plenty of praise for what turned out to be his winning strike, Phillips was equally if not more pivotal in the Reds claiming a much sought-after Anfield win in the Premier League.

AND in more news, find out which other young defender the Reds must not sell…

Former Premier League striker Dean Windass has exclusively told Football FanCast that he was confused by Jose Mourinho’s tactics in Sunday’s north London derby.

Following a wretched run of form, the Spurs boss has become slightly more expansive in recent weeks which has seen Tottenham win four matches on the bounce in all competitions, scoring 13 times in the process.

But Mourinho went with a familiar cautious approach at the Emirates, despite picking up attacking line-up, which included Tanguy Ndombele, Lucas Moura, Gareth Bale, Heung Min Son and Harry Kane – with Erik Lamela’s Rabona goal their only registered shot in the first-half.

And goals from Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette saw Arsenal turn the game around – with Mourinho’s team only throwing caution to the wind once Lamela was sent off in the latter stages for elbowing Kieran Tierney.

Their attacking intent was nearly rewarded with a point, with Kane striking the post before Davinson Sanchez’s effort was cleared off the line by Gabriel.

But Windass doesn’t understand why the Tottenham manager is so defensive in games against the traditional top-six.

He told Football FanCast:

“I couldn’t believe what I was watching. There were so many players strolling around, it was like an end of season game, they were strolling around, there was no intensity. Harry Kane was very isolated, very quiet, even though he had a couple of chances. It was a bad day at the office. I fancied Tottenham, it was one of those games where you don’t have them very often.

“His tactics change against the top teams, maybe that’s why he gets a lot of criticism. When he does play against the top teams, he parks the bus a little and allows them to come on, they defend very deep and get them on the counter-attack.

“That’s probably why he takes a lot of flack and that’s why he has lost all of those games against the top-six. But then he’ll go to West Brom and be more expansive, I don’t get it.”

Tottenham have now lost five straight matches away at the ‘so called’ big six, suggesting Mourinho’s approach isn’t working and a Plan B is required.