All posts by h716a5.icu

Rumoured Leeds United target Michael Olise has hinted at a move away from Reading this summer, following a unique goal celebration spotted by Leeds Live.

The Whites-linked 19-year-old is enjoying an excellent season in the Championship, proving to be one of Reading’s key men in their Premier League promotion push.

Olise has registered 10 league assists to date, with only Norwich City’s Emiliano Buendia having more, as well as scoring six goals for good measure.

His most recent strike came during Monday’s 3-1 win at home to Derby County, as the £10.8million-rated midfielder gave his side the lead on the stroke of half-time.

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Olise hints at Reading exit

After scoring, Olise did a ‘signing the deal’ celebration, via Leeds Live, perhaps hinting that he is set to move elsewhere this summer.

As their report points out, the youngster’s contract expires next summer, so it would be in Reading’s best interest to sell up this year rather than lose him for free in 2022.

It may be that he could be on the verge of extending his deal at Reading, of course, although that would be a surprise, given the number of top clubs tipped to be interested in him.

Transfer Tavern take

For Olise to be thriving in the Championship as a teenager says a lot about his potential, considering what a notoriously difficult and physically demanding league it is.

His age also means he could join Leeds as both a current option and a long-term prospect, as Marcelo Bielsa hopefully looks to build a team well into the future.

In other news, one Leeds player has been linked with a summer exit, with two clubs keen on signing him. Find out who it is here.

Darren Moore picked up his first win as Sheffield Wednesday manager on Saturday afternoon but despite all of the positives, there was one glaring downside – the performance of Adam Reach.

The versatile 28-year-old has been the epitome of inconsistency throughout his Owls career – you get moments of magic with the odd screamer thrown in there, and then you get displays like that.

This is something Reach has even admitted himself, speaking to YorkshireLive last season, he said: “My own season’s been similar to the team’s, a little bit topsy-turvy. I’ve had some good moments and some not-so-good moments.”

We certainly saw the latter this weekend, even if Wednesday ended a run of eight matches without a victory.

SofaScore graded him as the worst player on the pitch with a 5.9 ratings yet somehow, he lasted the entire duration of the match.

In that time, he lost possession a whopping 40 times, meaning he lost the ball once every two minutes and after racking up a squad-high 81 touches, it means every other touch involved him gifting possession back to Barnsley. Very, very poor.

On average, the £2.5m-rated star loses possession 13.6 times per outing, so this is rather telling on just how shocking he was on the day.

Reach was also weak in his battles, winning just five of 12 duels (42%), both on the ground and in the air. Moore is rather lucky that the in-form Tykes didn’t punish such mistakes as that left flank was clearly an area of weakness that could’ve been exploited.

In addition to that, the Owls ace was dribbled past three times – only adding to the idea that the home side should have done a lot more to damage their struggling rivals.

The rangy 6 foot 1 dynamo, who is thought to be among Wednesday’s high earners on £20k-per-week, badly let his manager down with his performance. He cannot be excused just because they finally won a game, he’ll have to improve to help ensure it wasn’t merely a fluke result in the coming weeks.

Reach was quite simply abysmal with the ball – he managed to make just 46% of his 46 passing attempts, including only five of 24 long balls finding a player in an Owls shirt, as per SofaScore.

Somehow, there were even worse returns amongst the Owls squad here, but still, this did not help Reach’s overall game.

The 28-year-old’s pathetic outing shouldn’t dent confidence going into the international break, though he will certainly need to improve if the Owls are to stand a chance of beating relegation.

AND in other news, 20 clearances: Owls colossus stole the show for Sheffield Wednesday…

Celtic were linked with Aston Villa midfield prospect Aaron Ramsey back in the January window.

According to the Daily Mail, the Hoops, along with Dutch giants Ajax, were showing a serious interest in the England Under-17 international in the New Year.

However, it doesn’t look like the 18-year-old will be making a cut-price move to Parkhead this summer after Villa announced on Tuesday that the central midfielder has signed professional terms with the club.

Ramsey’s initial deal was set to expire in the summer, but it appears as if he’ll now be looking to follow in the footsteps of older brother Jacob in breaking into Dean Smith’s first-team plans.

Transfer Tavern take

Ramsey appeared to fit one of the club’s transfer strategies at the time of being a UK-based prospect with high upside potential available either on a pre-contract, or for a nominal fee.

The Hoops have signed Sheffield Wednesday teenager Liam Shaw on a pre-contract deal and appear to be lining up young forward Kyle Joseph from Wigan Athletic as their next target of that ilk.

However, a move for Ramsey seems to be off the cards for now following his first professional contract in the Midlands.

In other news: Celtic keen on 18-goal forward who could become club’s third-most expensive signing, find out more here. 

It’s not often you get to preach about the positives at Sunderland. After all, they’ve been few and far between over the last couple of years.

However, with the club in the playoff places and in the Papa John’s Trophy final, things are looking rosier under the guidance of Lee Johnson, Kristjaan Speakman and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus.

On the chalkboard

Although there are more encouraging signs behind the scenes, Sunderland still have a tactical problem on the field of play.

They have turned their form around in recent weeks and are now just seven points behind Lincoln who sit in second place. Injuries have wreaked havoc with the squad but Johnson has still managed to engineer encouraging results.

That being said, their left-back area is still a concern. Denver Hume has been out injured since early December and they’ve arguably not recovered in that third of the pitch since.

Callum McFadzean is struggling and has been rather inconsistent of late. He gave away a penalty against Wimbledon and was then caught napping and out of position for both goals in the defeat to Plymouth.

Jake Vokins has hardly typified consistency either. After playing against Arsenal just a matter of days before he arrived in the north-east, he looked like an attractive loan acquisition. However, he’s been ridiculed.

His debut was described as one of the worst Roker Report have seen from a Sunderland player and he lacked assurance once more against Shrewsbury and Burton. He failed to track his man in the defeat to Shrewsbury, allowing a simple tap in at the back post and then against the Brewers, he misplaced a succession of passes.

Sunderland regrets

Sunderland’s main aims in the January window were adding players capable of stretching the play but also, finding a left-back.

Johnson recognised there was a problem there with Hume injured but despite the club’s best efforts, it has arguably been a failed ordeal. Vokins has been poor and considering some of the reported options they had, maybe they should have looked elsewhere.

One of the most notable names touted was 18-year-old Hibernian full-back Josh Doig. He’s been described as having a “brilliant” season by former Mackems boss Jack Ross in Scotland and could have cost the club just £1m.

Of course, that’s a fairly sizable fee for a side in League One but his qualities and potential are radiant. Also linked with Leeds United and Manchester City in January, Doig is a rampant wing-back, capable of striding forward and impacting play in the final third.

Though, he is adept defensively. He has won more aerial duels, tackles, interceptions and drawn fewer fouls per game this season than Vokins.

The statistics point to a talented player, especially given his age. Thus, Speakman perhaps should have pursued this deal instead. Of course, Vokins could still come good but the early signs are hardly positive.

AND in other news, Dreyfus could begin his reign with a bang by tying down “outstanding” SAFC gem…

With Celtic’s season more or less done and dusted besides a few fixtures to fulfil, they can start thinking about next summer.

For starters, they will have to find a new manager, while they are also set to welcome a new director of football. Whoever takes up that role will have the honourable job of trying to rebuild the Hoops with new recruits.

What’s the word?

Celtic have already been busy preparing for next term. They’ve reportedly agreed a pre-contract deal with Sheffield Wednesday’s Liam Shaw while they’re also closing in on Wigan youngster Kyle Joseph.

However, in terms of boosting their starting XI, they’ve now been urged to sign one of the most prolific strikers in Europe.

Speaking on the latest edition of A Celtic State of Mind podcast, Colin Watt commented: “One that I think people should go and take a look at [is] Paul Onuachu. He’s a Nigerian striker that plays for Genk; he was formerly of FC Midtjylland, and he’s scored almost 100 goals in five seasons, 6ft 7in tall. Roughly, the going price for him is about £7-10m.”

“That’s us actually taking a look out into the European market and trying to replace [Odsonne] Edouard with an experienced striker.”

Edouard has been linked with a move to both Arsenal and Leicester over the last few days in what feels like an inevitable departure. Recruiting another striker, therefore, will be a necessity.

Imagine him & Turnbull

Signing a player like Onuachu would be superb business by the Hoops. When it comes to someone who can find the back of the net, there are few better for the price touted.

The Nigerian has netted 35 goals in just 57 appearances for Belgian side Genk, 25 of which have all come during the 2020/21 campaign.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-celtic-manager-hunt-stories-wagner-marsch-martinez-lennon-news” title=”The last stories on Celtic’s hunt for a new manager!”]

Standing at 6 foot 7, the striker is a giant in the air and has already earned comparisons to Peter Crouch. That being said, he is far more assured on the ball and a lot more prolific in front of goal.

Speaking about the 26-year-old, his former teammate at FC Midtjylland Alexander Scholz said: “Years ago, when he was with us, he was already the best striker in our championship. It’s impossible to beat him because he’s so tall. He is a worker, he has always worked a lot. He had to wait for his chance but I’m happy for him.”

Just imagine what a player like this could do for David Turnbull. The attacking midfielder has been a breath of fresh air to the Celtic side this term, injecting enormous amounts of swagger and creativity into the team.

The 21-year-old has scored six times and provided five assists in the SPFL for the Hoops this term, racking up 2.6 key passes per match. For context, no other player in the Celtic team has more in 2020/21.

Thus, just imagine what a player of his qualities could achieve with Onuachu leading the line. Turnbull has already developed a fine partnership with Edouard but this would be yet another mouth-watering combination for the Hoops.

Celtic must consider a move for the £10m-rated forward if the opportunity arises.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Edouard: Celtic must swoop for £7.2m-rated beast with 8 G/A this term…

Ben White would be a great signing for Liverpool, Rob Lee has told The Transfer Tavern, after reports emerged once more about a possible move to Anfield for the Brigton man.

Ben White still on Anfield wanted list?

The 23-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool for a number of months now, after returning from his successful loan spell at Leeds United.

White has started all 19 Premier League games this season for the Seagulls but the South Coast side are still struggling down the bottom end of the Premier League table.

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, Lee explained why he believes that White would be a good addition to Klopp’s team.

“There’s no secret they need a centre-half,” he said. “It’s a case of ‘can they get who they want in this window?’ Which I doubt.

“Ben White, I think would be a very very good signing for them, can play with Van Dijk when he’s fit. They’ve had horrendous injuries at centre-half and it affects everything.

“Van Dijk not being in there affects the fullbacks. Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and [Andy] Robertson have been nowhere as good as they were last year – for whatever reason.”

Lee’s comments came aftet the Liverpool Echo suggested that the Merseysiders may consider making a summer move for the young Englishman, despite the current fitness issues in their defensive department.

Transfer Tavern Verdict

We agree with Lee on this one. White could have the opportunity to flourish alongside the Dutchman in defence. The only issue is that he would likely come at a hefty price due to being a promising young English player.

However, waiting until the summer to sign a new defender will not do much to appease the restless supporters at the minute, as many of them are desperate to see someone brought in before Monday’s deadline, especially after yet another injury for Joel Matip against Tottenham.

Time will tell what Liverpool choose to do – and what consequences that their actions, or lack thereof, have on the rest of the season.

In other news, Paul Robinson criticises Liverpool following David Ornstein update.

Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri excelled at a potentially ideal time for West Ham United by hitting a hat-trick against Cadiz CF on Saturday, only to then deal the Irons a huge blow.

Reports by the Daily Star earlier in the week suggested that Hammers were preparing a new offer worth up to £32m, including add-ons, with the hope of signing the 23-year-old forward this month, after seeing a £27m bid knocked back earlier in the January transfer window.

Yet Sevilla, who signed the Morocco international for just €20m (£18m), are said to be relaxed as they demand no less than €40m (£35.5m) outright to release the man who fired them up to third in the La Liga table with a Man of the Match showing in Saturday’s 3-0 win.

En-Nesyri’s hat-trick at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium was his second in the space of only two weeks, after firing home thrice in a 3-2 win at home to Real Sociedad. He now has 12 goals in 19 games, more than any other player in the Spanish top-flight.

It was not only his goals that saw En-Nesyri stand out against Cadiz this weekend, as he dictated the flow of Sevilla’s attacking gameplan to warrant a match-high 10 out of 10 rating from WhoScored.

It was his best match rating of the season so far, having offered a game-high five shots – three more than anyone else – of which four were directed on target. He also provided two key balls from 14 accurate passes, which SofaScore deemed to have created two big chances for Sevilla to find the back of Jeremias Ledesma’s net as they awarded him a 9.8/10 rating.

En-Nesyri has now created five clear-cut chances for Sevilla to score in La Liga fixtures this term but remains without an assist, despite offering four times his average key passes a game (0.5). No forward in La Liga has created a higher number of chances where there is a reasonable expectation of a teammate scoring without a shot being converted.

He also moved his successful dribbles a match average to 0.4 after successfully driving play forward with the ball at his feet on two of his six attempts against Cadiz – only four attackers across Spain’s top-flight offer two or more successful dribbles a game. One of those four attackers is Sevilla winger Suso, who attempted (8) dribbles against Cadiz.

En-Nesyri also contested more offensive aerial duels (3) than any of his teammates on Saturday, while attempting one defensive aerial contest further saw the €50,000-per-week (£44.5k-p/w) marksman match his season average of two or more duels won a game with a 51% success rate.

En-Nesyri even confirmed after the match that he had been suffering with sight issues after the foul he drew late in the first-half that led to his second goal.

But for as good a performance as En-Nesyri produced, maybe at a high enough level for West Ham to match Sevilla’s demands for a winter sale, he went on to perhaps deal a huge blow to the Irons’ hope of securing a transfer this month.

“Nothing has changed, all this comes with work and concentration. Now we are going for more, for now, I’m staying at Sevilla, I’m going nowhere,” he told Movistar+, via quotes by Estadio Deportivo. “I want to finish the year here. It’s a great club and I want to be here.”

En-Nesyri’s declaration will likely be seen as a huge blow at West Ham as the club searches for a new striker to replace Sebastien Haller.

After all, the Moroccan’s match-winning performance against Cadiz saw En-Nesyri offer more shots (2.2, Michail Antonio) and key passes (1.5, Aaron Cresswell) than any Irons player offers per game in the Premier League, of those to have featured on more than five occasions, per WhoScored.

Moyes should be looking to do all he can to convince En-Nesyri to have a swift change of heart before the window slams shut, as well as urging West Ham co-owner and Chairman David Sullivan to present the extra millions needed for a transfer, as he looks to be player who could be a very useful addition to the Hammers.

AND in other news, West Ham consider January bid for “phenomenal” striker boasting 15 goals in 19 games.

Plenty of Sunderland fans have been blasting the comments made by Harry Kewell after Oldham Athletic lost 2-1 to Lee Johnson’s team in the Papa John’s Football League Trophy.

The Black Cats won the game thanks to goals from Chris Maguire and Josh Scowen after Bobby Grant had given Kewell’s side the lead early on in the first half.

The former Liverpool, Leeds United and Australian star was not happy with several aspects of the match, and voiced his anger in an interview with Oldham’s official website (via The Chronicle) after the clash:

“I’m actually surprised they get away with it.

“Look, we didn’t know there was a chop and a change of the team at the start – which is not right.”

Kewell was referring to the fact that the kick-off was delayed by 20 minutes as the SAFC team coach was held up in traffic, which meant that Lee Johnson and his players arrived at the stadium just 40 minutes before the kick-off time at 6pm.

The Australian also bemoaned the fact that he did not know that Sunderland made a late change to their starting line-up.

Sunderland fan reaction to Kewell comments

These members of the Stadium of Light faithful blasted the comments made by Kewell on Twitter:

In other news, find out why fans are fuming at one Stewart Donald claim here!

Elliot Anderson was Steve Bruce’s only positive in Saturday’s FA Cup third round defeat at Arsenal as the teenager made his Newcastle United first-team debut.

Bruce handed the 18-year-old his senior bow as an 81st-minute substitute for Joelinton at the Emirates Stadium as the tie headed for extra time, following two appearances on the bench before the turn of the year.

Anderson had been in terrific form for the Under 23s this season, netting six goals and providing one assist in eight appearances across all competitions, with his strikes split two-to-one between central and holding midfield roles.

Andy Carroll could take some credit for his performance at the Emirates but also left Bruce with plenty of question marks, having worked hard at both ends of the pitch only to squander two great chances to win it without the need for extra time.

Bruce had hinted at handing Anderson his debut in the pre-game build-up, having been impressed with what he’d seen from the youngster in training over the past few months.

“He’s been with us for six to eight weeks now, and we like what we see,” Bruce told reporters, via quotes by The Shields Gazette.

Anderson may not have to wait too long before making his first senior start, now, having impressed as a second-half substitute in Saturday’s defeat at Arsenal, where he rarely looked out of place facing a side featuring several players who earn wages in excess of £100,000-per-week.

Anderson kept his head up throughout extra time looking to inspire a rare win over Arsenal and played Jacob Murphy in behind with a cute pass down the right-flank only for David Luiz to stand in his way.

Arsenal had to swarm Anderson in the closing stages of extra time in order to see out their 2-0 third round win, but Bruce will take a great deal of comfort in how the teen talent took to the challenge of facing a confident Gunners side at their own stadium, embarrassing his teammates in the process given the big impact he made despite his relative inexperience.

Bruce will even have been impressed by Anderson despite the midfielder, who signed a new long-term contract on his 18th birthday in November, winning just three of his nine combined duels with success in one of seven ground battles and each of his two aerial contests, per SofaScore.

Anderson also lost possession 11 times, yet completed 16 of his 20 passes, took 30 touches, struck one effort on Bernd Leno’s goal and attempted a dribble. He further made one successful tackle from three attempts, with the scale of the occasion clearly no issue.

AND in other news, Steve Bruce has no alternative but to perform a U-turn and tie a £4.5m-rated Newcastle star down with a new deal now…

West Brom’s U23 match this week was a sight for sore eyes as numerous Baggies outcasts were named as starters in their Premier League 2 victory over Sunderland.

Two players who looked certain to leave in the summer, Charlie Austin and Kamil Grosicki, both featured with the Polish winger bagging a brace.

There were also appearances for first-team wing duo Matty Phillips and Kyle Edwards, who have hardly been involved in the Albion’s top-flight campaign so far.

The latter is even out of contract at the end of the season, so it’s quite an important year for him if he’s to remain at his boyhood club.

It speaks volumes that the club only triggered the 12-month extension in his deal back in May, had they been convinced on his true ability, then he’d have received a long-term offer considering he’s only 22.

Speaking in a Q&A with fans last week, The Athletic’s Steve Madeley revealed that talks over a new deal were progressing, albeit slowly and claimed that Slaven Bilic is a big fan of the young winger.

They should be approaching this situation with caution as he’s done nothing to warrant a new contract just yet. It can be argued that he hasn’t been given a fair opportunity, having only played 114 minutes in the Premier League so far, but Bilic watches the player in training more than we do.

And he may be inclined to turn to Grosicki instead as it was the veteran who made the biggest impact in this week’s youth outing, not Edwards. The 22-year-old needs to be pulling up trees in games like this to get truly noticed.

His current teammate, Romaine Sawyers, recollected the time he was compared to Lionel Messi, he told The Athletic:

“I remember Kyle when he was proper, proper small — he was an unbelievable player even then. Mark Harrison, our old academy manager, told my age group, ‘We’ve got this kid who is 10 years old and this is Messi. No word of a lie; I could see the comparison back then. If Kyle’s got videos, I’d urge him to show anybody. He was unbelievable and to see him now in the first team warms my heart.”

That level of ability is something we’re yet to see at a senior level with Edwards only delivering four goals and five assists in 48 appearances for Albion, via Transfermarkt.

For now, Bilic should be ruthless in order to make the wing dynamo earn his stripes.

AND in other news, West Brom could land an upgrade on Livermore with £12m swoop…