All posts by n8rngtd.top

Marcus Bent has exclusively told Football FanCast that Crystal Palace would be a promising move for Brentford’s Ivan Toney.

Toney’s outstanding form in the Championship this season has caught the eye of a number of Premier League sides, including West Ham, Chelsea, Everton and Leicester.

His strike at Bristol City on Saturday was his 31st in the league, which saw him break the record for the most goals ever in a single Championship campaign since the competition was renamed 17 years ago.

Toney’s 31 goals saw Brentford qualify for the play-offs, meaning the striker is just three games away from becoming a Premier League player.

But Bent believes that Selhurst Park would perhaps be Toney’s most suited destination. Asked whether he could see the 25-year-old moving across London, he told Football FanCast:

“Yeah, definitely – just a move across the city. And to play alongside some good, experienced players, good fans, good manager. That would be promising for me.”

However, with both Christian Benteke and Michy Batshuayi out of contract this summer, Palace are likely to be looking at bringing in more than just the one striker.

And Bent warned Toney to consider his options before deciding on his next move.

He added:

“It depends on how that manager sees you, whether you’re going to be a starting player, whether they are going to bring in two or three strikers. You always want to fight for your place, but you never want to end up down the pecking order.”

Glasgow Rangers fans are far from happy with the reported £6m fee they are said to be looking for if they are to sell Filip Helander this summer.

As per Football Insider, both Aston Villa and Leicester City are believed to be interested in making a move for the  £1.8m-valued 27-year-old Sweden international (Transfermarkt). He signed for the Ibrox outfit in the summer of 2019 and, even though he is now approaching the end of his second full campaign at the club, Steven Gerrard’s side are yet to lose with him in the starting line-up (Transfermarkt).

He has plenty of football left ahead of him, while he represents a strong country internationally – as such, the £6m fee the Gers are said to be looking for does feel surprisingly low, even if Transfermarkt rate him significantly lower at just £1.8m.

The Gers supporters, clearly, do not believe the fee mentioned is a true reflection of what he is really worth. The fans took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Helander news below

“Laughable”

Credit: @gingernator88

“No chance”

Credit: @wilber1955

“That’s an insult. 6 million? Everyone knows for sure if he went to either English team and was outstanding his first season 27/28 or no he’d be off again for crazy money”

Credit: @Scotty24891

“How is it when Rangers players are rumoured with other clubs the fee is always far too low yet when it’s that mob across the city the fees are hicked through the roof, 6 million is a joke we should be looking at least 15million he’s a full international and league winner”

Credit: @gers1973

“Never heard so much nonsense. £6m for a Swedish international… They want his left ear? Not happening”

Credit: @s26mcm

“When Maguire went for £85m it raised eyebrows, £6m for Helander is derisory.”

Credit: @bigaljnr

In other news, Rangers fans are livid at this billboard vandalism.

Plenty of Aston Villa supporters have been reacting on social media to Lee Hendrie’s latest transfer comments.

The former Villa midfielder, talking to Football FanCast – cited by Birmingham Live – urged the club to go after Norwich City’s Emi Buendia this summer, saying:

“Buendia from Norwich, he’s one that I would certainly have a big push on.

“He’s creative and scores goals, he’s a player that I feel would be a fabulous addition to Villa.”

The 24-year-old was linked with Arsenal during the January transfer window, but with the Canaries slapping a £40m price tag on the creative midfielder, a return to the Premier League never materialised.

Buendia has starred at Carrow Road back in the Championship this season, scoring 10 times and registering 13 assists in 31 games in the second tier.

The right winger has made more than 100 appearances for the club, but if Hendrie had his way, Johan Lange would be looking to lure the Argentine to the Midlands ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

Villa fans react

Birmingham Live shared Hendrie’s comments on Twitter, asking fans if they think the club should make a move for the 24-year-old.

Here’s what some supporters had to say, with one describing Buendia as ‘quality’.

“please”

Credit: @joegodwin_

“Finally a wise move proposed.”

Credit: @Oles_Mario

“Absolutely too quality player”

Credit: @cbricknall1

“I would sign him in a heartbeat”

Credit: @kapitalkeyz1

“Yes please. And one more quality winger. You’d then have to ship out 2 of either AEG, Trez or Bert”

Credit: @EllisDennantAV

“Would love him at Villa”

Credit: @ciaranmurphy999

In other news: Villa hierarchy have concerns over recent signing who is difficult to manage, find out more here. 

Plenty of Crystal Palace fans have been reacting to an update regarding the future of Eagles left-back Patrick van Aanholt on social media. 

The Athletic’s Crystal Palace correspondent Matt Woosnam revealed on Monday evening that the Dutch defender is set to leave Selhurst Park in the summer after four-and-a-half years at the club.

Van Aanholt is thought to be attracting interest from Spain, Italy and Galatasaray in Turkey and looks set to be a free agent when his deal expires at the end of June.

The 30-year-old has made 133 appearances for Palace, with 22 of those coming this season.

He’s lost his place in recent weeks to youngster Tyrick Mitchell, and it seems as if the club will have to replace an Aanholt with a full-back who can provide competition to Mitchell.

Palace fans react

Woosnam posted the update on Twitter, and it didn’t take long for a number of Palace fans to have their say on the decision.

This is what some had to say…

“Thank God”

Credit: @ARJW78

“Fairs he should never play again then imo”

Credit: @SellyMenace

“Criminally underrated by many and made to be scapegoat for too much. Don’t blame him for wanting out. Defo should have tried harder to keep him.”

Credit: @Ryceezy

“Good, moving on….”

Credit: @kav_paul

“Never really got any sense that he wanted to stay which is a shame. Done a good job for us overall. Need to thank him and start looking for a replacement to support Mitchell.”

Credit: @edmonds_mark

“Think he’s been a tremendous player for us. Not sure what people expect sometimes but he’s scored some huge goals and always put the effort in. Mitchell’s emergence is exciting but will miss PVA.”

Credit: @JLiff

In other news: Many CPFC fans react as Roy Hodgson is linked with a new club, find out more here. 

In recent comments made on Twitter, Caught Offside’s Leah Smith claimed that Liverpool have completed the signing of RB Leipzig centre-back, Ibrahima Konate.

So far this season, Liverpool have been extremely unlucky with injuries to their central defenders, with all three of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip being ruled out until the summer.

As a result, Jurgen Klopp brought in both Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies in the January transfer window, however, with Kabak struggling for form somewhat – the 21-year-old has averaged a WhoScored match rating of 6.69 over his eight Premier League appearances – and with Ben Davies having yet to make an appearance for the club, it would seem as if greater depth is still required in the position.

And, according to Smith, Liverpool have just secured the addition of RB Leipzig centre-back, Ibrahima Konate, with the journalist stating on Twitter: “MASSIVE! Ibrahima Konate to Liverpool is DONE and will be official on May 1st, 2021! £32m.”

Transfer Tavern Take

Despite having missed a large part of this season due to a number of injuries – something that could be a slight concern for Liverpool – the signing of Konate would certainly appear to be an impressive one for the Reds, with the former RB Leipzig manager, Ralf Rangnick, stating that the 21-year-old is “so good that he could play for Real Madrid or Barcelona.”

Furthermore, if Smith is to be believed, the £32 million fee Liverpool have paid for the France U21 international would seem to be extremely reasonable, as this figure is only slightly higher than his Tranfermarkt valuation of £31.5 million.

Given Konate’s age, assuming his injury woes don’t follow him to Merseyside, this could be a really astute piece of business.

In other news: ‘Get out of my club’, ‘How can you even tweet this?’ – Lots of Liverpool fans rip into key man – find out more here!

Despite already possessing the scintillating Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Everton’s policy this summer appears to be on strengthening their frontline.

The Toffees forward has 20 goals in all competitions but when did an extra dose of firepower ever hurt anyone?

We’ve seen some eye-catching rumours emerge already with the likes of Sergio Aguero and Andrea Belotti linked with Goodison.

Though, one of the most interesting links is to Leipzig attacker Hwang-hee Chan. He penned terms with the Bundesliga outfit last summer but after a campaign where he’s battled illness, it’s not gone according to plan.

As a result, Leipzig are willing to let him depart in a deal potentially worth £13.5m. That isn’t too much when you consider some of the fees Everton have parted ways with in the last few years.

Hwang would add wonderful depth to this Toffees side but what is his playstyle?

The South Korean is capable of playing out wide while he’s also adept through the middle as an out and out centre forward or as a shadow striker.

With that in mind, he could become Everton’s very own Roberto Firmino. He made a living out of playing as a false 9 for Hoffenheim and since moving to Liverpool, he’s truly made that position his own.

The Toffees won’t like to be reminded of Liverpool’s Champions League and Premier League triumphs but Firmino played a major part in that success because of his positioning; a trait that’s not too dissimilar to the way Hwang plays.

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In an article on the official Bundesliga website, they hailed the South Korean’s exploits against the Reds when he played for Salzburg. The forward scored and assisted during a 4-3 defeat at Anfield as he was praised for his “dexterity and flexibility.”

The article wrote: “In that sense, Hwang is not dissimilar to Liverpool’s former Hoffenheim striker Firmino. Happy leading the line as part of either a duo or a front three, Leipzig’s first summer signing likes to get on the ball and has a trick or two up his sleeve to shake off a defender.

“Comfortable with both feet, with the strength to hold off an opponent and the pace to exploit space, he could cause problems for many a Bundesliga defence – just like Brazil international Firmino did before him.”

The 25-year-old would clearly offer a lot to Everton’s forward line, providing not just goals but also creativity in abundance with his “brutal dynamism”, an attribute Former Liefering and Salzburg head coach Peter Zeidler waxed lyrical about.

Last term Hwang created more goals (22) than he scored (16). Considering he was playing as a centre forward for the whole campaign, this provides the biggest indication yet of why he’s so like Firmino.

The Brazilian isn’t the most devastating finisher but his vision and chance creation is first-class. As Liverpool won the league last season, Firmino similarly produced more goals for his teammates than he scored.

It worked for Liverpool having a player like that, so there’s no reason it wouldn’t work with Everton.

After all, combine him with Calvert-Lewin in a two-prong attack and you could have a very menacing duo.

AND in other news, Forget Holgate: Everton must swoop for “tenacious” £26m gem, he’s an “absolute beast”…

Many Glasgow Rangers fans were delighted with a video of Gordon Strachan during the Gers’ Scottish Cup fourth round victory on Sunday.

The Gers progressed to the quarter-finals at Ibrox this past weekend with a 2-0 victory over their fierce city rivals Celtic. Steven Davis opened the scoring before a Jonjoe Kenny own goal doubled the lead and, although Allan McGregor later saved a penalty from Odsonne Edouard, the Gers were able to see out the tie with relative comfort. The 55-time Scottish champions will now face St Johnstone as they look to complete a domestic double.

However, Strachan clearly didn’t believe the Gers were that impressive. He was eager to point out that McGregor was man of the match, while he also said repeatedly that Celtic created a number of chances.

A clip of his comments was shared on Twitter by @chr1sbe55, and it attracted plenty of attention from Gers supporters. These fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Strachan video below

“Priceless, this is comedy gold of the highest level.”

Credit: @Wallis819

“Mate that tune in the background is the icing on the cake”

Credit: @Euan1986

“Glorious. Trolling of the highest order from The Famous Glasgow Rangers on greetin-faced that Strachan as he goes full meltdown”

Credit: @1872Rck

“All that was missing was a big cheesy from Boydy in the background whilst Strachan went on his frivolous rant. Love it when they can’t admit it we won the game in second gear, yet again”

Credit: @halestorming1

“You’d almost think that song was added after it. That is absolutely, utterly glorious!!!”

Credit: @tmcvey077

“Perfect timing”

Credit: @Baxter1872

In other news, James Bisgrove makes this Castore claim which could affect Rangers.

Yan Valery’s season has certainly not gone to plan, with the young right-back shipped out on loan to Birmingham City in the January transfer window, where he has struggled to impress.

The defender lost his regular spot in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side when Kyle Walker-Peters first arrived on loan from Tottenham Hotspur in January 2020 and once his transfer to St Mary’s was made permanent, it was always going to be a struggle for Valery to get regular game time at Southampton.

The 22-year-old, who was labelled a “weak link” by Athletic journalist Dan Sheldon, made just one start in the Premier League for the Saints, which came in a 3-1 defeat against Arsenal where he was regularly exposed, so it was perhaps no surprise to see him turfed out on loan, despite the lack of back-up to Walker-Peters at the South Coast club.

When the former Spurs man was injured, we saw the likes of Moussa Djenepo, James Ward-Prowse and Jan Bednarek all feature at right-back, which certainly suggests that Valery wasn’t held particularly high regard by Hasenhuttl.

During his time with Birmingham City, who until recently looked in real danger of relegation this season, Valery has made just seven appearances in the Championship, of which just two have been starts, which again, doesn’t bode particularly well for his future at Southampton.

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Hasenhuttl spoke recently about the development of some of the players out on loan, saying:

“Some have done well, a lot of them did not even play in the Championship or League One, so you can see how difficult it is for them that they don’t even there perform well,” Hasenhuttl has openly admitted.

“We have a few loan players that are coming back. The way back is not easy for them. That means we have to look for new options.”

The Austrian certainly seems to be hinting that it is going to be difficult for Valery to re-establish himself in his side in the future after a disappointing couple of seasons, so perhaps we will see him depart St Mary’s on a permanent deal this summer.

Certainly, if Southampton bring in the full-backs they are seemingly in the market for ahead of next season, there will be little room left for Valery in Hasenhuttl’s side in the future.

And, in other news… Just 9 passes: £5.4m-rated Saints dud was awful again vs LFC, Ralph surely fuming

A lot of noise amongst Tottenham Hotspur’s youth set-up has been about Dane Scarlett, and quite rightly too.

The 17-year-old has been touted for big things in north London and is now in line to do so after clinching his first professional contract earlier this week.

But Spurs are blessed with more than one potential star of the future in the forward position, and that’s even excluding the out-on-loan Troy Parrott.

Sitting amongst the Premier League 2’s most prolific goalscorers this season is Kion Etete, who has scored eight goals in his last 13 outings in the competition – the most for Spurs’ U23 side.

The forward was signed in 2019 following a successful trial from Notts County, where he made his senior debut aged just 16. His manager at the time, Harry Kewell, spoke glowingly after the game, he said (via the Nottingham Post):

“Kion was excellent. He held the ball up well, gave us an outlet and made life difficult for their defenders.”

Now 19, Etete is surely in line to make the step-up into Jose Mourinho’s first-team fold, especially considering that the likes of Scarlett, Alfie Devine and Marcel Lavinier have all been given a run-out this campaign.

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At 6 foot 6 inches in height, the young Spurs prodigy could offer them something vastly different – the sort of towering aerial presence they’ve not had since Peter Crouch, or perhaps Fernando Llorente.

Of course, Etete still has plenty of developing to do before he can be truly considered for a promotion to the first-team, but he’s clearly doing everything asked of him in the U23 squad right now.

Spurs fansite Superhotspur has drawn on those Crouch comparisons further, and based on watching him in matches, claims the teenage gem is ‘tall’ and ‘physical’ but also has ‘skilful’ abilities on the ball and a ‘venomous right foot.’

And just like Crouch, Etete was poached from another youth system before finally making his mark at the north London outfit.

We know that Mourinho has always loved having a target man within his ranks, and according to football.london’s Alasdair Gold, Etete has “got the potential to be a good target man with his close control, strength and a bit of pace as well.”

For all of the clamour surrounding Scarlett, Spurs cannot forget that they have another in-form powerhouse chomping at the bit in the youth set-up.

Who knows, perhaps Etete could become the Lilywhite’s next Crouch, or even make a name for himself as their next unique sensation.

AND in other news, Spurs passenger is holding Spurs back, Levy must brutally cash in this summer…

When Daniel Levy secured Matt Doherty for what seemed like a £15m bargain in the summer, he probably thought he was onto a winner. Heck, even we did at one stage earlier this season, as you can read here.

The Tottenham Hotspur star is now facing a fight for his future if reports are to be believed, so he’s been anything but that and is now on the verge of becoming one of the chairman’s biggest failures.

An exit after just one season would certainly put him among the likes of Noe Pamarot, Calum Davenport and Grzegorz Rasiak, three truly forgettable signings in N17.

At least former duds such as Vincent Janssen and Roberto Soldado fulfilled their purpose – that being a back-up role to Harry Kane.

According to ESPN reporter James Olley last month, Jose Mourinho could be willing to put the 29-year-old up for sale this summer unless his form drastically improves in the coming months.

Football Insider believe that Wolves would be open to re-signing the Ireland international, but only at a cut-price.

Things have gone from bad to worse for Doherty in recent weeks, too. After being berated by Mourinho throughout their defeat to Liverpool, the Spurs boss finally had enough at the weekend, as he axed him from his Premier League matchday squad entirely for the trip to Aston Villa.

Young academy starlets Dane Scarlett and Alfie Devine made the bench, whilst Japhet Tanganga started over him at right-back. Not only did this add insult to injury but was surely a telling sign of what’s to come, given the aforementioned speculation.

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Currently valued at €30m (£26m) by CIES Football Observatory, Doherty has been limited to only 12 league starts and that includes some shocking performances – he was dropped after that Liverpool scolding, and that came just a few matches after an utterly needless red against Leeds United.

In those two games, the 6 foot 1 wing-back failed to record a WhoScored rating above 5.87.

That disappointing level of performance was repeated in the North London derby (6.56), where the “very poor” dynamo lost possession the second-most times in the Spurs XI, and that was seemingly enough for Mourinho to drop him entirely for their win on Sunday.

Alasdair Gold at football.london claimed Doherty “had a nightmare” as he got completely torn apart by Kieran Tierney, whilst The Athletic’s Tifo podcast pundit Seb Stafford-Bloor believes the defender has “got progressively worse” as the season has gone on.

On top of that £15m fee, it is thought that the 29-year-old is costing around £65k-per-week as per Spotrac, meaning in total, Doherty has cost £16.85m – and counting – straight out of Levy’s pocket.

The “weak link” is fast becoming one of the worst signings of the modern Levy era, especially if Mourinho moves him on ahead of next season. Only a vast turnaround in form will stop that from happening now.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Hojbjerg: Spurs could land the next Yaya Toure in £12.6m-rated prodigy…