Tag Futebol

Liam Kennedy has dropped an inside claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.

Writing in his latest piece for The Shields Gazette, the football journalist has claimed that the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) have given their word to the consortium that they will return to the process of taking over at the St. James’ Park faithful once a path to the deal with Mike Ashley is cleared.

PIF are currently not at the table as they felt as if the process was taking far too long, as the Premier League eventually decided to fail the bid.

Kennedy has also claimed that there is understood to be other confidential financial guarantees between all of the parties involved in the deal.

However, as he points out, reports have been emerging from Italy that PIF may turn their attentions elsewhere if a pathway is not cleared sooner rather than later, with Inter Milan said to be a club that is up for sale and one that they would be interested in.

Newcastle takeover hopes lie on PIF

PIF would need to come back onto the table to keep any hopes of reviving the original deal with Ashley alive.

However, with the news emerging of their interest in Inter, the Tyneside club will be hoping that the takeover process can be sped up as soon as possible. If the Magpies get relegated, it’s hard to imagine the rich investors choosing Tyneside over Milan.

In other news, find out what worrying claim Luke Edwards has dropped on the potential takeover here!

According to a report by Italian journalist Gianluigi Longari, Juventus defender Radu Dragusin ‘continues to please’ Tottenham Hotspur as talks continue between the player and his current club over a new deal – but there has still been ‘no agreement’, despite ‘constant dialogue’. 

Dragusin, who was reportedly attracting Spurs’ interest in the January window (Longari), seems to be keeping hold of Daniel Levy’s attention as talks over a Juve contract extension have, so far, led to a new deal being signed.

Dragusin attracting Spurs interest

The Old Lady are apparently planning a fresh offer for the Romanian starlet but the likes of Tottenham, Newcastle United and RB Leipzig appear to be waiting in the wings.

Dragusin has played 22 minutes in total for the Serie A giants this season across all competitions (WhoScored), making his Juventus debut recently and he’s already managed to impress Andrea Pirlo.

The World Cup winner heralded his youngster as ‘very strong’ in a press conference at the end of 2020 – but also went on to claim that he must ‘develop on a technical level’ (Juventus TV via Football Italia).

Transfer Tavern take

Standing at a lofty 6 foot 3, it’s hard to argue with Pirlo’s assessment of Dragusin’s physicality, with Tottenham reportedly taking note among other clubs.

There is currently no sign of a new deal for Dragusin as talks continue, and maybe Spurs could take advantage and swoop for a promising asset if nothing can be resolved between the two parties.

In other news: Tottenham still keen on this attacker, find out more here.

Wolverhampton Wanderers transfer target Diego Costa is “absolutely unbelievable” but there are concerns about his potential salat and and his general attitude.

Howey has much love for Costa

Those were the words of the former Newcastle and Manchester City defender Steve Howey, who was speaking on the back of the Black Country club’s links with the former Chelsea striker.

Costa was recently released by Atletico Madrid by mutual consent and was earning a salary of £265k-per-week, according to Salary Sport. This is 165% more than Wolves’ top-earner Joao Moutinho takes home, as Spotrac believe his £100k-per-week wages tops the books.

Despite this, the former Spain international has scored a total of 181 goals with eight different clubs – 58 of those were at Chelsea in what was a memorable spell due to his aggressive style of play and no-nonsense character.

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern about Costa potentially retiring to the Premier League, Howey was full of praise for Costa but he admitted that he did have his own anxieties about the player.

“I think most managers would want him,” he said. “I think the difficult thing is trying to contain him because he has got that flip switch, and then you’re wasting your time, so you need a strong manager. He is a player to lead the line and take responsibility and to ruffle feathers, he’s absolutely unbelievable. He’s perfect for any club really, who wouldn’t want him?

“(However) there are two concerns. First of all, the money and, of course, his temperament, and I think that worries managers. Can you afford to take a chance on somebody that, on his day, is excellent, but (you’re unsure) about what he’s going to be like in training, is he going to be a nightmare off the field?”

“The vast majority of managers would take him in a heartbeat, but you’ve got to weigh up all the different issues that you have with him.”

Transfer Tavern Verdict

If Wolves captured Costa, it would send a huge statement to the teams around them that Nuno’s side are not here to make up the numbers.

With the player having a close relationship  with super agent Jorge Mendes, the man behind plenty of Wolves transfers in the past, it might play into Wolves’ hands, but his huge salary may be a step too far for them to get a deal done.

Time will tell whether Wolves will make the move for the two-time Premier League winner, as their search for a replacement for the injured Raul Jimenez continues.

In other news, Ex-referee Mark Halsey flags up incident that Wolves were ‘unlucky’ to lose out on.

Sheffield Wednesday stunned many this week after Tony Pulis received his marching orders after only ten games in charge of the Owls, and now chairman Dejphon Chansiri is back at square one after just a month…

What’s the word?

There have already been plenty of names linked with the newly-vacant role at Hillsborough.

The Athletic have reported that neither Gus Poyet nor Jose Morais appear to be in the running, though the likes of Paul Cook, Danny Cowley, Ryan Lowe and even Sven-Goran Eriksson are.

It’s also been claimed that the Thai businessman has formed a relationship with a new advisor in Erik Alonso, who has links to MLS outfit DC United. However, it is thought Amadeu Paixao is still very much amongst his inner-circle still.

Shades of Howard Wilkinson

From that list, there is only really one candidate that they should consider, that being the Cowley duo – even if they have managed arch-rivals Huddersfield Town.

A job in which they were unfairly dismissed.

Those loyalties should not matter one bit, after all, Howard Wilkinson went onto manage Leeds United. He’s still a legend in both parts of Yorkshire, and interestingly, Cowley has similarities to the man that steered the Owls to the First Division in 1984.

This comparison was made by Leon Wobschall at the Yorkshire Evening Post last time the 42-year-old was linked with the role, he wrote:

“Sheffield Wednesday followers will recall some heady days in the mid-Eighties under one-time Abbeydale Schoolmaster Howard Wilkinson with genuine fondness to this day.

“The call of home-town club Wednesday proved irresistible for Wilkinson in 1983 when he was at an almost identical age to what the older and more senior Cowley brother is now at 40 and possessed a similar background in the game after starting out in non-league circles at Boston United before moving onto Notts County.”

From teacher, to non-league mastermind, to Championship success. Could these stars align once again?

His recent experience at the Terriers makes the prospect of him taking the helm at Wednesday even more enticing as he’s added the one thing holding him back from the role last time, results at this level of football.

According to one reporter, it was “a miracle” that Cowley kept Town up.

Chansiri needs a man capable of doing exactly that, so he ought to look no further than a manager who could be the second coming of the great Wilkinson.

AND in other news, Forget Shaw, this Sheffield Wednesday titan stole the show vs Boro…

Celtic’s 2-0 win over Hamilton was a refreshing moment for Hoops supporters.

For the first time in 2021, they managed to secure a victory and at the same time, it was fairly comfortable.

Much has been made about a two-prong attack featuring Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths but they both stood out on Wednesday evening by finding the net.

Their link-up play was impressive and it would appear that they’re now developing quite the partnership. Unfortunately for the Bhoys, they are still 23 points behind Rangers in their quest for ten SPFL crowns in a row.

That now feels like it’s distinctly out of the realms of possibility and thus, they ideally need to start thinking about next season.

But while they’ll want Edouard and Griffiths to be at the forefront of their plans in attack, their defensive duo will be one they’ll surely have to eradicate.

The Hoops may have kept a clean sheet against Hamilton in midweek but it didn’t come without its scares. That’s because Neil Lennon chose to field Nir Bitton and Shane Duffy together at the heart of defence.

Duffy has been a constant worry for Celtic and nothing was more evident than that in the Scottish Cup final last month. He and Christopher Jullien shipped three goals and their lack of communication was quite frankly horrendous at times.

Though, on this occasion, it was Bitton who continued to betray Lennon with an inept performance. The Israeli has received criticism right throughout his Parkhead career and although he defied them with a solid display when Celtic last played Hamilton, he was anything but assured on Wednesday.

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Indeed, it’s been a tough time for the defender who was sent off in the Old Firm derby a few weeks ago. Clearly, his confidence has been dented and that was evident this week.

Kristoffer Ajer was keen to get forward at right-back and as a result, it left Bitton isolated in the channels. In ground duels, he disappointed and won 50% of those he contested – a figure down ever so slightly from his season average of 56%.

Though, worst of all for a defender was his poor passing and constant will to surrender the ball. The Israel international lost possession a colossal 21 times. That happened to be the worst figure of any Celtic player and by a decent margin too. Ajer was the next worst with 17 concessions of the ball.

To make matters worse, Bitton committed two fouls and struggled in close situations with the Hamilton strikers. He did reign supreme in the air – winning a colossal ten aerial duels – but that was more to do with the opposition’s style of play than anything else.

Bitton has been tried time and time again at centre-half but that experiment now simply has to end. He is a defensive midfielder by trade – either play him there or don’t put him in the starting XI at all.

It feels brutal but he is letting Lennon down on a regular basis.

AND in other news, Celtic struck genius deal with £10k-p/w titan who’s “grabbing the bull by the horns”…

For the first time in 28 games, Glasgow Rangers were on the losing end of a result as they were defeated 3-2 by St. Mirren on Wednesday, and Bongani Zungu was far from at his best.

The Gers were the favourites in the League Cup quarter-final, but they surprisingly lost. Connor Goldson actually did give them the lead, but Jamie McGrath scored twice to turn things around. A Steven Davis equaliser late on looked to have saved the Ibrox outfit, but Conor McCarthy was on hand to grab the winner in injury time.

Zungu, who was making just his second start for the 54-time Scottish champions since signing for them on loan on transfer deadline day, was poor in the middle of the park. He regularly slowed the game down for the Gers, which contributed to their defeat.

The supporters were far from happy with his display, and they took to Twitter to share their thoughts.

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

In other news, Stewart Robertson has shared these Gers transfer plans.

Liverpool have highlighted David Alaba as a potential target for next season as they look to fix their defensive nightmares. The reigning Premier League champions have been linked to the Bayern Munich star following a breakdown in talks over a new contract that will keep him in Germany.

It would be a huge coup for the Merseysiders, who are in desperate need of a versatile defender like the 28-year-old. Teammate Joshua Kimmich has been full of praise for Alaba’s abilities and even branded him as “one of the best in the world” in his position when operating as a centre-back (via bundesliga.com).

Fortunately for light-fingered Fenway Sports Group, the club can approach Alaba in January to pitch a pre-agreement deal ahead of the summer window. However, this looks like it would come at a huge cost, despite the nature of the free contract.

According to The Athletic, the defender would be looking for a mammoth £400,000 per week wage packet, which wouldn’t just cost the club a lot of money, but it could disrupt the dressing room.

A transfer warning

One thing Liverpool pride themselves in is their humble players. The highest earner at the club is currently Mohamed Salah on £200,000 per week, with Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk just behind on £180,000 (via Spotrac).

No issues with wages have been raised as Liverpool continue to dominate, but that could all change if a new signing comes in and is immediately handed a bumper salary contract. Not only would this unsettle the players who have worked hard to prove their value under Klopp, but Michael Edwards would certainly not sign off on such a large amount.

The club’s sporting director is impeccable at landing shrewd deals and driving a hard bargain. After selling Rhian Brewster to Sheffield United for £23.5million, despite him never playing a Premier League game before, it’s highly unlikely Edwards will blindly sanction a £400k contract.

However, if Alaba is to follow in the footsteps of former teammate Thiago Alcantara, he may be open to lowering his wages by a substantial amount. According to wageindicator.co.uk, the Austria international is currently earning £173,000 each week at Bayern. Bumping him up to the same wage as Salah would still be a pay rise for Alaba without going overboard and potentially upsetting the other players.

But if Alaba and his agent refuse to play ball, it’s likely to be a non-starter for his rumoured move to Liverpool which would no doubt hurt the Reds’ fans but in the long-run would be the correct call.

In other news, Antonio Rudiger should be serious transfer option for Liverpool in January…

Southampton have truly found their groove in the Premier League this season and have come flying out the blocks. Now fourth in the table, they boast 13 points after winning four of their seven games played. An inspired performance against Aston Villa sees them just three points off the top spot.

Ralph Hasenhuttl is not holding back this time round. A top ten spot would have been the team’s target at the start of the season, but with so many twists and turns already, they may be eyeing up a top six finish instead.

The Saints have a lot to be thankful for as they enjoy their blistering start to the campaign. The team as a whole is working wonderfully together and the new signings appear to be settling in nicely. Kyle Walker-Peters has proved to be an extremely smart bit of business from Martin Semmens. But there’s one man who has impressed more than the defender.

Tying down James Ward-Prowse to a new five-year contract has arguably been the best decision the club has made during the transfer window and at the moment it is proving to be a Semmens masterclass.

James Ward-Prowse and his impact for Southampton

After guiding the Saints to a 4-3 win over Villa on Sunday, the skipper has made club history. The midfielder has overtaken club icon Matt Le Tissier as the player to score the most direct free-kicks with an impressive eight.

He also set up Jannik Vestergaard’s opener after 20 minutes at Villa Park, so not only does he have a wand of a right foot, but his eye for an opportunity is second to none in the team. Ward-Prowse now boasts four goalscoring contributions in his last two games, which could be the start of an exciting streak for the 26-year-old.

The Englishman was ever-present under Hasenhuttl last season, establishing himself as one of Southampton’s key players. Indeed, he hasn’t missed a single minute of football this term either and has stepped up to the plate with the captain’s armband too.

With teammate Danny Ings resurrecting his England career due to his phenomenal form, Ward-Prowse might not be far behind. He has appeared twice for his country this year, but with his current rate of performances, it will be impossible to count him out as a midfield contender for the Three Lions.

In other news, Southampton made right call not to cash in on Oriol Romeu in 2020…

Crystal Palace have been linked with winger Ismaila Sarr throughout the transfer window. With today being the domestic transfer deadline day, it looks like the clock may be up on a potential move.

Sarr had not just attracted attention from the Eagles, but also from Liverpool as well. However, new light shed on Friday suggests that the player will be staying put until January at least.

The latest transfer update on Palace target Sarr

According to Adam Leventhal from the Athletic, the Watford winger is expected to stay at club beyond today’s 5pm domestic deadline.

The journalist is also reporting that the 22 year-old is involved in the plan against Derby County this evening and he is expected to play some part. This situation unlikely to change even with a late bid.

Is this a big blow for Palace?

The Senegalese attacker signed for Watford in August 2019, and impressed as he made 28 Premier League appearances last season. He managed five goals and four assists, per WhoScored, and also managed 1.6 shots and 1.7 successful dribbles per game.

To hit the ground running in England at such a young age makes him look like a special player and suggests that he has a lot of potential. Therefore, it will be gutting for supporters of the club to hear that it looks like they will not be making a move for the winger.

Liverpool superstar Sadio Mane hailed Sarr when the youngster signed for Watford, saying: “I’m really happy for him and he made the right choice to come to Watford. For sure I think he will be great.”

That said, he was being valued at around £30 million, so it could be seen as a lot of money for a player with few appearances in England’s top flight. One would have to think Roy Hodgson has enough talent at his disposal, providing none of his attacking players suffer long-term injuries.

It would have been nice if the club could have got him, but with signings like Eberechi Eze and Michy Batshuayi, the South London side cannot complain about their depth and quality in attack, something which could not be said in previous years.

Eagles fans, what are your thoughts on this news? Comment below!

Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho returns to his old stomping ground this afternoon as his side look to continue their run of good form.

Spurs take on Manchester United at Old Trafford and go into this one on the back of a rather hectic week of fixtures.

It was only seven days ago that the north Londoners were involved in that controversial draw against Newcastle and since, they have defeated local rivals Chelsea in the Carabao Cup and advanced into the Europa League group stages after thrashing Maccabi on Thursday night.

But how might the Portuguese line up his side on his second return to the Red Devils? Here’s the XI we’re predicting…

Mourinho may well revert back to a different system. We know he likes to park the bus against the so-called ‘big six’ but with exciting wing-back signings this summer it could actually be a shrewd decision to go with a 3-4-3 of sorts.

It means Hugo Lloris returns between the sticks as captain and he could be protected by a back three of Japhet Tanganga, Eric Dier and Davinsonz Sanchez, so there is no place for Toby Alderweireld, who drops to the bench.

Sergio Reguilon comes back in for Ben Davies on the left whilst Matt Doherty keeps his spot on the right.

The midfield pairing of Harry Winks and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also remains with Giovani Lo Celso playing slightly ahead.

Spurs’ £36m-rated maestro could be joined by Lucas Moura to play just behind the striker, which of course should be Harry Kane.

Therefore, Dele Alli has to settle for a place on the bench despite an impressive cameo in the Europa League – likewise, there is no starting place for Tanguy Ndombele or Moussa Sissoko.

AND in other news, Mourinho heading for unforgivable mistake over Spurs’ £64m “freak of a talent”…