Tag Futebol

Sky Sports have shared a Tottenham Hotspur managerial update with the club also ‘looking’ at Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi.

The Lowdown: Spurs manager race beginning?

The race to succeed current boss Antonio Conte may already be underway, despite the fact he is currently still at the helm and set to take charge against Nottingham Forest tomorrow.

Spurs’ boss has just a few months remaining on his current deal and their mid-week Champions League defeat to AC Milan has seriously put Conte’s future into question.

It is widely believed that the Italian won’t stay beyond this campaign and could perhaps leave sooner, with the likes of Mauricio Pochettino and Luis Enrique linked.

The Latest: Spurs ‘looking’ at De Zerbi..

As per Sky, backing other reports, Brighton manager De Zerbi is also a contender to take over from Conte.

While the ex-Serie A coach has claimed he is happy in his current role, as we’ve seen with Brighton’s ex-manager Graham Potter, that can change quickly with the right offer.

The former Sassuolo head coach is enjoying a fine season on the south coast, catching the attention of Spurs and two other top clubs, who are all allegedly ‘looking’ at him according to the broadcaster.

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The Verdict: Phenomenal candidate…

There are many reasons to consider De Zerbi for the role, with one of them being his price.

It has been reported by reliable sources in Italy that the 43-year-old’s contract at Brighton contains an £11.5 million release clause – allowing Spurs to bypass Brighton demands and negotiate directly with De Zerbi.

Called a ‘special’ manager by members of the press and ‘incredible’ by Pep Guardiola, De Zerbi’s Brighton are challenging for Europe and have carried on their trend of overachieving with a small squad.

A promoter of attacking football also, De Zerbi certainly stands out as one of the better Spurs candidates.

The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards believes Newcastle United could finish in the top four this season – but their upcoming trip to Wembley may provide an untimely distraction.

The Lowdown: Hard to beat

Eddie Howe’s side have been a tough nut to crack this season, they’ve lost only one game in the Premier League.

Having said that, they have hit something of a blip in form by the standards they have set recently. The Magpies have only won two of their last six league matches, with the rest being draws.

Newcastle are still in a good position to secure Champions League football as they’re a point ahead of Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand, but they face a first trip to Wembley since 1999 later this month, and Edwards feels this is already playing on the back of the players’ minds amid their 1-1 draw against West Ham United this past weekend.

The Latest: Not good enough for UCL

When speaking on Sunday Supplement, Edwards claimed that Newcastle won’t have a strong enough squad to compete in the Champions League, but feels they have enough to make it into Europe despite half of the campaign still remaining.

He stated: “I’ve always thought they’re massively overachieving this season. I think we constantly need to remind people of that.

“They weren’t targeting a top-four finish. Not in their wildest dreams were Newcastle going for the Champions League in August – they were targeting a top-10 finish.

“I think now, they’ll be definitely after the top six, but top four, I think will be a huge leap. And actually, I’m not sure they’re ready for the Champions League.

“I don’t think they’ve got the squad depth there. You have to have a pool of 15, 16 players at least to be able to compete in Europe’s top competition.

“So I think if they stay injury-free – and they have done for a large extent over the course of the first half of the season – they could still snatch that top-four place.

“But I think we saw against West Ham, they’ve got the distraction of the Carabao Cup final, and with the best will in the world, the supporters, the players, the staff – they’ve all got that on the back of their mind.

“It’s all very well saying ‘focus on the next game’, but it’s very, very difficult when you’re in your first cup final for 24 years, and you have a chance of ending the trophy drought that stretches back to 1969.”

The Verdict: Don’t count them out

We believe that it would be foolish to rule Newcastle out of a spot in the Premier League’s top four.

Howe’s side hasn’t looked like rolling over to any Premier League side following their last-gasp defeat at Anfield back in August, so it’s difficult to back against them at this moment in time.

However, strength in depth does look like an issue, and this was certainly highlighted in their 2-1 defeat in the FA Cup against Sheffield Wednesday, where they fielded a number of fringe players – and safe to say, it didn’t work out against League One opposition.

Should the Magpies achieve Champions League football for next season, our view is that that club will know they need to strengthen in numbers and will do so in the summer.

Based on their recent recruitment since taking charge, the Public Investment Fund has got it right nearly every single time they’ve signed someone.

Some examples include summer arrival Nick Pope, who has been hailed as ‘the best goalkeeper in the world’ by Bruno Guimaraes due to his fantastic record at St James’ Park.

Another is Kieran Trippier, who has had a phenomenal campaign and played a part in all of Newcastle’s clean sheets in the league this season.

Aston Villa remain in the mix to sign Universidad de Chile and Chile international Dario Osorio, although they face some illustrious competition for the teenager, according to reports from Italy.

The Lowdown: Osorio linked with Villa

Unai Emery is no doubt looking at new signings to bolster his squad, as he looks to bring in players who are ideally suited to his system and playing style.

Osorio is one player who has been linked with a move to Villa Park recently, having already won three caps for Chile at the age of just 19.

It could be that the teenager is eyeing up a new challenge away from his homeland, and a new update suggests that Villa could well snap him up in the near future.

The Latest: Milan also eyeing Osorio

According to Sky Italia [via Sport Witness], AC Milan are rivalling Villa for Osorio’s signature, but the latter are providing ‘strong competition’.

It is stated that there is interest from the Premier League but ‘above all Aston Villa’, which appears to suggest that Emery and co are front-runners to sign him, with the report also stating that Milan ‘must be careful’ of the Villans.

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The Verdict: Ideal long-term target

At 19, Osorio would clearly come in as a long-term acquisition at Villa, although he has already made a telling impact at senior level, having scored seven goals in 27 appearances for Universidad de Chile.

He would provide the attacking depth that Emery is currently lacking out wide, especially if Philippe Coutinho leaves this month, as has been mooted.

Planning for the future rather than just the present is imperative for Villa, and Osorio could be someone who matures into a future star at the club, with Universidad sporting director Manuel Mayo saying that the 19-year-old is a player who ‘shoots spectacularly’.

Villa must be wary, though, that Milan could be an attractive destination for the teenager, given the club’s illustrious history as seven-time European champions and reigning Serie A title holders.

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TalkSport pundit Simon Jordan has a “sneaking suspicion” Manchester United can sign Declan Rice in the summer.

The Lowdown: Rice on the move

The West Ham United midfielder is almost assured to be on the move in the summer amid the Hammers’ dire form and The Guardian reporting last month that he wants to win trophies and play in the Champions League.

Any hopes of keeping him in east London were dealt another blow this week after The Athletic revealed Premier League leaders Arsenal are confident they can reach a deal for the ‘£80m-rated’ midfielder.

The Latest: Jordan’s feeling

Speaking on TalkSport, Jordan revealed his feeling that Arsenal’s interest won’t go untested and that Erik ten Hag could be able to add Rice if United’s season continues to strengthen.

He said: “I’ve just got a sneaking suspicion – and I don’t think he’ll end up at Arsenal. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that if Manchester United continue to progress and can knock on the door of something significant this season… he could occupy a quarterback role at Manchester United.

“I think we’re now talking about levels of between £70m and £80m, and that will make a deal happen.”

The Verdict: How would he fit?

Rice, who has been labelled a ‘monster’ during his time at West Ham, is undoubtedly a quality player who has shown through his performances in Europe – as he international level, where he now has plenty of tournament experience, that he’s ready to mix it at the top on a regular basis.

Despite the public interest from Arsenal, The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg revealed that United are also in the running for Rice and have “laid some of the groundwork for a summer move”.

However, it remains to be seen where the 24-year-old would fit into Ten Hag’s setup, with the holding midfield role currently occupied by Casemiro, whilst it seems a more attacking pairing of Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes is how the Dutchman wants to operate.

Rice doesn’t possess the same attacking and creative prowess of the most expendable of the midfield pair based on minutes, with Eriksen outperforming the Englishman in every goal and shot-creation metric this season on FBref, barring fouls drawn and defensive actions leading to shots – which can be explained by his deeper role.

Given Casemiro has only just arrived and made himself at home, we feel a move now doesn’t seem it would get the best out of Rice in the current setup, with his preferred role occupied by the Brazilian.

Newcastle United could be set to strengthen their squad even further when the January transfer window opens tomorrow, and now a new update has emerged on a potential new transfer target.

What’s the latest?

According to journalist Hrach Khachatryan, Newcastle are one of three Premier League clubs interested in signing OGC Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram.

Khachatryan tweeted:

“Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram is linked with Premier League move. Chelsea, Newcastle, and Liverpool are interested.”

Howe could land his own Valverde

There is no doubt that Eddie Howe will be thrilled with his Tyneside squad after a phenomenal start to their Premier League season, however, the opportunity to continue to strengthen the squad will be a chance surely not missed by the club.

The Magpies are currently third in the top flight after drawing with Leeds United this afternoon – having only suffered one defeat over their first 17 outings so far, which is an extremely impressive feat considering 12 months ago they were battling relegation at the bottom of the table.

Not only that, Newcastle remain in contention to compete for both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, so adding some depth in key positions on the pitch would be advantageous and Thuram – the brother of World Cup finalist Marcus Thuram and son of World Cup winner Lillian Thuram – could be the perfect signing to bolster Howe’s options in the centre of the pitch.

Over 16 Ligue One appearances, the 21-year-old Frenchman – who was dubbed “perfect” by journalist Alex Jaquin – has delivered two assists, created three big chances and completed 68% successful dribbles so far, as well as averaging 1.4 tackles, 34 accurate passes and 2.9 duels won per game.

Howe could even land his very own Federico Valverde as the Real Madrid talent has been named as one of the most comparable players to Thuram over the last 12 months, according to FBref.

The midfield positional peers share many similarities in their output this season so far including assists (two v two), pass completion rate (87.4% v 88%), dribblers tackled percentage (47.4% v 38.5%), blocks (10 v 11) and dribbles completed (65% v 63.2%).

With that being said, the signing of Thuram – who is expected to cost €20m (£17m) – could be a great piece of business for Howe as he attempts to retain Newcastle’s dominance inside the top four and secure Champions League qualification over the second half of the season.

Newcastle United are interested in a deal to bring Ivan Fresneda to the Premier League in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Guillermo Rai, with the Spanish journalist revealing in a recent post on Twitter (via Sport Witness) that Dan Ashworth is ‘seriously contemplating’ launching a bid for the Real Valladolid right-back this month, with the Magpies’ chief scout, Steve Nickson, said to have met the 18-year-old’s representatives in the last few days.

Rai goes on to suggest that a number of Premier League clubs are tracking the Spain U19 international, however, Newcastle appear to be leading the race for the youngster’s signature, with Eddie Howe’s side said to be set to make an offer in the region of €15m (£13m) in the next few days – despite Fresneda possessing a €30m (£27m) release clause.

In his tweet, the journalist said: “About Ivan Fresneda. The Real Valladolid right-back expects an offer in the next few days (or even hours) from Newcastle between €10m and €15m euros, although his clause is €30m.

“Real Madrid is an option that he does not consider in the short term. Fresneda wants to grow (he is only 18 years old) and has received interest from five more Premier teams aside from Newcastle.

“In addition, his agent was meeting a few days ago with the chief scout for the Magpies, Steve Nickson, who is seriously contemplating the signing.”

“Beastly”

Considering just how exciting a prospect Fresneda quite clearly is, it is not difficult to understand why Howe, Nickson and Ashworth would be interested in a deal to bring the right-back to St. James’ Park this month.

Indeed, over his seven LaLiga appearances this season, the £2.7m-rated talent has been something of a revelation on the right of Valladolid’s back line, helping his side keep one clean sheet, in addition to making an average of 3.3 tackles – the second-most in the entire league – 1.4 interceptions, 2.9 clearances and winning 4.7 duels – at a success rate of 58% – per game.

The 18-year-old has also chipped in for his side going forwards, creating two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.4 key passes, playing 1.9 long balls and finding his man with 0.6 crosses per match.

These returns have seen the £2.7k-per-week starlet average a simply sensational Sofascore match rating of 7.04, currently ranking him as Pacheta’s second-best performer in the top flight of Spanish football.

Rather unsurprisingly, these displays have seen the teenager come in for a significant amount of praise, with Spanish journalist Juan Arriota dubbing Fresneda a “beastly” talent, while Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig stated his belief that the youngster is a “superb” prospect who is “one of the most talented teenage right-backs in Europe.”

As such, considering the undoubted ability Fresneda already possesses, coupled with the defender’s exponential scope for future development, it is indeed easy to see why Newcastle would be interested in a deal to bring the wonderkid to the Premier League this winter, as the Spaniard would not only be a beastly addition to Howe’s ranks, but he could very much be the next big thing in European football at right-back.

Josh Coburn decided to swap Sunderland for Middlesbrough at the tender age of 16 and with the striker now being touted for a future England call-up, the Black Cats may end up regretting not pushing harder to keep him at the Stadium of Light.

The teenage forward joined Middlesbrough in 2018 and has impressed in his four years at the club, breaking into the first team and earning a professional deal with the Teesside club.

After hitting 20 goals in just 40 appearances for the academy sides at Boro, it was always likely that Coburn would be promoted to the first team setup and he has done well on his few appearances for the senior side.

The 20-year-old already has six goals in 27 appearances for Middlesbrough, which included a memorable winner in a 1-0 triumph against Tottenham Hotspur last season.

In the summer, Coburn was sent on loan to Bristol Rovers in League One and he is certainly making his mark in League One, with five goals and three assists in 15 appearances thus far.

Rovers manager Joey Barton certainly believes in the Middlesbrough man’s potential and recently tipped him to be an England international in the future.

He said: “For 20, you’ll struggle to see someone come into League One and handle the game at the level that he does,” Barton said.

“I’ve said it many times before I think he’s a real talent, Middlesbrough have got a fantastic prospect on their hands and we’re proud and privileged to have him in our team and he’s grown from the regular rhythm of games. You can see his performances growing week by week and again he was head and shoulders the quality player on the pitch.

“When you watch him play, it’s just the things he does – his composure, his touch and he’s very much baby-faced. If you saw a snapshot of his head you’d think he’s only 14 but he’s got that frame, but it’s not just that, it’s the way he uses it.

“Josh is a huge player in our team. But I think he has an enormous future out in front of him if he gets a little bit of luck with injuries, I think he could go on to play for England.”

Given his impressive displays in League One, it is surely only a matter of time until Coburn is making his mark in the Championship and should the young striker go on to play for England in the future, Sunderland will massively regret not keeping him at the Stadium of Light when he was just 16.

Indeed, they should already rue their decision to relinquish him when they did, with the teenager very much possessing immense potential.

Liverpool scraped through to the next round of the Carabao Cup at Anfield last night after knocking Derby County out during a penalty shoot-out and Jurgen Klopp will surely be relieved that his team managed to take the positive result in the end.

The current trophy holders were held to a stalemate with the League One visitors on Wednesday evening, however, with Caoimhin Kelleher offering the safest of hands in goal Liverpool inevitably progressed to the next stage of the domestic competition.

Despite having a whopping 74% possession, 19 shots on goal, three big chances and far more accurate passes completed (86% v 64%), the Reds struggled to break down the Rams throughout the clash.

Klopp made 11 changes with an entirely fresh starting XI from the team that beat Tottenham Hotspur last weekend and handed five full senior debuts to some of the hottest youth prospects in the Merseysiders’ academy.

Layton Stewart, Melkamu Frauendorf, Bobby Clark, Calvin Ramsay and Stefan Bajcetic all started in the first team for the first time, with Ben Doak coming off the bench to make an appearance too in the 74th minute, giving the German coach a good look at some of the rising stars the academy has to offer.

However, it wasn’t just youngsters who were given the opportunity to prove their worth with many fringe senior players also making rare appearances in the starting line-up like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Nathaniel Phillips.

Although Liverpool struggled to take the game by the scruff of the neck, there was one player who worked tirelessly throughout the clash to set an example to his younger peers alongside him on the pitch.

Joe Gomez was another of Klopp’s heroes on the night, seemingly relishing his duties as captain, a role he took very seriously when applying himself on the pitch, something that will surely please the Liverpool boss.

The 25-year-old centre-back, who has previously been described as a “monster” by Jack Sear, was certainly that on Wednesday evening.

Indeed, his influence was seen in a whopping 120 touches and 100 accurate passes of the ball.

The centre-back was keen to progress play from the back, delivering 18 long balls throughout his confident and dominant display, as well as winning six out of ten defensive duels, completing two clearances and making one tackle.

Incredibly solid, this was a much better performance from a player who cost Liverpool in the defeat to Leeds, playing a blind pass back to Rodrigo who found the net.

With that being said, Gomez’s performance will have proved to Klopp that the player is keen to fight for a regular spot in the Liverpool backline over the season ahead and he is clearly a member of the squad the manager can rely on.

Newcastle United entered into a new era in their history as Saudi Arabian consortium PIF completed their takeover of the club in October of last year.

One of the first orders of business for them was to replace the manager as they sacked Steve Bruce and appointed Eddie Howe to lead the team forward.

This has turned out to be a fantastic decision as the former Bournemouth boss has been a roaring success at St James’ Park. He helped to keep the Tynesiders in the Premier League last term and currently has them sitting in fourth in the table in the 2022/23 campaign.

Whilst his squad has been bolstered by the signings of Sven Botman, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier, among others, Howe has also played a blinder with some of the players he inherited on Tyneside.

One gem with whom he struck gold is Joelinton, who joined the club from Bundesliga side Hoffenheim as a striker in the summer of 2019 and endured a rough time up front for the Magpies.

The Brazilian’s Transfermarkt value went from £31.5m to £13.5m between 2019 and December 2021 as he scored a paltry six goals in 69 Premier League appearances for the club across his first two seasons in England.

Howe came in during the 2021/22 campaign and one of his early decisions was to move Joelinton from playing in the frontline to being a central midfielder, which turned out to be a masterstroke.

Last season, the 44-year-old heaped praise on the Brazilian by saying: “Joe has been fantastic for me since we came in. We like him. He has a good mix of physicality, technical ability, superb footwork to get out of tight situations, and he covers every blade of grass.

“He has a selfless mindset, and there is more to come. He can improve, but he is going to be a huge player for us.”

Kieran Trippier recently described the 26-year-old as a “machine”, and that perfectly describes what Howe has turned him into over the last year.

Joelinton won 3.1 tackles and interceptions per game in the top flight last term and has followed that up by averaging a SofaScore rating of 7.01 and making 3.7 tackles and interceptions per match in the current campaign.

His form led to Transfermarkt updating his value to £25.2m earlier this season, which means that his valuation has soared by roughly 86% this year from £13.5m just last December.

Therefore, Howe has struck gold for Newcastle by moving Joelinton into midfield, as his resurgence has caused his market value to rocket, when it looked like his career was only going downhill prior to the current manager’s arrival at St James’ Park.

Sunderland are reportedly exploring the free agent market to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch before the January transfer window rolls around.

The Black Cats are said to be looking at a potential deal for an out-of-contract striker after Ellis Simms and Ross Stewart suffered injuries.

Tony Mowbray is currently going through Championship matches without a natural number nine option in the starting XI or on the bench, with the likes of Elliot Embleton and Alex Pritchard, among others, being used as makeshift forwards.

Sunderland lined up with two up front in the early parts of the season but Kristjaan Speakman opted against signing a third striker in the summer transfer window.

He brought in Simms on loan from Everton to play alongside Stewart, or to compete with him for a starting place, and ultimately decided that the club did not need a third option in that position.

The sporting director may now rue that decision and could regret not bringing in another one of the striker targets they looked at ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

Back in June, it was reported that the Black Cats were one of a number of Championship clubs interested in signing Cameron Archer on loan from Aston Villa.

The Premier League side decided to keep hold of the centre-forward and a lack of a convincing proposal from any of the teams eyeing him up may have played a part in that, given that he has only played ten minutes of action in the top-flight so far this season.

He is not getting game time with the Villans and Steven Gerrard’s use of him thus far suggests that he could have been convinced to part ways with the striker on a temporary basis.

Therefore, Speakman may rue not pushing harder to sign the England youth international, particularly given the current striker situation at the Stadium of Light.

Archer, who journalist Ryan Taylor previously dubbed a “goal machine”, could have been a superb signing alongside Simms, with the pair providing competition for Stewart.

Simms has scored three goals and failed to provide an assist in eight Championship starts this season, which means that he has scored 0.4 goals per start.

Last term, the Villa man scored seven goals and set up one in 18 starts for Preston North End, scoring 0.38 goals per start for Ryan Lowe’s side.

That came after he scored ten times and assisted two in eight appearances for his parent club in the EFL Trophy and EFL Cup combined in the first half of the season, scoring 1.25 goals per start.

Archer’s statistics for Preston and Villa suggest that he could have been a slight upgrade on Simms in front of goal, whilst neither of them are particularly creative in terms of what they offer their teammates at the top end of the pitch.

Now, imagine him and the Toffees man pushing Stewart hard for his position in the team. Sunderland could have had a terrific set of forward options and the 20-year-old could have thrived as the main man in the current injury crisis, which is why Speakman may rue failing to snap him up in the summer.