Tag Futebol

With Serge Aurier and Juan Foyth likely to depart Spurs this summer, Jose Mourinho is in the market for a new right-back. According to The Athletic, two players, in particular, have been linked with a move to North London – Max Aarons, and Zeki Celik.

Norwich City’s Max Aarons has been deemed to be the perfect fit for Spurs, and he is definitely a player for the future with much promise. The 20-year-old England U21 international broke into the Canaries first team in 2018, and impressed many clubs on the big stage last season, despite Norwich facing relegation back to the Championship after finishing rock-bottom.

Another right-back on Jose Mourinho’s radar is Lille’s Zeki Celik. The 23-year-old Turkish international has been compared to former Spurs defender Kyle Walker, and has been valued at around £18m.

Celik would certainly be a very interesting signing for Spurs, though he has established himself as a started for Lille in both Ligue 1 and the Champions League which potentially makes him more attractive over youngster Max Aarons who does not have that same experience.

In addition to Celik and Aarons, Spurs have also been linked with Atalanta’s Timothy Castagne and Nice’s Youcef Atal, both of whom fit Mourinho’s criteria of a young attacking full-back with proven track records.

With Kyle Walker-Peters departing to Southampton, and Juan Foyth up for sale in addition to Aurier, Spurs would free-up funds for a new right-back, with Celik looking the most likely. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg joined Spurs from Southampton yesterday, and Mourinho is keen on making a couple more signings to bolster his defence this summer.

Verdict

Both Aarons and Celik would be great fits for Spurs, and they both have similar attacking play-styles. Aarons has Premier League experience and would help Spurs with homegrown numbers. At just 20, he has lots of potential and would be available at a lower fee having been relegated to the Championship.

Celik, on the other hand, may be a bit of a gamble considering he has not played in England and it may take him some time to adapt to the fast-paced game. Having said that, the Turkish international has played 14 times for his country as well as playing for clubs in both Turkey and France.

Manchester City have reportedly made a move towards trying to sign Sergi Roberto from Barcelona, according to reports from Spain.

Mundo Deportivo claimed that director of football Txiki Begiristain has made enquiries to the La Liga club about the 28-year-old, with the approval of City manager Pep Guardiola, under whom the versatile Spain international has previously played at Camp Nou.

Roberto, who is valued at £36m by TransferMarkt and has won two Champions League titles with Barcelona, has the vast experience of playing 273 times for the La Liga champions, with 29 of those games coming this season as he has been a regular presence in their starting XI (as per TransferMarkt).

A midfielder by trade, the 28-year-old has been deployed mainly at right-back in recent months – coincidentally the position in which Nelson Semedo, who has also been linked with Manchester City (Sport,via Sport Witness), regularly features.

Roberto has an excellent passing success rate of 91.2%, which puts him ahead of Guardiola’s current right-backs Joao Cancelo (89.4%) and Kyle Walker (88.9%) in that regard. He also wins more tackles per game than the Englishman (1.2 to one), while they both average one interception per game.

However, Cancelo has a far better tackling average with 2.3 per game and also makes more interceptions per match with 1.4. Additionally, the Etihad Stadium duo have far greater attacking instincts than the Barcelona man. Roberto’s match averages of 0.2 shots and 0.5 successful dribbles pale in comparison with the respective figures put up by Cancelo (0.7 shots, 1.6 successful dribbles) and Walker (0.6 shots, 0.9 successful dribbles).

While Roberto would present Guardiola with a versatile option at right-back and central midfield, he does not seem an upgrade on the current right-sided defensive pair of Walker and Cancelo. Indeed, the latter has been reportedly considered as bait in a potential swap deal with Semedo (Mundo Deportivo, via Sport Witness), which seems difficult to comprehend given Cancelo’s more than respectable statistics from this season.

At £36m, 28 years of age and in a position where Manchester City are already well stocked, the Premier League champions ought to be looking elsewhere to bolster their squad over the summer.

Man City fans, are you surprised that the club are reportedly pursuing a move for Sergi Roberto? Comment below with your views!

Leeds United fans have flocked to one of Phil Hay’s tweets this week after he shared an emerging story from his employers, The Athletic.

The piece in question is by David Ornstein and involves club medics warning the Premier League that they believe a return to football isn’t safe whatsoever, and this obviously will have the same effect to Championship clubs such as the Whites.

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He claims that doctors have written to the top-flight seeking urgent answers and raising concerns surrounding any comeback to match action.

With Leeds’ promotion chances hanging in the balance, much of the Elland Road faithful have chimed in with their thoughts on the matter.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side currently sit top of the Championship standings, holding a seven-point cushion over those in the playoff positions and had looked like ending their 16-year absence from England’s elite division.

The EFL have constantly maintained that they would like to resume the season when it is safe to do so, but time appears to be running out after Rick Parry’s deadline of the end of July.

It remains to be seen if football will continue – and whether or not Leeds will be promoted.

Here’s what fans have been saying…

AND in other news, Leeds fans go berserk over Graham Smyth claim…

أكد حسين لبيب، رئيس اللجنة المُكلفة بإدارة نادي الزمالك، أنه لا يشعر بوجود مؤامرة ضد القلعة البيضاء.

وعلق حسين لبيب خلال لقاءه عبر برنامج “حديث القاهرة” المُذاع على قناة “القاهرة والناس”، على فكرة المؤامرة ضد الزمالك والعقوبات التي تعرض لها سواء لإمام عاشور أو شيكابالا ومراسم التتويج بالدوري: “بصرف النظر عن كل هذا، على أبناء نادي الزمالك عدم النظر للمصلحة الشخصية، لو جميعنا اتفقنا واتحدنا الأمور ستكون مختلفة في النادي”.

أقرأ ايضًا.. حسين لبيب: تعاقد الأهلي مع أوجستي “ذكاء زمالكاوي”.. وأتواصل مع مرتضى منصور

وتابع: “توليت المسؤولية منذ 3 أشهر ولم أشعر بوجود مؤامرات إطلاقا، وعندما كنت خارج المسؤولية كنت أتحدث عن المؤامرة والاضطهاد وأقول هذا بكل صراحة”.

وعن عقوبة شيكابالا، أشار: “علي واجب كمسؤول في نادي الزمالك أن تكون العقوبة متوافقة مع اللوائح، ولذلك رفضناها، ثم بعد ذلك قلنا أن الزمالك ليس مخطئًا وأن المخطئ هو اتحاد الكرة واللجنة المنظمة”.

تابع: “لست قاضيًا لكي أحقق في الأمر، هناك لجنة انضباط، ونحن كنادي الزمالك لابد أن نتبع القانون، ومن الحكمة أن نتدرج في التقاضي ثم نعلن موقفنا، ومثلما نقول بالبلدي (أخذ الحق حرفة)، لكن كلما خرجنا للتحدث سنثير الجماهير وهذا أرفضه”.

وواصل: “منذ فترة طويلة نتحدث عن المؤامرة ضد نادي الزمالك، اليوم وبعد مرور 3 أشهر ونصف على تولينا المسؤولية، يكفيني أن أقول إن جماهير الأهلي كلها تقول إن الدولة تساعد الزمالك، وأن هناك مؤامرة على الأحمر”.

استكمل: “طالما تعمل بشكل صحيح كل الأمور تصبح في صالحك، إنما الدولة لا تتدخل سواء مع الأهلي أو الزمالك”.

أردف: “من يشكو هذا الموسم من التحكيم وأنه خدم الزمالك فهذا غير صحيح إطلاقًا، لأننا نفوز ولا نترك فرصة لأي أحد”.

اختتم: “لو جماهير الزمالك ترى أن هناك مؤامرة ضد النادي فالإدارة ترد يارب كل سنة تكون هناك مؤامرة ضدنا ونحصد 6 بطولات، أنا مستعد أن يتم إيقاف لاعبين أو ثلاثة كل موسم ونحصد بطولات كثيرة، وموافق على هذا”.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Leeds United had to be buzzing with their performance against Middlesbrough on Saturday as they hammered Jonathan Woodgate’s side 4-0 at Elland Road.

The overall showing was fantastic, but one thing that was brilliant to see was the Whites scoring from a corner after coming under a lot of scrutiny about their dead-ball prowess in recent weeks.

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What’s been said then?

Joe Urquhart was very impressed by what he saw, and he believes that it was an impeccably planned moment of brilliance not only from Klich but also from the coaching staff.

“We were getting angry in the first half, Costa was given basically 30 yards of space to take a short corner, and we were like ‘why not just give him the ball, give him the ball’ Phillips refused and put it in.” Urquhart said on the latest Inside Elland Road podcast (2/12/19 15:30)

“As you say, nearly an hour later they’re taking it short, it could even be that they’ve reacted at half-time. You know what Bielsa’s staff are like with their video analysis, and they do all pile down into the tunnel. It genuinely could be something that simple that they wanted to try it in the second half.

“The analysis that Boro have done probably showed that Leeds don’t take short corners, and they’ve just thought ‘well we’ll stand off’, and that could have been reacted to within the game.”

Could be the case

This is just speculation from the journalist, but you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that this was actually the case.

Bielsa seemed rather adamant that delivering balls into the box was the right thing to do due to Phillips’ ability from those situations. However, with Boro allowing a lot of space for a short corner, it would be stupid for any manager to ignore that, nevermind someone who has once been described as the best coach in the world.

The Argentine is the king of match preparation, but it seems as if he should also be praised for his in-game management as this change was an inspired one.

Bielsa has been stubborn in the past but this was finally acknowledgement that he has to change. Going forward, it should only help Leeds.

Meanwhile, Phil Hay has claimed that Leeds would be powerless to stop one man’s departure if a big bid came in.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…

Liverpool will be a victim of their own success in December.

Due to their Champions League win, they will participate in the Club World Cup in Qatar just before Christmas. Usually, that wouldn’t provide too much of an issue, but they have also advanced to the semi-finals of the League Cup. As such, they will be forced to play two matches in 24 hours.

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Jurgen Klopp and Co will not be able to field the same starting XI in both games. As such, a number of the club’s youngsters are expected to start against Aston Villa in the first-leg of the domestic competition, including Curtis Jones. Not only that, the 18-year-old is expected to captain the side, according to Goal.com.

It will not be his first start for the Anfield outfit though. That came in January of this year, against Wolves in the FA Cup. Although that ended in a disappointing 2-1 loss for the Reds, it still provided the then 17-year-old with his maiden taste of first-team action. His form at youth level shows that it could be the first of many.

Jones is a versatile player. Usually a midfielder who operates centrally – whether it be in an attacking, defensive, or middling role – he has also been used on the left and right flanks. No matter where he has featured for the club’s development squads, though, he has been prolific in front of goal. In 76 matches, he has 36 goals. Rather impressive, it must be said.

His displays have earned him two more first-team appearances this campaign, both in the League Cup. Whilst he has failed to hit the back of the net, he did provide an assist against Arsenal in the previous round. He also scored a crucial penalty in the shoot-out after the match had ended 5-5, whilst he also picked up the Man of the Match award against MK Dons.

Alex Inglethorpe, the Reds’ academy director, has been amongst those to talk up the teenager’s ability. Talking after that match against the League One side, he said: “Curtis was excellent in possession and looked a real threat. He has been outstanding in the Under-23s games so far this season and having that run of games has helped him. He’s got bigger, stronger and gained more experience.

“I think Curtis can play in two positions – left of the front three and in midfield, too. He’s possibly more Adam Lallana than Sadio Mane in terms of his approach and capabilities.”

Big praise from someone in the know. Of course, those are big names to live up to, but his performances so far indicate that he has the quality to perhaps fulfill those comparisons. Should he take the armband against the Villans, it could be a glimpse of the future for the club’s supporters.

In other news, Liverpool fans react to the speculation surrounding one 19-year-old.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannan hopes that the club can soon swap places with arch-rivals Sheffield United but given recent developments off the field in the past week, that seems increasingly unlikely to happen anytime soon.

What’s he said?

The Owls are back in league action this weekend but return with an air of uncertainty after the club was found guilty of misconduct by the EFL over their sale of Hillsborough to chairman Dejphon Chansiri.

This incident has been well discussed over the weekend by many with football finance expert Kieran Maguire suggesting that they could receive, at the very least, a 12 point deduction.

Yet despite this, Bannan has still come out to take a swipe at the Blades. Speaking to The Star, he said:

“It’s hard to look at Sheffield United and not be a bit envious.

“It’s not nice seeing them doing well, but you’ve got to give them credit where credit’s due. Hopefully this time next year we’re the ones up there and they’re back down here.

“I wouldn’t say there’s jealousy, but it gives you that extra hunger to go out and try and get there.”

Bad timing

These comments are nothing short of baffling, given what is happening off the pitch in south Yorkshire.

Any hope of that actually happening is likely to diminish once Wednesday find out how severe their punishment will be, should they unsuccessfully contend it too.

If a minimum of 12 points indeed penalises them, then they will soon move from three points outside of playoff contention to just outside the relegation zone on goal difference alone.

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That would mean that the scenario Bannan wants to happen is merely a far-fetched pipedream that won’t be able to happen anytime soon.

The 29-year-old saying such things at a time like this only gives many fans across the red border more of a chance to take aim at Chansiri and the club’s failings.

He should know better as an experienced pro, ultimately.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to Sky Deutschland (Live Transfer Blog, 28/10, 18:02), Arsenal are interested in signing Denis Zakaria from Borussia Monchengladbach.

What’s the story?

Unai Emery is currently under pressure at the Emirates Stadium but recent reports have suggested he will be given until the end of the season. If he turns it around, he could be backed in the transfer market.

Sky Deutschland is reporting that the Gunners are after 22-year-old Zakaria, although he would not likely leave before next summer. The fee they would need to pay is said to be €50m (£43.1m).

Watch the moment Granit Xhaka’s Arsenal career may have come to an ugly end in the video below…

The player they wanted Xhaka to be

The Bundesliga man will automatically draw similarities with one current under-fire Arsenal man based purely on his nationality: Granit Xhaka. The two are Switzerland internationals, with Zakaria having 24 caps and Xhaka 78.

Also, the Emirates Stadium outfit bought their current captain from the same German side.

However, his time in north London looks like it could be approaching its end following the unsavoury incident that took place on Sunday against Crystal Palace when the 27-year-old shouted an expletive towards the supporters as they booed him off the field.

History and omens may indicate to many fans the £25.2m-valued (as per Transfermarkt) midfielder currently playing for Die Fohle would have a similar, unwanted impact as Xhaka, but the truth is, he could be everything the Gunners wanted Xhaka to be.

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Zakaria is all action, and the way he has started the season as part of a Gladbach side that is top of the league shows he has a bright future ahead of him.

Defensively this term, he has averaged 2.6 tackles per game in the Bundesliga, which puts him in the top 20, whilst he also has 1.4 interceptions as well. Xhaka, meanwhile, has 2 and 0.4 respectively.

It is perhaps his offensive ability that will draw the eye though.

He has two goals so far, averaging one shot per game. The Arsenal man, however, has failed to get himself on the scoresheet so far and has averaged just 0.7 shots.

It is Zakaria’s ability to beat a man that stands out. He has 2.2 dribbles per match, which puts him in the top 15 in the Bundesliga. In comparison, Xhaka averages 0.3.

Standing at 6 foot 2 compared to 6 foot 1, Zakaria also has a slight height advantage on Arsenal’s number 34, which is an indication he will not get bullied in the Premier League.

Whether Arsenal fans like it or not, their current scapegoat is a big presence on the field for them, and he will need replacing should he depart. Zakaria might well be the man to do it.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

After days of waiting and apparent discussions, Barcelona and Real Madrid have finally officially confirmed the new date of the first El Clasico of the season.

Even though it was supposed to be played this weekend, on 26 October at the Camp Nou, the unrest in Catalonia and safety issues have prevailed and we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see two of Spain’s best clash against each other.

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have agreed that the big match should be on the 13th of December and at first, it does seem like a win-win scenario for both clubs.

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After all, both teams have had a midweek Champions League match to play and both can now rest over the weekend and recuperate.

But as a whole, Real may gain much more from this situation despite Zinedine Zidane’s troops having to play three away games in a row come that time of the year.

The reason for that is simple – current form.

Looking strictly at the position both teams are currently in, the Blaugrana would be going into El Clasico as slight favourites.

Of course, just the fact that the venue for that clash will be Camp Nou definitely adds to the whole argument but Barcelona have won five games in all competitions in a row while keeping two clean sheets in the process.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

Not only that, but they have also managed to score 13 goals while only conceding two and they even leapfrogged Real Madrid in the Liga table along the way.

Los Blancos, on the other hand, have two wins, two draws and a defeat under their belts in the last five games, scoring seven goals and conceding five in the process.

Not to mention that both of their victories weren’t as convincing as Barcelona’s – a narrow 1-0 triumph over Galatasaray, their first in the ongoing Champions League campaign, and a 4-2 victory over Granada.

As things currently stand, Ernesto Valverde’s men do look like the better team and a more serious contender to take all three points from that clash.

Maybe Real Madrid can regain their sharpness and put a run of wins together. Maybe Barcelona will dip in form once again.

We won’t know until we get there but Real have an opportunity to build a head of steam now, something they simply didn’t have before. Zidane has every right to be delighted with this postponement.

Valverde on the other hand, not so much.

Despite Newcastle’s narrow loss at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, Allan Saint-Maximin took to Twitter to share a positive outlook on the result, and many fans have shown his support in response.

The Frenchman is a new signing for the Magpies but has already impressed some with his direct style and dribbling ability, with an average of 2.8 successful dribbles per league game, despite the fact his side spend large spells of games without the ball.

Steve Bruce’s side have averaged only 37% possession this campaign – the lowest in the division – with the match against Chelsea a similar story, and though they lost 1-0 the winger had a motivational message to share.

He tweeted: “You don’t lose if you get knocked down, you lose if you stay down.”

That suggests there is a good spirit in the Newcastle dressing room currently despite only two wins from nine league games, with only five goals scored in that time.

However, the Magpies have a home game up next against Wolves, who haven’t been in top form either – with two league wins also – and therefore it is a good chance for them to get back to winning ways.

Although they lost, fans are pleased to see the positive attitude shown by Saint-Maximin, and many have responded in a similar fashion.