All posts by n8rngtd.top

Tottenham Hotspur have one of the deadliest attacking duos the Premier League has ever seen in the shape of Heung-min Son and Harry Kane.

In February, the duo broke the division’s record for goal combinations (37), which was then held by Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. Indeed, the connection between the two players was labelled “the best partnership in world football” by former Spurs striker Jermain Defoe.

Even though the north Londoners have already been rather busy in terms of bringing new players to the club, they still have time to strengthen their squad even further.

One man who has been mentioned with a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium who would give Antonio Conte the chance to create what could potentially be an even deadlier partnership with Kane is Leicester City midfielder James Maddison.

After scoring 16 goals and providing 13 assists in 53 appearances for his previous club Norwich City, the Englishman joined Leicester in 2018 for a fee of £20m. Since then, the 25-year-old has found the net 45 times and supplied 32 assists in 170 appearances across all competitions.

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Last season saw the midfielder rack up more shots at goal (73) and shot-creating actions (100) than any other player at the Midlands club.

In fact, only three other players in the entire league ended the campaign with more goal-creating actions than the Leicester star (19).

This shows how comfortable the 25-year-old is at not only scoring goals but providing them for his team-mates as well.

With Kane (21) being one of those three players to record more goal-creating actions than Maddison, this shows how deadly the duo could be in terms of setting up goals as well as scoring them, if they were to become team-mates in N17.

Lauded by Brendan Rodgers for his “sensational” performances in a Leicester shirt, the ex-Norwich midfielder certainly has the talent to be able to pull the strings in Spurs’ midfield and help the likes of Kane and Son to keep the goals flowing.

Even though it would reportedly take a hefty fee of £60m – which is what Spurs paid to sign Richarlison – to secure the Foxes star’s signature, this would certainly be an investment worth making for Tottenham, and one which could potentially push them into a title race.

Journalist Ryan Taylor of The Daily Express has heavily criticised West Ham United after a big exit development involving midfielder Nikola Vlasic.

The Lowdown: Hammers reach Vlasic agreement…

The east Londoners have agreed a deal to loan out the Croatia international to Serie A after a season of little opportunity under manager David Moyes.

Vlasic started just six Premier League games last season, playing just 555 minutes in total, with Moyes now green-lighting his departure.

Torino will take Vlasic on a temporary basis and it is believed the deal includes a roughly £15 million option to buy the attacker.

The Latest: Taylor slams ‘ridiculously poor’ Vlasic business…

Taking to social media, Taylor has slammed West Ham’s decision to let Vlasic go with Torino having the option to sign him permanently for half of what the east Londoners paid a year ago.

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He explained (via Twitter):

“This is ridiculously poor business from West Ham. Vlašić deserves a fair crack, makes zero sense to offload without a replacement – particularly for 50% of total outlay paid just one year ago.”

The Verdict: Correct?

Given Vlasic can really turn it on at his very best, as evidenced by his impressive numbers in the Russian top flight prior to joining West Ham, this could be seen as a hasty decision given the lack of replacement.

Links currently surround the likes of Conor Gallagher as the Irons reportedly chase an attacking midfielder but allowing Vlasic to leave the London Stadium before officially bringing in a like-for-like heir through the door is certainly unwise, and could even lead to GSB once again paying over the odds with selling teams knowing they’re desperate.

Aston Villa are back in action this afternoon as they travel to south London to face Crystal Palace.

The Villains will be hoping for back-to-back victories in the Premier League upon their visit to Selhurst Park after last week’s hard-fought victory over Everton.

Steven Gerrard will be pleased to have three points on the board early on, but the Eagles will see this as an opportunity to claim their first win of the season after facing Liverpool and Arsenal in their opening two fixtures.

Diego Carlos’ terrible injury will be the main talking point going into this game, and the Villa manager will be looking for someone to step up in the defender’s potential nine-month absence.

It is poised to be another tough game, but the Midlanders can feel buoyed after their home win last Saturday.

How will Gerrard set up his team going into their second away game of the season? Here’s how we think Villa will line up against Palace this afternoon…

Emiliano Martinez is unlikely to be dropped and made a couple of impressive late stops deny a late Everton equaliser last week.

Due to Diego Carlos’ ruptured Achilles, Tyrone Mings will retain his place but will likely be joined by Ezri Konsa as they resume a familiar partnership from last season.

Matty Cash will continue at right back, whereas Lucas Digne will be hoping to atone for last week’s own goal against his former club on the other flank.

Boubacar Kamara is also expected to start after a solid 7.0 Sofascore-rated performance against Everton, with an exciting midfield battle against Cheick Doucoure in the offing. Captain John McGinn will sit alongside the relentless Jacob Ramsey, with the former earning the highest Sofascore rating of anyone against the Toffees a week ago.

One man who came off the bench to make a big impact in that game was Emi Buendia. We think Gerrard might be tempted to drop the “wizard” Philippe Coutinho for the Argentine, who scored their second goal last week.

The £125k-per-week Brazilian has barely threatened in their opening two fixtures of the season, with only one shot taken so far, and his manager may prefer the dynamism of Buendia to compete with Palace’s hard-working core.

With two assists and a goal between them against Everton, Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins will likely start up top once more.

Celtic have had their attempt at a deal for Queen’s Park starlet Cameron Bruce rejected, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Bruce profiled

The 16-year-old put pen to paper on his first professional contract at Hampden just three months ago after working his way up through the ranks since the age of nine.

The left-back made his breakthrough into Owen Coyle’s senior squad back in March, first as a substitute, before going on to make his full debut the following week.

His performances for the Spiders appear to have caught the eye of two clubs from the Scottish Premiership in particular, and a transfer conflict could now be on the horizon.

The Latest: Celtic offer turned down

According to The Scottish Sun, Celtic, alongside rivals Rangers, have both ‘had bids rejected’ by Queen’s Park for Bruce, with the sides now in a ‘tug of war’ to battle it out for his signature.

The source states that the teenager is also ‘being tracked’ by several Premier League outfits down south, though it’s currently understood that the black and white stripes have ‘no intention’ of cashing in.

The Verdict: Setback for Postecoglou

Having this initial opening offer turned down will have come as a massive blow for Ange Postecoglou, but the Hoops must continue to pursue Bruce and fend off their competitors for his services.

The defender, dubbed a ‘graceful’ player by Queen’s Park director of football Marijn Beuker, would be an academy addition given his age, but has already made five appearances for Scotland at U17s international level.

Already representing his country, Bruce would be an exciting player for the future and one that could go on to become the long-term successor of current first-choice left-back Greg Taylor at Celtic Park.

Manchester United have reached an agreement with Newcastle United to sign goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

The Lowdown: Antony in the building

The Red Devils are finally making inroads in the transfer window late on, with Ajax’s Brazilian winger Antony set to follow countryman Casemiro to Old Trafford.

United have agreed on an £85m deal to sign the forward, who is already at Carrington after footage leaked on social media. The 22-year-old looks like he’ll become the club’s fifth summer signing, and a sixth isn’t far off either, seemingly.

The Latest: Dubravka next…

Fabrizio Romano revealed on Twitter in the last 24 hours that United have reached a “full agreement” with Newcastle for Dubravka.

The transfer expert stated that the goalkeeper will join on an initial loan deal with a £5m option to buy next summer, with the Slovakian set to undergo a medical today.

The Verdict: Needed

Although a move for Dubravka might not get United fans as excited compared to a mega-money deal for Antony, it still appears to be a shrewd piece of business.

The 33-year-old, who has been labelled as ‘top class’ by journalist Josh Bunting and dubbed a leader by The Chronicle’s Mick Quinn, has plenty of Premier League experience under his belt during his four-year stay at St James’ Park.

Therefore, he should provide adequate cover for David de Gea, with Erik ten Hag’s side also having Europa League football in their schedule this season.

Failing to bring in another goalkeeper would have left Tom Heaton as the only senior alternative to De Gea, so this transfer is definitely needed.

Luca Marchetti has dropped an update on the future of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.

What’s the talk?

In recent comments made to Italian radio station Radio Marte (via Sport Witness), the Sky Sport Italia reporter revealed that SS Napoli hold a €25m (£22m) option to buy the 25-year-old France international upon the completion of his season-long loan spell at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in the summer of 2023.

Regarding the future of the midfielder, Marchetti said:

“How is the redemption of Tanguy Ndombele formulated? Napoli, if they want, will be able to keep the player for around €25m: it’s a very high ransom. The Frenchman, who was and will again be one of the best midfielders in Europe, was bought for €70m by Tottenham, let’s not forget that.

“Right now, Spurs don’t see him. They won’t throw him away, though. Ndombele is valuable and these €25m are not random: they are the amount that Tottenham have budgeted for him. They don’t want to lose out, in short.

“Asking that much is a way of protecting themselves. If Ndombele were to improve at Napoli, Tottenham would collect this money and not lose out. Napoli has the right of redemption, not the obligation: this is another aspect to specify. Paratici chatted about him with various Italian teams in the summer: but nobody, except Napoli, was too heart-warming.”

Paratici masterclass

Considering just how poor Ndombele has been for Tottenham ever since his £63m move to north London back in the summer of 2019, while it would clearly be a financial hit for Spurs to sell the Frenchman for £41m less than they paid for his services, should Paratici manage to get £22m for the midfielder, it would nevertheless still be a masterclass by the Italian sporting director.

Indeed, over his two and a half seasons at Spurs, the £26m-rated talent failed to ever live up to his astronomical price tag, starting just 46 Premier League fixtures for the club, as well as averaging underwhelming SofaScore match ratings of 6.85 in 2019/20, 6.90 in 2020/21 and 6.58 in 2021/22 – hardly proving worth his fee or his extortionate £200k-per-week wage.

Things have not exactly improved for the 25-year-old following his move to Italy, with Ndombele having started just two Serie A games for Luciano Spalletti’s side – as well as being hooked at half-time in a 1-1 draw with Lecce – and averaged an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.63 – ranking him as Napoli’s fifth-worst performer in the league.

As such, exactly why the Gli Azzurri would be willing to spend around £22m on making the midfielder’s loan deal a permanent move next summer is something of a mystery, however, should Paratici convince them to do so, it would quite clearly be one of the sporting director’s best pieces of business since his arrival at Tottenham last summer.

Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Sanson is ‘free to leave’ the club in the January transfer window, according to reliable journalist Ashley Preece.

The Lowdown: Sanson out of favour

The 28-year-old has found himself out of Steven Gerrard’s plans so far this season, with other midfielders such as Douglas Luiz and John McGinn preferred to him.

In fact, not a single minute of Premier League action has come Sanson’s way in 2022/23 to date, leading to doubts surrounding his future at Villa Park.

Now, a new update further suggests that the Frenchman could be heading off to pastures new soon.

The Latest: Preece talks up exit

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Preece claimed that Sanson is free to find a new club in January, with his current deal expiring in the summer of 2025:

“I think he hasn’t impressed enough ever since he joined really. He’s part of the squad at the moment and will be until the January window reopens.

“I think Villa will look for a Sanson replacement as well because they need depth in that area. I think Sanson will be free to leave.”

The Verdict: Makes perfect sense

In truth, Sanson has failed to live up to expectations in a Villa shirt since joining from Marseille last year, only making 20 appearances and not registering a single goal or assist.

He was hailed as a ‘great technician’ by former manager Dean Smith but there hasn’t been enough influence and drive in his performances.

A permanent move away from Villa in January would be ideal for all parties, getting Sanson off the wage bill and allowing him regular football elsewhere.

Manchester United are thought to be interested in Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, according to The Telegraph’s Mike McGrath.

The Lowdown: Bellingham rumours

The Red Devils were fairly busy over the summer, bringing in six players at a cost of £216.3m.

However, attention is already turning to the January window, with speculation gathering over a move for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham.

United are thought to be battling a number of Premier League rivals for the 19-year-old’s services, and it looks as if another England international is of interest to United chiefs.

The Latest: Pickford as well?

McGrath shared a story for The Telegraph on Saturday, suggesting that United are wavering when it comes to offering. David de Gea a new Old Trafford deal.

The journalist revealed that Pickford is one of a number of goalkeepers in the frame to replace De Gea at Man Utd, should he not receive a contract extension.

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The Verdict: One to watch

Pickford, hailed as ‘world class’ by Frank Lampard, has been Everton’s best performing regular this season, as per WhoScored, and you could say that he is in the prime of his career at the age of 28.

He has plenty of Premier League experience under his belt and is under contract at Goodison Park until 2024, so should his situation remain the same and United and De Gea go their separate ways, then Pickford could well be of real interest.

A cut-price fee could also be on the cards due to his contract situation, so this could be one to keep an eye on over the next eight months.

The recent transfer window saw Wolverhampton Wanderers move on several previously crucial figures, with manager Bruno Lage seemingly clearing house as he attempts to put his stamp on a squad that still bears the hallmarks of his predecessor, Nuno Espirito Santo.

The defensive ranks, in particular, were somewhat decimated as the former Benfica boss plotted his move away from a back five system, with the likes of Willy Boly, Roman Saiss and captain Conor Coady all moving on to pastures new.

The latter man’s departure came as a notable surprise due to the impressive service that the Englishman had given to the club over the past seven years, having been integral in the rise from Championship outfit to European contenders since his arrival from Huddersfield Town back in 2015.

A bargain addition at just £2m, the former Liverpool youth product went on to rack up 317 appearances in all competitions for the Midlands outfit, proving himself a hugely influential presence at the base of a defensive trio.

The shift to a back four – and the arrival of former Burnley man Nathan Collins – seemingly culminated in an exit for the ten-cap colossus, as he was subsequently snapped up by Everton on a season-long loan deal.

It has left something of a void at Molineux such was the centre-back’s presence in the dressing room and on the pitch, with it a perhaps brave call from Lage to move on a player who racked up 3363 minutes in the Premier League last term – the second most in the division.

One potential positive to come from Coady’s departure could be the chance for a young, academy asset to take his place in the years to come, with 19-year-old Nigel Lonwijk one promising talent who is currently showcasing his quality.

The highly-rated teen has flourished since joining League One side Plymouth Argyle over the summer, racking up 11 appearances in all competitions so far this term for the table-topping outfit, including starting the last six league games.

That form has seen him lauded by manager Steven Schumacher earlier this week, with the 38-year-old stating: “How good has he been since he came in the team? He hasn’t really put a foot wrong. He’s so calm for someone so young. He’s 19-years-old and nothing fazes him. You tell him ‘Nigel you are going to play left-side centre-back this week’ and he says ‘Okay, no problem.’

“You tell him ‘Nigel, you need to step in there with (Conor) Chaplin’ and he says ‘Yeah, no problem, got it.’ He just takes on information brilliantly. He’s a real quality player and has got a bright future.”

That glowing assessment is a sign of just what a talent Wolves have on their books at present, with the Dutchman having also caught the eye while on loan at Eredivisie side Fortuna Sittard last term, recording 25 appearances in all competitions to help aid his development.

An imposing figure at 6 foot 5, the youngster could well be someone who can marshall the backline at Molineux as impressively as Coady had previously, with Lage potentially needing to unleash the emerging ace once he returns from his temporary stint.

During the summer transfer window, Wolves made the somewhat baffling decision to loan their captain, Conor Coady to Premier League rivals Everton.

Despite Willy Boly and Romain Saiss also departing the Old Gold, Bruno Lage felt that the Englishman wouldn’t suit his switch to a four-at-the-back system, and he was allowed to join the Toffees in order to return to Merseyside.

While Nathan Collins was brought in from Burnley, Wolves were always going to look short of options at centre-back following Coady’s departure and that potential issue quickly presented itself after Collins’ red card against Manchester City.

Lage clearly felt that neither Yerson Mosquera nor Toti were ready to start a game of Premier League football, so opted to play Ruben Neves as a centre-back in the recent defeat against West Ham, the game that brought an end to his tenure.

Even more remarkably, the Portugal international was one of three centre-backs that day, which suggests that Lage’s switch to a back four had failed, and therefore there was very little reason to let Coady go in the first place.

Meanwhile, the England international is excelling with Frank Lampard’s side, as the Toffees have gone six games unbeaten after starting the season with two defeats. Indeed, he is now part of statistically the best defence in the league, with no top-flight side conceding fewer goals than Everton’s seven.

Coady has averaged a solid 6.68 rating from WhoScored for his performances, which is only bettered by Max Kilman of Wolves’ defensive players, which again emphasises that the Old Gold made a mistake in letting him go.

BBC Sport contributor Chris Wise said: “Wolves allowing Conor Coady to join Everton on loan felt like strange business at the time, and now looks really foolish. They’ve gifted EFC a leader. Impact of that move being felt right now at both clubs.”

The Telegraph’s John Percy revealed earlier this week that the Toffees have an option to make Coady’s move permanent and can sign him for the cut-price of just £4.5m, which represents truly awful business by Wolves.

Coady is only 29, is a regular in the England side and was captain of the club, while he also has three years to run on his contract at Molineux, so to sell him for that little is completely baffling.

Should Wolves continue to struggle defensively this season and finish below a much-improved Everton, then they only have themselves to blame.