All posts by z3u9t.icu

Leeds United are said to be scouting Brenden Aaronson ahead of a potential move this month…

What’s the word?

That’s according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, who delivered a fresh claim to GIVEMESPORT.

“With Aaronson at RB Salzburg, I know Leeds scouts have been watching him,” he said.

Just last month, the Sunday People reported that the Yorkshire giants were tracking the 21-year-old attacking midfielder after losing Kalvin Phillips to a long-term injury.

Aaronson is said to fit the athletic profile of what manager Marcelo Bielsa is looking for in the engine room.

Sign him up

Valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, the Salzburg sensation would be a quality addition for Leeds.

Having already notched 15 caps and five goals for the USA, Aaronson has also gained valuable experience in the Champions League for the Austrian outfit – across 51 appearances, he has provided ten goals and 12 assists, via Transfermarkt.

In his six UCL appearances this term, the young 5 foot 10 dynamo has proven to be an absolute workhorse at either end of the pitch, having averaged two tackles, 1.3 dribbles, 1.2 shots and one key pass per outing, as per WhoScored, despite featuring against Ligue 1 champions Lille, Sevilla and Wolfsburg.

During his time in the Major League Soccer, Aaronson earned praise from one of the country’s greatest players in DeMarcus Beasley. “Watching this philly/Mia match… and I like this kid Aaronson. He is silkyyy! Is he in any of the youth national teams? Full team?” he tweeted.

Leeds’ current midfield options have struggled greatly this season, in particularly Mateusz Klich, who has failed to replicate the sort of form that has seen him emerge as a reliable and regular option under Bielsa.

They have also struggled to replace Pablo Hernandez in the no.10 role, so Aaronson could well be a player that the Argentine badly needs. Not only that, on the above evidence, he is a player the 66-year-old would love to manage.

Victor Orta and co must push ahead with plans to sign him now.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano drops big Raphinha update…

Since Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard opted to swap Glasgow for the Midlands last month, the Premier League side have continuously been linked with Rangers winger Ryan Kent.

What’s the talk?

According to the Daily Mail, the Villa boss is “reportedly ready to raid former club Rangers for Ryan Kent”. The 25-year-old has been subject to interest from Premier League clubs before, with Leeds United previously interested according to The Athletic, who claimed that the Scottish champions were holding out for £20m in the summer.

The 41-year-old brought Kent to Ibrox on a permanent basis for £7.5m in 2019 after the Liverpool academy graduate impressed on loan the season prior, winning the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year Award.

Kent will offer Villa depth

With Gerrard opting to use a 4-3-3 formation, the performances of wingers are crucial to Aston Villa’s success. In the three games that the new boss has overseen, he has deployed Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia, Ashley Young and Ollie Watkins out wide, with the former two seeing the most game-time on the flanks.

Watkins is predominantly a striker whilst Young won’t be a long-term option at 36 years of age. Therefore, if Kent were to join Villa, he would most likely have Bailey and Buendia as competition for a starting spot.

Neither have set the world alight since their summer moves from Bayer Leverkusen and Norwich City respectively, with both players scoring just once this term and registering a combined five assists.

Furthermore, Bailey has struggled with injuries since arriving in the West Midlands, starting just four Premier League games, which could potentially open a pathway for Kent should he join Aston Villa and the Jamaican’s injury woes continue.

Currently valued at £12.6m by Transfermarkt and reportedly earning £20k per week, the 25-year-old has scored 28 goals and registered 34 assists in 143 appearances since joining Rangers and played a vital role in them winning their first league title in ten years last season, with 21 goal contributions in 37 games en route to that triumph.

Moreover, the new Villa boss knows the player well, having worked with him in the Liverpool youth ranks and at Rangers, which could prove essential should the winger opt for a move to Birmingham.

In the past, Gerrard has labelled Kent “a constant threat”, and there’s surely no doubt that the former Gers boss would welcome a reunion with the winger. Just imagine the thought of him and Buendia providing ammunition from the flanks at Villa Park on a regular basis.

In other news: Aston Villa dealt further injury setback ahead of Leicester clash, Gerrard will be gutted 

Tottenham Hotspur are set to ramp up their pursuit of Antonio Rudiger in the coming days, according to an inside source…

What’s the word?

As revealed by Football Insider this week, the north London outfit are in the race to sign the £100k-per-week Germany international after he rejected a new Chelsea contract, meaning he is currently free to leave Stamford Bridge in the summer.

Valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, it is thought that Spurs have planned discussions behind-the-scenes in an effort to persuade the 28-year-old to swap the Blues for their capital city rivals in 2022.

Lilywhites sporting director Fabio Paratici is said to be pushing hard to get an early agreement in place but they will face a battle to secure him as foreign teams can seal him on a pre-contract agreement as early as January, something that Spurs do not have the luxury of.

Statement signing

This would be quite an outlandish move from Spurs, considering their west London rivals won the Champions League last summer and are quite some way ahead of them on and off the pitch.

However, the fact that Antonio Conte is in charge boosts their chances of landing the 6 foot 3 colossus as the pair worked together when the Italian was at the helm.

45 of his 172 appearances for the Blues came under Conte as they won the 2017/18 FA Cup together, leading to the German describing the 52-year-old as a “very good coach” to reporters.

Rudiger has been one of Chelsea’s standout performers under Thomas Tuchel over the past 12 months, with BT Sport pundit and Premier League legend Rio Ferdinand a big fan.

“Look at Rudiger, he’s arguably, since Tuchel has been there [at Chelsea], been the best defender in the Premier League,” he told his podcast (via the Metro). “Him or [Ruben] Dias in that time. He’s been unbelievable, he’s like an animal.”

Indeed, the German is just one of two players to have played every minute of every Premier League outing for the Blues this term, where he has averaged a second-most 2.2 aerial duels won, 1.1 tackles and an 86.9% passing accuracy when managing over 70 attempts per game, as per WhoScored.

Evidently, Rudiger is an efficient ball-playing defender and one that would instantly improve Spurs’ backline, not just because of his trophy record at Stamford Bridge.

The vastly-experienced defender would be quite the signing to make next year and it would certainly reveal the ambitions of the club under Conte. As such, many around N17 must be absolutely excited by this latest development.

Spurs fans would surely love Rudiger at the club, so this update should provide some huge encouragement heading into January.

AND in other news, Paratici eyes Spurs bargain after “courting” £18m-rated maestro, Conte would love him…

Antonio Conte is said to be a huge admirer of struggling Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli, who could be in line for a career revival in north London…

What’s been said?

That’s according to Italian journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, who dropped the intriguing claim on Rio Ferdinand’s ‘FIVE’ podcast this week.

“Talking about managers [and] the impact at Antonio Conte at Tottenham. I am told from sources close to the club that he wants to give big chances to Dele Alli, this is the idea of Antonio,” he revealed.

“We know Alli didn’t have his best time last year but Conte is convinced that Alli is a player for a top club, and he wants Dele to show his skills with a different attitude and a different attitude in the club.”

Only last month, The Athletic reported that the Lilywhites’ hierarchy was finally prepared to give up on the 25-year-old heading into the January transfer window, although that was under the stewardship of former Spurs manager Nuno Santo, who froze him out after the north London derby defeat.

On the chalkboard

This is certainly an interesting claim from Romano, and many supporters around N17 will undoubtedly be left excited by it given the Englishman’s history at the club. However, where Alli fits in Conte’s system right now is anyone’s guess.

The Italian tactician has so far deployed a 3-4-3 formation in both of his opening two games in charge, with Heung-min Son and Lucas Moura occupying the half-spaces and Sergio Reguilon and Emerson Royal bombing down the wings out wide.

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Alli is not a winger and he certainly isn’t a wing-back, nor is he a deep central midfielder, so he currently has no place in the side.

A switch to a 3-4-1-2, which is expected according to some reports, could accommodate him as a no.10, but you’d imagine that Tanguy Ndombele would be preferred right now.

Of Alli’s 263 appearances in a Lilywhites shirt, 200 have come in attacking midfield, which only goes to show where previous managers think his best position lies.

Therefore, if Conte truly wants to give the 25-year-old a ‘big chance’, then he may well need to tailor a system to fit him in, and having only provided three goals and five assists since the start of the 2020/21 season, that may not be a risk worth taking.

Once dubbed a “freak of a talent” by Spurs legend Darren Anderton following an 18-goal and seven-assist Premier League campaign in 2016/17, it will certainly be intriguing to see how the 52-year-old utilises the much-maligned sensation this season – only time will tell.

AND in other news, Conte could recall “perfect” £18m-rated Spurs star who was frozen out by Nuno and Jose…

Southampton are hitting a bad run of form, losing their two games in the Premier League and will be hoping to take maximum points from their home game against Leicester City this evening.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has given an injury update that will leave Saints fans buzzing as two players return to the side, with only one player missing from action for tonight’s game which could give the side a much needed boost.

“As of today I have 21 players on the pitch working with us. It was only Stuey (Stuart Armstrong) who has not part of the squad today,” Hasenhuttl said in his pre-match press conference.

“Also, Jack Stephens is back. The rest of the players were with us today.”

Jack Stephens’ return will be warmly welcomed by the supporters, as he will certainly strengthen the backline after an awful defensive performance from Southampton last weekend at Anfield, resulting in four goals conceded.

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Stephens only has six appearances for Saints this season, after sustaining a knee injury in the goalless draw with Manchester City in September where he was predicted to be out for up to 12 weeks, but is now available to play and could offer the quality in the defensive line that is clearly desperately needed, which we imagine will leave Hasenhuttl thrilled.

Another player set to make their return to the side is Ibrahima Diallo, who was left out of the trip to Anfield after rolling his ankle in the training sessions ahead of the game. The midfielder is confirmed to be back in action and could easily be picked for the starting lineup against Leicester.

The 22-year-old has had a great individual impact on the Southampton side despite being a defensive midfielder. Hasenhuttl has attempted to play him on many occasions as an advanced right-sided 10, which has seen Diallo offer a dimension to Southampton’s attacking prowess scoring one goal and assisting once too in his thirteen appearances so far, as well as still having those key defensive attributes in his locker.

Having both Stephens and Diallo back to full fitness, and only Armstrong side-lined should give the manager a lot of options to build the right tactical plan to secure the three points Saints need. Thus, he will be buzzing with the latest update from the club’s physios.

In other news: Hasenhuttl must unleash Redmond against Leicester

Leeds United travel away to The Emirates tonight as they go in search of progress through to the fifth round of the competition.

They face Arsenal after holding Wolves to a 1-1 draw at the weekend in the Premier League, with the Whites sat just above the relegation zone as it stands.

Rodrigo scored a last-minute penalty for Leeds after Hee-Chan Hwang’s opening goal for Wolves and Marcelo Bielsa could make changes to his side to freshen things up for this cup clash.

Get Rid

One player he must ruthlessly axe from the team is left-winger Jack Harrison, as the forward struggled badly at the weekend and is having a difficult season.

Per SofaScore, he lost 100% of his duels against Bruno Lage’s Wolves. He failed in all seven of his individual battles and only completed 67% of his passes, whilst failing to complete either of his two attempted dribbles either.

His statistics over the course of the Premier League campaign do not make for much better reading. The winger is yet to contribute with a goal or assist in eight matches, losing 66% of his duels and giving away possession 15.9 times per match.

This shows that he is currently in poor form and the performance against Wolves was simply the tip of the iceberg, which is why Bielsa must axe him. He should be dropped from the XI for this cup tie with Arsenal to give others a chance to impress.

On the one hand, you can look at it as a ruthless axing from the team in the sense that his performances do not warrant a place in the starting line-up. He has not shown enough consistently this season to prove that he deserves to start and that is one of the reasons why the manager should name him on the substitute’s bench.

On the other hand, it could be a tactic to motivate Harrison to up his game. He may spend his time on the bench wondering what he could do to improve and then put that into place in training in an attempt to impress Bielsa and win his starting berth back for Sunday’s trip to Carrow Road to face 20th-placed Norwich.

Therefore, Bielsa must drop Harrison down to the bench to, firstly, improve the team in the immediate future and, secondly, to motivate him to train harder and get back to his best.

AND in other news, “From what I’ve gauged”: Leeds journo makes key transfer claim that should excite fans…

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard ‘would take’ the Aston Villa job if it becomes available, according to BBC pundit Chris Sutton. 

The lowdown

Villa are on the longest losing streak in the Premier League at the moment, having suffered four consecutive defeats and slipped to 15th in the table. In Europe’s top five leagues, only Bundesliga outfit Greuther Furth are on a poorer run.

That’s despite a summer outlay of £93m on new players in the wake of Jack Grealish’s departure, the fifth-highest spend in the division.

Daniel Storey, Chief Football Writer at the i newspaper, has said that Dean Smith’s job is in ‘serious jeopardy’.

There’s currently a vacancy at Newcastle United following their takeover, but The Times have reported that Gerrard won’t be taking over on Tyneside.

The latest

On the BBC Radio 5 Live Show 606 [via Twitter], a Villa supporter called for Smith to be sacked and Gerrard to be his replacement.

In response, Sutton told co-host Robbie Savage that Gerrard would be willing to make the move to the Midlands ‘if he was offered the job’.

The verdict

First of all, it isn’t a foregone conclusion that Smith will be sacked and the position will be available. He can relieve the pressure if he steers Villa to wins against 14th-placed Southampton and 12th-place Crystal Palaced in the coming weeks.

Would Gerrard hypothetically be interested, though? They may not have Newcastle’s spending power, but Villa are still a club who can back their managers, as evidenced by their consistently high outlays since promotion.

Rather than fighting relegation, as Newcastle’s new manager will have to do, the Villa squad is capable of competing for a top-half finish. It may be an attractive proposition if it becomes available should the worst happen for Smith.

In other news, Alan Hutton says this speculation is a win-win for Rangers. 

With a price tag of £54m, Naby Keita is currently the third most expensive player Liverpool have signed behind Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker.

However, the midfielder’s time at the Merseyside club has not been a particularly smooth ride as of yet, with many injury issues damaging his playing time with the Reds.

Since arriving from German club RB Leipzig back in the 2018 summer transfer window, Keita, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £120k-per-week according to Spotrac, has made a total of 82 appearances for the Reds across all competitions. During his time in Merseyside, he has managed to chip in with eight goals and four assists.

In terms of his transfer value, Transfermarkt had his market value listed at £58.5m back in December 2018 but since then, it has dropped dramatically. Now it stands at £28.8m, which proves how disappointing the majority of his time at Anfield has been. It also suggests that the decision to lure him to Liverpool was a poor one from Michael Edwards.

Moving forward, it seems as though the key to unlocking Keita’s potential and getting the best out of him is if he could stay fit for a consistent period of time and gets the chance to play to show why Liverpool chose to splash such a significant amount of cash to bring him to the club.

Until that happens, it seems unlikely, in our view that his market value will be getting anywhere near where it was when he originally left Leipzig to join Liverpool. However, everyone at the Merseyside club will undoubtedly be more concerned over his fitness and playing time rather than his market value.

Given how Liverpool currently have Thiago Alcantara and Harvey Elliott out injured, we feel that this is one of the times where they could do with having Keita fit and available consistently to give Klopp an extra option in midfield.

That, however, seems farfetched. A big reason behind his decrease in value is his fitness issues. Since moving to Englan,d the Guinea international has had 14 different spells on the sidelines, missing 54 matches as a consequence.

Looking ahead to the future, with the midfielder’s current contract at Liverpool set to expire in 2023, it would be intriguing to see whether the club would be willing to offer him a new deal. In our view, if he keeps missing games through injury, the club should consider letting him go if they can’t rely on him.

In other news: FSG currently face one of their biggest Liverpool dilemmas, they must act soon – opinion 

Ashley Preece has expressed confidence that Aston Villa prospect Carney Chukwuemeka will put pen to paper on a new contract.

The lowdown

Chukwuemeka, who’s been with Aston Villa since 2016, is predominantly a central midfielder.

The £2.25million-rated teenager is currently contracted until the end of the 2022/23 season (via Transfermarkt).

He made his full Villa debut in the 1-1 draw with Brentford in August, playing 63 minutes before he was substituted.

Chukwuemeka also started in the 6-0 EFL Cup rout of League Two Barrow and featured in the subsequent defeat at Chelsea.

A scout told The Athletic last year that he is ‘the best player Villa have got coming through’ and that ‘he can do everything in the midfield area’.

‘A lot of clubs’ were said to be ‘monitoring his situation’ at the Midlands outfit.

The latest

Addressing supporters in a Birmingham Live Q&A, Preece pointed out that Chukwuemeka will turn 18 this week and issued his prediction.

“I’m fully expecting him to sign a new contract,” he wrote.

The verdict

This is great news for Villa fans given that Chukwuemeka is clearly regarded as a special talent.

If there was more uncertainty surrounding his contract, you can bet, based on what the scout was saying, that other clubs would be circling.

Signing his brother Caleb in the summer may well have helped Villa’s cause, and it looks like the club will now lock up an exciting talent for years to come.

In other news, this defender came under fire against Wolves.

Speaking to Football Insider, Sky Sports pundit Kevin Phillips has been left surprised by  David Moyes’ plan for West Ham involving Lukasz Fabianski and summer signing Alphonse Areola.

The Lowdown: Moyes plotting Fabianski axe…

Already it appears that the manager has a plot underway to axe one of his ‘untouchable’ West Ham mainstays in the Polish goalkeeper.

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Indeed, according to Football Insider, the Scotsman is planning to replace his current number one with Areola in the starting XI over the coming weeks.

It is said that Moyes wants to phase the Frenchman in gradually as he looks to make Areola his new goalkeeping first choice.

The Latest: Phillips left surprised…

Speaking to Football Insider in reaction to this development, Phillips has been left surprised by Moyes’ plan but insists that Fabianski is a professional and will help Areola regardless, despite him possibly feeling a little bit ‘aggrieved’.

“He’s [Areola] going to be the number one eventually,” the former Sunderland striker explained.

“That’s why he was brought in. He can learn from Fabianski. It won’t be ideal and I’m sure he will feel aggrieved.

“But he’s a pro and he will help Areola settle into the club. Fabianski has that experience so it does surprise me slightly.

“I’ll never go against David Moyes considering what he’s done but that’s a major change.

“If he does make Areola number one he will have a player behind him pushing and that’s always a good thing.”

The Verdict: Good move by Moyes?

Currently on loan from Paris-Saint Germain, Areola enjoyed a consistent spell in the Premier League with Fulham last season despite their relegation, keeping nine clean sheets in 36 starts.

Scott Parker even lauded the player as ‘exceptional’ and we believe he could be the ideal long-term replacement for Fabianski as the 36-year-old Poland international reaches his twilight phase.

In other news: ‘Had a shocker’, ‘Offered nothing’…West Ham fans blast ‘poor’ ace who lost the ball 16 times against Southampton, find out more here.