All posts by z3u9t.icu

Stoke City have confirmed the departure of Moritz Bauer from the bet365 Stadium.

What’s the latest?

In a brief statement posted on the Stoke City website, Michael O’Neill’s side revealed that the 29-year-old has sealed a move to the Russian Premier Liga side FK Ufa on a permanent basis, having spent the back end of last season on loan at the club.

However, the statement does not mention whether the Potters received a transfer fee for the sale of the right-back, who it is reported had two years remaining on his deal with the Championship side.

Fans should be buzzing

With O’Neill appearing to be having something of a summer clear-out at the bet365 Stadium, the fact that the Northern Irishman has managed to get Bauer off of the club’s books should have both the 51-year-old manager as well as fans of the club buzzing.

Indeed, having arrived at Stoke from Rubin Kazan in what was a £5.58m deal back in January of 2019, it would seem a fair claim to make that the 29-year-old did not quite live up to expectations for the Potters.

In total, the Austria international made just 26 appearances for the club, with his most recent showing coming in a 2-2 draw with Sheffield United in May of 2019.

A reason for this lack of game time is probably down to the defender’s level of performance when on the pitch, with Bauer earning an average WhoScored match rating of just 6.63 over his 15 Premier League appearances for the club back in 2017/18, as well as an average match rating of 6.45 over his eight Championship appearances in 2018/19.

As such, considering the right-back was taking home a whopping £19k-per-week on his contract at Stoke, the fact that the player Eddie Niedzwiecki once dubbed “sensational” has finally moved onto permanent pastures new this summer appears to be fantastic news for all involved with the club.

In other news: Forget Clucas: O’Neill must sanction Stoke summer swoop for “undroppable” 21 y/o beast

An update has emerged on Celtic’s current injury situation ahead of their League Cup final clash with Hibernian on Sunday…

What’s the latest?

Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou has come out with a promising claim as he has revealed that a couple of players could return for the match.

He told The Scottish Daily Mail, via 67HailHail: “It’s hard to say who will be back, we left yesterday and I will see the boys we left back at Lennoxtown tomorrow.

“I’m still hopeful one or two of them will be available for Sunday, but which ones I’m not sure yet. They are all pretty keen to be involved but we will have to be smart in who we use.

“Liel was good through the middle, we knew we’d have to be creative and we scored a super goal.”

Fans will love it

Celtic fans will surely love this update from the head coach as it leaves the door open to the possibility of some key players returning to the fold for the final.

Kyogo Furuhashi, James Forrest, Mikey Johnston, Jota and Giorgos Giakoumakis were all missing against Ross County in midweek through injury and it remains to be seen when the majority of them will return. Jota is a certainty to miss the Hibernian match after damaging his hamstring.

Postecoglou said of his injury: “He won’t be right for the cup final.

“It’s going to be three-four weeks recovery depending how he goes so if you look at timelines it gets pretty tight for between now and the break.”

However, his comments suggest that perhaps someone like Kyogo could return to the team, which would be a big boost for Celtic heading into the game. The summer signing has been in fantastic form for the club this season, with 14 goals and five assists in 24 matches.

He has eight goals and two assists in just 13 Premiership outings and has scored once in his two League Cup matches to date. This highlights how much of a boost it would be to have him fit for the final as he has shown that he has the magic touch in front of goal and his ability in the final third could prove crucial to the Hoops’ chances of lifting the trophy at the end of the match.

Therefore, fans will love this update from Postecoglou as it suggests that a potential boost could be on the way and leaves the possibility of Kyogo, and others, being fit for the match alive and kicking.

AND in other news, Celtic can finally axe “stupid” Lennon signing by landing “unstoppable” 30 y/o machine…

Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a move for one of manager Antonio Conte’s former stars this week.

Reports in Spain have suggested that the Lilywhites are prepared to offer a large amount for Inter Milan centre-back Alessandro Bastoni as the Italian looks to bolster his backline ahead of next season.

It’s said that the 22-year-old is a player hugely admired by the 52-year-old head coach and that Spurs have even submitted an offer of around €50m (£42m).

Conte has largely utilised his typical three-at-the-back formation since taking the helm in N17 and he could really do with another option as full-back Ben Davies has featured alongside central defenders Eric Dier and Cristian Romero.

Therefore, there’s a need for another addition in the role and there won’t be many better options out there than Bastoni, who Conte is clearly a big fan of.

The 6 foot 3 colossus made 33 appearances during their title-winning campaign, where he averaged 1.2 interceptions and 1.1 tackles per game. He has since progressed further under new management, managing an average of 1.5 tackles and 1.3 interceptions from 27 matches this term, via WhoScored.

Some have even likened the Italy international to his Euro 2020-winning teammate, veteran Leonardo Bonucci.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-martinez-dybala-spence-conte-2” title= “Read the latest Spurs news!”]

“He controls the opponent, space and with a refinement that has rarely been seen, reminds me of a young Bonucci,” said Italian journalist Mario Sconcerti.

Meanwhile, according to talent scout Jacek Kulig, Bastoni is “perfect” as a left-sided centre-back in a three – the exact positon Conte needs this summer – and is “complete,” “dominant,” and “very comfortable on the ball.”

Transfermarkt currently value the 22-year-old defender in the region of £54m, so he’s not going to come cheap, especially if Spurs want to sanction permanent moves for Romero and Dejan Kulusevski.

Once dubbed a “Rolls-Royce” with world-class potential by analysts Top Bins Talk, it’s evident that Bastoni would be something of a dream signing for Conte at Spurs, as such sporting director Fabio Paratici should do all he can to secure his signature.

In the Italian, the Spurs head coach could have a new left-sided and Bonucci-like animal in defence next season.

AND in other news, 95 touches, 69 passes: £36m-rated Spurs “monster” was Conte’s big unsung hero vs Villa…

Rangers manager Gio van Bronckhorst will be unveiled at Ibrox for the first time on Thursday as he prepares for his first match in charge of the club.

The Gers are set to face Sparta Prague in their fifth group stage game in the Europa League. They lost 1-0 to them in the reverse fixture and a win would send them up into second place in the group.

Forget Roofe

FFC published an article explaining why Alfredo Morelos should be axed from the XI for this game. This would leave the number nine position vacant, with Kemar Roofe and Fashion Sakala competing to be named in the team from the start.

Van Bronckhorst should forget about the former Leeds United man, who is a minor injury doubt, for now and unleash Sakala against the Czech outfit tonight. He came off the bench against Hibernian and should now be given the chance to show what he can do from the start.

The 24-year-old is coming off the back of a sensational international break where he scored four goals in two games for Zambia. He has now scored seven times in his last six appearances for club and country, having also bagged a hat-trick for Rangers against Motherwell at the end of October.

This shows that the £8.3k-per-week gem has the ability to be a match-winner for van Bronckhorst as he has been consistently finding the back of the net of late. Goals win games and Sakala could potentially win the match for Rangers if he starts against Sparta, given his recent record.

Ex-Gers boss Steven Gerrard once hailed the forward as an ‘incredible’ person and praised his quality in training for the club. He said:

“He’s an incredible human being. The way he has come into the club, his smile and demeanour, his attitude and energy, has lifted the whole place. The signs are he is really starting to find his feet here at Rangers. He is a really exciting one for everyone to watch moving forward.

“There will be plenty of opportunities for Fashion, not just in Europe but domestically as well. We are really starting to see his strengths, his consistency from a training point of view.”

These comments suggest that he has the attitude and mentality to thrive at Rangers and is willing to put his head down and work hard for the team. This should be encouraging to van Bronckhorst as he will surely want his players to put the hard yards in against Sparta to impress him in his first game.

AND in other news, 129 appearances: Rangers secured dream deal with £0 gem who “embodies professionalism”…

Celtic are back in action this afternoon with another clash against their Old Firm rivals.

This time, the duo are both looking to secure a place in the Scottish Cup final.

The last meeting between the two Glasgow rivals saw Ange Postecoglou’s side secure a 2-1 win at Ibrox in the SPFL earlier this month.

However, heading into Sunday’s showdown, it seems as though the Hoops will have to make do without one of their key players.

What’s the latest?

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the semi-final, Postecoglou revealed that striker Giorgos Giakoumakis will not be available to play as a result of an injury he picked up during Celtic’s 7-0 win over St. Johnstone last weekend.

Since arriving at the Parkhead club during the previous summer transfer window from VVV-Venlo in a deal worth a reported fee of up to £2.5m, the striker has made 16 appearances in the SPFL.

In those appearances, the 27-year-old has found the back of the net nine times, with only Liel Abada (10) having bagged more league goals this season.

Postecoglou will be fuming

Having appeared in all three of Celtic’s Scottish Cup games this season, the centre-forward has scored four of their nine goals against Alloa Athletic, Raith Rovers and Dundee United.

With that in mind, not only will it be a huge blow for the player to miss out on the chance to fire his team to the final this afternoon, but it is sure to have also left both Postecoglou and the Parkhead faithful fuming given how deadly he’s been in front of goal.

To highlight how much of a danger the Greek international has been for his new club, he currently boasts the highest average of shots on target and goals per 90 minutes in the league, according to FBref.

Moving forward, with the Bhoys having Kyogo Furuhashi back in the frame after recovering from his hamstring injury, Postecoglou will have to hope that he and the rest of the attacking players at his disposal can make up for Giakoumakis’ absence on this occasion.

Looking beyond that, everyone at the club will undoubtedly be hoping that the £1.8m-rated striker can recover from his injury soon enough to help his side see out the remainder of the season.

AND in other news: Signed for 7 figures, left for peanuts: Celtic had a mare on “unplayable” £15k-p/w dud

Everton have suffered a big injury blow ahead of their Premier League encounter with West Ham United on Sunday week after Lucas Digne picked up a hamstring injury on international duty.

What’s the word?

The 28-year-old was called up to Didier Deschamps’ France squad for the Nations League finals but will now return to Merseyside after playing no part in their semi-final victory over Belgium.

A club statement read: “Lucas Digne has withdrawn from the France squad due to a minor hamstring injury. The Everton left-back will return to USM Finch Farm to be assessed by the Club’s medical team.

“Digne was on the bench for France’s 3-2 Nations League semi-final victory over Belgium in Turin on Thursday night and will now miss the world champions’ final clash against Spain on Sunday.”

Rafael Benitez will be gutted

Although the severity of Digne’s injury has not yet been confirmed, it seems likely that he’ll miss the Toffees’ next clash against high-flying West Ham on Sunday 17 October.

If the left-back is deemed unavailable for selection, Everton manager Rafael Benitez will be left feeling gutted at his enforced absence given the defender’s importance to the club. Digne has played every minute of the Merseysiders’ top-flight campaign so far this season, captaining the side in their last three matches.

His magnificent form has played a pivotal part in Everton’s impressive displays of late, with Benitez’s men sitting pretty in fifth position after collecting 14 points from seven games, and his attacking influence is evident in his match average of 1.9 key passes, the joint-highest in the Toffees’ squad.

The visit of the Hammers is set to be one of their toughest tests yet, though, and they’ll be hoping that Digne recovers in time to play some part against the capital club. If he misses out, Everton will be deprived of one of their main attacking outlets and most trusted players.

In other news…Brands must sanction Everton swoop for £12.6m-rated gem, he’s an “outstanding technician” 

Aston Villa confirmed on Monday that a road at Bodymoor Heath will be permanently named Withe Way following an $AVL Fan Token vote.

And a number of Villa supporters have been reacting to the news on social media.

Villa revealed details regarding the launch of the $AVL Fan Token last month, with fans offered the opportunity to vote for a road name at Bodymoor Heath in celebration of the club’s 40th anniversary of the 1982 European Cup Win.

Season ticket holders and members were entitled to receive a free token, whereas it would cost others £2 to get involved.

The choices were Withe Way, Mortimer Avenue and Rotterdam Lane, with Withe Way winning in reference to the match-winner Peter Withe.

Villa fans react

Villa shared the news regarding the winner of the fan vote on their official Twitter page.

This is what these Villa fans had to say in reply, with a mixed response and one calling it ‘crazy’.

“Wow I’m sure the three currency speculators who voted are really pleased with their decision. Just cancel this total disgrace of a partnership”

Credit: @dvtavfc

“Erm”

Credit: @LeoAVFC82

“Crazy that the man who nearly missed the tap in reaps the rewards”

Credit: @EllisHines27

“Didn’t realise one player won the trophy.”

Credit: @LeeJClark76

“Love it.”

Credit: @MemoryL66809557

“Rotterdam Way is so much better than the winning name.”

Credit: @IngeniousVillan

In other news: Villa now ‘in the queue’ to sign £14.4m-rated striker; he wants to leave. 

West Ham United are reportedly interested in making a swoop for Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie, as reported by Tuttosport.

Contributing effectively last term for the Old Lady, the American registered nine goal contributions in 46 appearances for his current employers; six goals and three assists [Transfermarkt].

Now, he could be on his way to East London if reports in the Italian media are to be believed.

Tuttosport claim that McKennie is garnering attention from Everton, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham.

Juve are open to replacing the United States international, with Borussia Dortmund man Axel Witsel identified as a more suitable fit for new manager Massimiliano Allegri’s system.

In light of the Hammers’ alleged interest in McKennie, loads of West Ham United supporters took to social media to comment on the latest news.

West Ham United fans react:

Replying to West Ham Central as well as various Hammers news outlets, here is what some fans had to say about the rumours:

“Weston McKennie on a loan to buy would be absolutely incredible business! A 3 of McKennie, Rice & Soucek to choose from would be fantastic”

Credit: @WhufcSloth”JAJAJAJAJAJAJAAJA NO WAY THEY DON’T MENTION TOTTENHAM”Credit: @SaidTalks”100% YESSSS”Credit: @leestirling17″This geezer is unreal, defo won’t happen will cost too much”Credit: @olliebruton”The speed with which I will buy a West Ham McKennie jersey”Credit: @JesseLarch”PLEASE”Credit: @danielluker10In other news, West Ham United fans react as their club rejects the opportunity to sign a striker. Find out more here.

Steven Gerrard was appointed the brand new Aston Villa manager during the international break after Dean Smith was sacked following three years at Villa Park due to a run of bad form with the side losing five games consecutively.

Gerrard is already making an impact in his short time with the club so far, as he guided the side to their first win in a handful of matches against Brighton last weekend and will be hoping to continue his confident start.

Dean Smith has also got a new job as Norwich manager, where he was appointed late into the international break, and has had a great start in his first fixture as the Canaries boss, with a 2-1 win over Southampton at the weekend, that gave them a crucial three points as they sit at the bottom of the Premier League table.

The former Villa boss has been tipped to dip into his old club’s squad to strengthen his own team, with former Villa player, Gabriel Agbonlahor speaking to Football Insider. Responding to whether Smith will take a look at some of the players from his time at Villa, he said:

“Conor Hourihane would be a good one.

“But it’s all going to depend on where Villa are. If results don’t go Villa’s way then they’re not going to let players go to a team that is also fighting relegation.

Aston Villa are expected to make moves in the upcoming transfer window as Johan Lange has confirmed the club are “identifying players” to add to the side in an attempt to avoid the drop into relegation in the second half of the season;

“I think we’re always working every day of the year to identify players with the potential of coming in to strengthen Aston Villa.

“We will work closely (with Steven) over the next six weeks to analyse the situation and we will be well prepared as we always are, if we find it is relevant to go into the market in January.”

If Smith did come to take some of the fringe players off the hands of Gerrard, it could really help to boost funds for the new manager to add the players he wants into the team. That’s without asking too much of the board to provide the funds or to have potential signings put on hold, especially in such a fragile time for Aston Villa where a relegation battle is quite possible.

Secondly, it might give Villa an advantage in freeing up space on the wage bill, something that will certainly help when it comes to the freedom of signing new recruits.

Gerrard will be hoping to relieve more pressure off the Villans this weekend in their fixture away at Selhurst Park, with another three points to push them further away from any relegation worries leading up to the New Year. At that point, their former boss might just be able to give them a hand in the market.

In other news: Gerrard handed double injury boost before Palace clash

Fulham have been dealt a blow in their bid to bring Matt Grimes to Craven Cottage this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Football Insider, who claim that both Watford and Brighton & Hove Albion have joined the race to sign the Swansea City midfielder ahead of the new season.

It was previously reported that Fulham looked close to securing a deal for the 25-year-old, with a medical at Craven Cottage having been scheduled for this week.

It is also claimed that Southampton and Newcastle United are thought to be keeping a close eye on the situation of the former England U21 international, who would be available to sign for as little as £1.5m due to having just one year remaining on his contract at the Liberty Stadium.

Silva will be gutted

Considering just how close Tony Khan appeared to be to securing the signing of Grimes this summer, should the midfielder eventually go on to seal a move elsewhere, it would undoubtedly leave Marco Silva gutted.

The 25-year-old has played a key role in Swansea City’s Championship success in recent years, and would have made a fantastic addition to the Portuguese manager’s options in the middle of the park next season.

Indeed, over his 45 Championship appearances for the Swans last term, the £6.3m-rated man scored two goals, registered three assists and created three big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of one shot and making 0.8 key passes per game.

The £10k-per-week midfielder also made an average of 1.5 interceptions, 2.1 tackles, 1.3 clearances and won 5.3 duels in each league appearance.

These metrics saw the man Steve Cooper dubbed an “excellent” player earn an average SofaScore match rating of 7.04, ranking him as the club’s fifth-best performer in the English second tier.

As such, with Grimes demonstrating that he is something of a complete midfielder, his signing would have given Silva a huge boost to his chances of going on to secure an immediate return to the Premier League with Fulham next season.

However, with Watford and Brighton now sniffing around the 25-year-old, Grimes may well be playing Premier League football a lot sooner than the Cottagers.

In other news: Khan must axe Fulham’s “fabulous” £35k-p/w flop, he’s stealing a living