All posts by n8rngtd.top

The Northern Echo journalist Matty Jones has shared some Sunderland injury news on Dennis Cirkin before Saturday’s game at home to Preston North End.

The Lowdown: Hamstring injury

Cirkin picked up a hamstring injury during the Stadium of Light outfit’s 1-0 loss away at Middlesbrough in the Championship earlier this month.

He has since missed their last two games in the division, but will be looking to get back to full fitness now that the international break has finished.

The Latest: Back in training

Taking to Twitter, Jones shared ‘some positive news for Sunderland’ on Cirkin in that he is now back in training ahead of the Wearside club’s match against Preston on Saturday afternoon:

“Some positive news for Sunderland with Dennis Cirkin making a return to training ahead of this weekend’s game against Preston.”

The Verdict: Big boost

Having Cirkin return to training is a big boost for Tony Mowbray and his side, and he will be hoping that the defender can now be fit enough to play a part against Preston at the weekend.

Before his injury against Middlesbrough, he had played in every minute of the Championship campaign, establishing himself as a key player in the team.

In the division, Cirkin ranks highly among his teammates in terms of aerial duels won and average tackles, interceptions, clearances and blocks per game (WhoScored), further highlighting his worth.

The Black Cats will now be aiming to try and keep him fit until the start of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and Cirkin himself will be looking to get back to full match sharpness.

Tottenham Hotspur have thrown their hat in the ring as they eye a move for in-form Ajax attacker Mohammed Kudus, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Spurs making transfer plans?

Sporting director Fabio Paratici appears to already be making plans ahead of the January window after he orchestrated seven major signings in the summer.

Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Richarlison, Clement Lenglet, Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie joined Spurs in the last market – on top of a permanent deal for Cristian Romero from Atalanta.

However, the north Londoners are having to cope with an ever-congested fixture schedule as a result of the 2022 World Cup in November and added European matches to their regimen.

This could prompt Paratici to make mid-season moves as a report shares the latest on Kudus’ future at Ajax.

The Latest: Lilywhites join Kudus race…

As per Bild in Germany, via Sport Witness, it appears Tottenham are now contenders to sign the in-form attacking midfield ace.

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They claim Antonio Conte’s side ‘already’ have Kudus ‘on their list’ as they join the race alongside Everton and Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund.

The Verdict: Very exciting…

The Ghana international arguably stands out as one of Europe’s most exciting attacking players right now.

Called ‘world class’ by ex-Dutch footballer Jan van Halst, Kudus has now bagged four goals in eight Eredivisie appearances thus far whilst completing more dribbles per 90 than any current Ajax player (WhoScored).

Indeed, to reinforce his quality further, ex-Tottenham fan favourite Rafael van der Vaart is a ‘huge fan’ of the player by his own admission – a glowing endorsement from a formerly brilliant attacking asset at N17.

Tottenham Hotspur’s academy has a knack for producing goalscoring talent with perhaps the finest example being Harry Kane.

The England skipper has gone onto find the net 256 times across 398 appearances for the Lilywhites since making his debut back in August 2011.

Young hopefuls such as Troy Parrott and Dane Scarlett seem the most likely to follow in his footsteps and both are following his blueprint by going out on loan in the EFL.

But for the U18s, there is someone who could disrupt such an expectation.

Enter, Will Lankshear.

The 17-year-old was signed by Spurs in a £2m deal from Sheffield United during the summer, beating top-flight rivals Brentford to his signature.

According to Sky Sports at the time, the teenager was considered among best strikers of his age in England and came to N17 as the U18 Professional Development League’s top-scorer.

Described as “highly-rated” by reporter Lyall Thomas, Lankshear has now made an instant impact in north London.

On Saturday afternoon, just a few hours before the senior’s 1-0 win at Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League, the 17-year-old gem bagged a brace on his U18 debut, the second of which was a crucial 97th-minute equaliser to snatch a point from Wolverhampton Wanderers’ grasp.

“Delighted to get my first few minutes in a Tottenham shirt and to top it off with 2 goals. On to the next game,” he tweeted after the match and this is surely a sign of what’s to come, given just how big a success forwards have been in this current academy setup.

Just like Kane, Lankshear was once on the books at arch-rivals Arsenal, so if anyone has the biggest potential to be the true heir to the Englishman’s throne, then it could well be the new U18 marksman.

It may only be a matter of time before he’s in and around the U23s, particularly with both Scarlett and Parrott away from the club for the time being.

AND in other news, Conte’s “important” £30m “non-stop machine” is proving to be his next Eden Hazard…

Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar has declared himself fit for the Magpies’ Premier League clash against Everton on Wednesday night.

The Lowdown: Schar’s injury

The 30-year-old limped off the field in the final stages of the Toon’s 0-0 draw against Manchester United on Sunday.

The Switzerland international put in an excellent performance as the Magpies kept the Red Devils’ frontline from scoring, with Erik ten Hag’s side having had 63% possession of the ball.

However, Schar’s late withdrawal elicited injury concerns for Newcastle’s Wednesday night fixture against Frank Lampard’s Toffees.

The Latest: Schar declared fit

Journalist Jordan Cronin shared the news from Schar’s post-match interview with NUFCTV, in which the centre-back declared himself fit for Wednesday.

Taking to Twitter, the Newcastle World reporter relayed: “Fabian Schar has declared himself fit to face Everton, despite going off with cramp yesterday. A big boost for a player who has been outstanding all season.”

In the attached article, the Swiss defender is quoted as saying: “It’s going to be fine, don’t worry. I didn’t want to come off, but I was at the point where I couldn’t really walk anymore.

“It was better someone else who was 100 per-cent came in. It’s going to be fine.”

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The Verdict: Big boost for Howe

Whilst much of the credit went to Sven Botman yesterday, Schar’s performance was as equally as impressive as the Dutchman’s.

As per SofaScore, the 30-year-old made seven clearances and three interceptions and blocked two shots, having also had 51 touches of the ball and a 91% pass success rate.

Over the course of the past year, Schar has proven himself worthy of a starting spot in Howe’s XI, having ranked in the 97th percentile for interceptions, the 96th percentile for shots taken and the 92nd percentile for assists among centre-backs in Europe’s top five leagues (via FBRef).

This marks him out as a defender who is adept at breaking up opposition attacks while also getting on the front foot for his own team.

Therefore, after such a great performance against Manchester United, his self-proclaimed availability for the Everton game will come as a big boost for the Magpies.

Crystal Palace are offering Wilfried Zaha a record-breaking deal to keep the player at Selhurst Park, Sami Mokbel reports.

The Lowdown: Zaha at Palace

Zaha has now made over 450 appearances for the Eagles across two separate spells. The 30-year-old helped take Palace into the Premier League during his first stint with the club and returned from Manchester United on a permanent deal in 2015.

Since then, he has been the club’s main creative spark in the final third and is once again Palace’s top scorer during the current campaign.

In total, Zaha has contributed to 165 goals as a Palace player, and it looks as if Steve Parish and Dougie Freedman are pulling out all the stops to keep him at the club.

The Latest: Contract update

Mokbel took to Twitter in the last 48 hours to provide an update on Zaha’s future, with the player out of contract in the summer at this moment in time.

The Daily Mail reporter revealed that Zaha has an offer worth £9m-a-year from Al-Ittihad, however, Palace are ‘offering him the most lucrative contract in their history to stay’. He added that Zaha is still undecided about where his future lies.

The Verdict: Big decision

It’s good to see that Palace are doing all they can to keep Zaha at Selhurst Park, although he also has interest from Champions League clubs alongside an eye-catching offer from Saudi Arabia.

Keeping him would be huge, as he has shown over the last eight years that he is a top-class Premier League player, turning out in a variety of attacking roles over the years. He netted a career-best 14 Premier League goals during the 2021/22 campaign under Patrick Vieira and has scored six times in 21 league games so far this season.

Palace have lacked goals under Vieira this season and actually haven’t had a shot on target in their last three top-flight fixtures. That is a cause for concern, so losing Zaha for nothing in the summer would be a big blow and may leave the Eagles on the hunt for a number of attacking additions, one of which being out wide to replace the long-serving Zaha.

Hopefully, though, the forward decides to remain in London with Palace, and should he do just that, he would cement his place as a club legend even further, making this a situation to keep a close eye on off the pitch, with Zaha looking to help get Palace back on track and away from the bottom three on the pitch.

Tottenham have been boosted in their quest to sign Roma midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo, with a new report claiming they are the ‘only’ club who can snap him up.

The Lowdown: Tottenham linked with Zaniolo move

Antonio Conte will always be looking to strengthen his squad despite their impressive start to the campaign, as he looks to follow last season’s positivity by finishing in the Premier League top four again or even better.

One player who has been constantly linked with a move to north London in 2022 is Zaniolo, who has enjoyed a good career at Roma, scoring 22 goals in 119 appearances.

He hasn’t featured as prominently this season, however, making only five Serie A starts, and it could be that his future lies away from his current club.

The Latest: Paratici in pole

Speaking to Wettfreunde [via Sport Witness], Sky Italy journalist Gianluca Di Marzio shrugged off potential interest from Arsenal and said that the influence of Fabio Paratici makes Spurs strong favourites to sign Zaniolo:

“Nicolo Zaniolo only had one real request in the summer and that was Tottenham. They tried to get him, but with a swap deal with other players, or a loan option, and AS Roma didn’t want to sell the player under those conditions.

“Now, like Leão or Skriniar, it’s about Zaniolo’s contract. They need to renew his contract if they want the contractual power if the player makes a request. Arsenal or other clubs? No.

“Only Tottenham can come back because Paratici is one of the chiefs who has wanted Zaniolo for a long time. Even when he was at Juventus.”

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The Verdict: Exciting news for Spurs

This is a hugely encouraging transfer update from a Spurs perspective, with Roma boss Jose Mourinho recently describing Zaniolo as a ‘devastating’ attacking player.

He is someone who could come in a provide extra guile and quality in the final third, making the attacking side of Spurs’ game more potent and unpredictable.

Zaniolo has two goals in nine caps to his name for Italy, and he won the UEFA Conference League with Roma last season, and with his current deal expiring in 2024, Roma could feel they need to sell in January or the end of the season.

Transfer expert Dean Jones says that Newcastle United ‘absolutely love’ Bayer Leverkusen winger and reported target Moussa Diaby.

The Lowdown: Still interested

It was reported earlier this month that the St James’ Park outfit ‘retain an interest’ in Diaby ahead of the January transfer window, after reportedly holding an interest in the summer.

This is the same case for Leicester City attacking midfielder James Maddison, so it will no doubt be interesting to see whether the Magpies go for one or both players again in January.

The Latest: Newcastle ‘love’ Diaby

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones says that there is not a ‘priority’ in terms of signing Diaby over Maddison and vice versa, but shared that the former is a player who Newcastle ‘absolutely love’.

The journalist said: “I don’t know if there’s necessarily a priority between these two.

“They both kind of have a similar role in mind despite the fact that they’re pretty different players. That right-side of the attack is something that they’re looking at, it’s always been the intention to bring more creativity to the frontline.

“Obviously, Alexander Isak came in, and we haven’t really been able to see enough of him, but Diaby is somebody they absolutely love in what he can bring on both flanks, to be honest, and the pace, and the way [he] runs at people.”

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The Verdict: Get it done

Given the injury problems suffered by Isak and Allan Saint-Maximin this season, the Tynesiders could do with bolstering their front line in order to give them more options.

Hailed as a player with ‘electrifying pace, good with both feet and fearless on the ball’ by The Chronicle journalist Aaron Stokes, Diaby is exactly who they should be targeting, given that he can play anywhere across the top of the pitch.

He has managed four goals and four assists in all competitions so far this season, including two goals in the Champions League, and his tally of 25 goal contributions in the Bundesliga last term is very impressive indeed (Transfermarkt).

Also, the France international is only 23 years of age and still has such a high ceiling that the Magpies could seize upon if they managed to bring him to St James’ Park.

Everton have had their fair share of transfer disasters over the years since Farhad Moshiri became the majority stakeholder at Goodison Park, with nothing more to show for his £500m spending spree than a relegation battle and financial troubles.

However, despite a rocky start to his tenure at the club Frank Lampard seems to have turned things around this season with eight high-quality signings who have made a huge difference to the side’s performances in the Premier League.

Everton are currently 12th in the league table and three points clear of the bottom three. That’s largely thanks to newly signed Conor Coady and James Tarkowski’s blossoming centre-back partnership and a formidable duo of fresh faces in the centre of the pitch with Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gana Gueye thriving together.

Whilst things are looking brighter on Merseyside, the same can’t be said for Toffees reject Dele Alli following his move to Besiktas in the summer.

Alli was signed on Deadline Day last winter in a deal worth up to £40m, joining the Merseysiders on the same day as the former Chelsea boss and it was seen as a golden opportunity for Alli to reignite his career after Antonio Conte washed his hands of the attacking midfielder in north London.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be and the 26-year-old made just 13 appearances averaging at an average of 28 minutes per game. He failed to scored a goal or register an assist over his five-month spell, which led to him being shipped off to Turkey.

However, his form elsewhere has suggested that he needs to be axed permanently from Goodison Park. Indeed, over seven Super Lig appearances so far, Alli – who was dubbed “lazy” by Jose Mourinho – has scored one goal, registered no assists and has created no big chances, as well as losing the majority of his duels (59%) and failing to complete 73% of his dribbles.

Turkish football journalist Gokmen Ozcan spoke to The Athletic this week about Alli’s progress in Turkey, and it seems like the same old story for the wasted talent:

“Dele’s transfer was an exciting event not only for Besiktas but Turkish football,”

“He had a good start but we haven’t been able to see him consistently on the field.”

Beşiktas manager Senol Gunes was a bit more damning of the player, saying: “We haven’t got through to Dele Alli yet. Let’s not discuss Dele Alli as a player, he is below expectations in terms of efficiency.”

With that being said, it is clear that Lampard has played a masterclass by getting rid of Alli in the summer, however, the £100k-per-week earner will return to the club next summer and the manager will then need to get rid of him once and for all.

Everton are reportedly ‘long-term admirers’ of Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Brereton Diaz, although no fewer than 15 other clubs are in the race to sign him in January.

The Lowdown: Out of contract soon

The 23-year-old is out of contract in the summer, meaning that he can leave Ewood Park on a free transfer at the end of the season, or else be sold for a cut-price in the January transfer window.

The striker said on Tuesday night that he will ‘hopefully’ be staying at Rovers until the end of the campaign, while manager Jon Dahl Tomasson claimed that the Championship club ‘wants’ to keep him, but if there is a ‘very, very high’ offer put forward, then he suggested that Brereton Diaz could leave (90min).

The Latest: Everton admirers of Brereton Diaz

Writing in his latest piece for 90min, transfer expert Graeme Bailey has revealed that Everton are ‘long-term admirers’ of Brereton Diaz, along with Premier League rivals Leeds United and Bournemouth.

Also from the top flight, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Hove Albion and Wolves have scouted him in recent weeks, while Sevilla, Ajax, Union Berlin, Atalanta, Sassuolo and Salernitana are all showing interest from Europe.

That makes a staggering 15 other clubs who are in for the Chile international, who could be sold for a fee ‘in excess of £10m’ in January.

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The Verdict: Get it done

With so many other clubs interested in his signature, Everton need to ensure that they are front of the queue when it comes to signing Brereton Diaz in January.

Hailed as a ‘beast’ by his former Rovers coach Tony Mowbray, the 6 foot 1 machine scored a very impressive 22 goals in the Championship last term and already has nine to his name this season (Transfermarkt).

Toffees supporters could catch a glimpse of him tonight as Blackburn take on Premier League side West Ham in the Carabao Cup, and £10m could turn out to be a real bargain for a 23-year-old who seemed destined for greater things than the Championship.

Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Joe Donnohue has been reacting to an off-field update involving Leeds United midfielder Mateusz Klich.

The Lowdown: Lack of minutes

Klich has fallen down the pecking order under Jesse Marsch this season and is yet to make a Premier League start. He netted twice in a Carabao Cup win over Barnsley, after which Danny Mills labelled the 32-year-old ‘different class’, but has featured in only 188 minutes of league action.

The Poland international was linked with a move away in the summer but remained in Yorkshire, looking to make the cut for the World Cup in Qatar.

The Latest: World Cup absence

Poland confirmed their World Cup squad on Thursday afternoon, with Klich unfortunately not making the cut.

Donnohue took to Twitter to react to the news, describing it as a ‘bitter blow’ for the midfielder as he shared a corresponding article for Yorkshire Evening Post.

The reporter tweeted: “Bitter blow for Mateusz Klich to miss out on the World Cup. No guarantee he’ll be in a position to make the squad in four years, depending on whether Poland qualify at all. Jesse Marsch felt his reduced role would still be sufficient for a call-up.”

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The Verdict: Gutted

Klich put side before self at Elland Road by remaining in Yorkshire, providing Marsch with an experienced option from the bench.

However, his lack of game-time this season appears to have played a part in his exclusion from Poland’s squad.

Everyone associated with the club will be gutted for Klich, who – as Donnohue mentions – may not be in a position to line out for his country at the 2026 World Cup (that’s if they qualify), by which time he will be 36.