Tag Futebol

Arsenal are facing competition over mooted transfer target Luka Jovic…

What’s the word?

Earlier this week, Spanish outlet Defensa Central reported that the Gunners were considering the Real Madrid striker as a potential replacement for Alexandre Lacazette, who seems likely to depart the Emirates Stadium at the end of his current contract.

The Frenchman is free to leave in the summer and it’s thought that manager Mikel Arteta is ‘very interested’ in the 23-year-old.

But now, according to Italian publication Calciomercato.it, Serie A champions Inter Milan have entered the equation ahead of the January transfer window.

Neither report mentions what sort of price it’ll take to secure the Serbian this winter, though Transfermarkt value him at just £18m, despite costing the La Liga side around €60m (£50.5m) in June 2019.

Alexis 2.0

The 6-foot forward would certainly be an interesting candidate to replace Lacazette in the attack, even if he’s struggled for game time at the Bernabeu, managing only 84 minutes across all competitions.

It’s easy to forget he bagged 27 goals in 48 appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt during the 2018/19 campaign, form that earned him that big-money move. But the pressure and need to instantly deliver is much bigger at a club like Madrid. It’s especially tricky when you’re the back up to Ballon d’Or contender Karim Benzema.

During his time in the Bundesliga, Jovic earned a pretty remarkable comparison to former Premier League talisman Luis Suarez, who Arsenal were once keen on signing.

“He’s a classic goal-getter with great control of the ball and a good understanding of the game. I’d probably compare him to Luis Suarez,” Serbia coach Mladen Krstajic stated in an interview with T-Online (via Bundesliga.com).

“He’s courageous and dangerous at any moment because he’s always lying in wait for his chance or any inattention from the opponent.”

That sort of description could be said for Alexis Sanchez, too, particularly after Arsene Wenger once likened the Chilean dynamo to the ex-Liverpool striker.

In Jovic, Gunners chief Edu Gaspar could find another Sanchez and one that could fill a likely void in Mikel Arteta’s attack.

Furthermore, the 18-cap Serbia international has previously been lauded as a complete centre-forward by former teammate Kevin-Prince Boateng.

“He has everything to become [a world-class striker]. You see that in training. He has football in his genes, he’s a street footballer, and he has a nose for goal,” he said. “He scores with his head, right or left foot. He is technically good and can shoot well with both feet. He just has everything a striker needs.”

Meanwhile, Jovic talks himself up to be a “fox in the box”, which is certainly an encouraging sign as a striker will need that confidence when adapting to a new league.

With Lacazette on his way out, the north London giants must mull over a bid for the Madrid outcast. If he can rediscover his goalscoring boots, then he could well excite many around the Emirates Stadium.

Just like Sanchez joining from Barcelona back in 2014, this is a move that would add a lot of threat to Arteta and his squad.

AND in other news, Forget Pepe: £36m-rated Arsenal lightweight who lost 83% duels badly let Arteta down vs Palace…

Over the years, Liverpool have secured a number of big-money transfer moves for players such as Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker and Naby Keita among others for significant amounts of money.

One transfer the club completed during that time that may not have grabbed as much attention as others is Joe Gomez, who joined the Merseyside club back in the 2015 summer transfer window from Charlton Athletic for a reported fee of £3.5m

Since then, the 24-year-old, who has been described by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp as “exceptional” and “sensational” in the past, has gone on to make 126 appearances for the Reds across all competitions, playing his part in Liverpool’s domestic and European trophy haul in recent years.

Despite this previous praise from Klopp, the fact that Gomez has only played a handful of minutes in the Premier League so far this season from two appearances off the substitutes bench says to us that he is not one of Liverpool’s first-choice centre-backs

In terms of his market value, in July 2015, shortly after joining the club, Transfermarkt had his market value listed as £2.25m, whereas it now stands at £27m, showing a massive increase and proving how much he has developed and progressed at Liverpool.

This also shows, in our view, how well Liverpool’s recruitment team worked to single him out and how much of a good deal it was from the club as a whole to secure him for such a relatively small amount.

Additionally, given how Gomez’s previous injuries have disrupted his time at the club on some occasions, we feel that his market value would be higher than it is at this point in time had he not suffered so many unfortunate injuries.

Moving forward, we feel that if Gomez can start playing regularly for the Reds in the Premier League and keep his fitness up, we feel his market value could potentially increase even further than it already has done given his age.

Also, give the age of Van Dijk (30) and Joel Matip (30) Gomez could well be seen by the coaching staff at Liverpool as a suitable long-term replacement for one of the older centre-backs for the future.

In other news: Lost possession every 3.5 touches: “Unbelievable” LFC gem enduring horror loan spell – opinion

West Ham have been handed new hope in their pursuit of former loan star Jesse Lingard after an encouraging update emerged this week…

What’s the word?

According to The Sun, Manchester United will look to sell the England international in a cut-price £15m deal this January, should he not sign a contract extension.

Lingard remained at Old Trafford to try and fight for his place under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but that hasn’t gone to plan, despite the Red Devils hierarchy offering him a new deal in the region of £135k-per-week.

United do not want to risk losing him for nothing in the summer, so they are prepared to sell him for half of what the Irons were said to be quoted (£30m) in the summer.

The 28-year-old is open to staying, having been at the club for over 20 years, but would like to be reassured about his playing time – something he may find difficult following the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho this summer.

January repeat?

It was no secret that West Ham wanted Lingard to return after a sensation loan spell last season, that much was made obvious by the management staff in the press.:

Following the final game of the season, Hammers boss David Moyes told reporters, via the Evening Standard:

“I hope Jesse’s here, we’d like to keep him, he’s done an exceptional job for us but there’s no guarantees, he’s not our player. But I hope Jesse realises we’ve been good for him as well, and that he joined a club on the up.”

That view was reinforced by his assistant Stuart Pearce right before the transfer deadline.

“We would like him to come and join us. That has been an open secret. He was wonderful last year,” he told talkSPORT before later adding: “We would like him with us, there is no doubt about that. He’s a special lad and was very good around the players – the players really like him.”

You’d imagine if there was an opportunity to sign him in the winter, the pair of them would certainly consider it, with good reason too as the English maestro contributed nine goals and five assists in just 16 appearances to help steer the east Londoners into the Europa League.

The Irons did bolster their attacking midfielder department with a considerable investment in former Everton flop Nikola Vlasic, who signed from CSKA Moscow in a €30m (£26m) deal.

But he has struggled to adapt to life back in the Premier League and looks a shadow of Lingard, in most aspects so far, having failed to contribute a single goal or assist in six outings.

Lingard would slot right back in at the London Stadium and for just £15m, it would be quite the steal and it saves the risk of him signing elsewhere, particularly abroad on a pre-contract agreement.

His game time at Old Trafford will continue to remain slim barring any major injuries or suspensions, so he would surely be open to returning to West Ham.

This latest update should leave many around east London buzzing, including Moyes and Pearce.

AND in other news, 108 touches, 82 passes: West Ham titan may be back to his best after int’l masterclass…

Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno Santo is now under intense pressure as concerns behind-the-scenes from both parties have seemingly emerged…

What’s the word?

According to Sunday Times journalist Duncan Castles, the north Londoners are already looking at potential replacements for the Portuguese, who was only appointed 91 days ago, whilst the 47-year-old himself is far from pleased with his own circumstances at the club.

Speaking on ‘The Transfer Window’ podcast this week, the reporter said:

“The information I have is that Tottenham are already considering replacements for Nuno and this is not necessarily a unilateral process, in the sense that Nuno is not happy with his own circumstances at Tottenham.

“It’s not what he expected when he came into the club, so there’s discontent on both sides.

“The most likely solution to the problem is to be hiring another new coach.”

Time running out?

Nuno wasn’t Tottenham’s first-choice to replace Jose Mourinho back in April, so it’s hardly a surprise that this relationship is heading for the rocks.

It took over 70 days to find his successor and the Lilywhites only fell on the former Wolves boss as talks with Antonio Conte, Mauricio Pochettino, Paulo Fonseca and many more fell through – or it just simply wasn’t able to happen.

They surely don’t want to risk the same scenario happening but they also cannot let this situation build up, especially as the fans are starting to turn against the manager – plenty were never even for the appointment anyway.

This major development will undoubtedly leave them a little excited as Castles not only suggests that chairman Daniel Levy and sporting director Fabio Paratici are looking for a new boss but also that Nuno himself isn’t happy, and that could make key decisions a little easier.

Spurs started the new Premier League season with three straight 1-0 victories but have since fallen to three successive defeats, all of which has seen them leak three goals, highlighting major defensive issues, on top of their problems in attack too.

No team has averaged fewer shots per game (9.3) than the north London outfit, whilst they rank second-worst for expected goals (5.47), so the brand of football on offer is hardly inspiring.

It’s no wonder much of the Hotspur faithful are against the current regime.

Spurs and Nuno appear to be hanging by a thread and with a potential banana skin in Europe on Thursday and the small matter of Aston Villa on Sunday right before the international break, we could soon see the situation come to a head.

Either way, plenty around N17 will be buzzing by this news.

AND in other news, “exciting” £26m-rated flop in danger of becoming Spurs’ next Adel Taarabt…

United Arab Emirates (UAE) captain Khurram Khan believes the time is right for cricket in the Emirates to make a long-awaited comeback from the heights it attained when they made it to the 1996 World Cup in the subcontinent.Khurram, the 37-year-old allrounder, said preparations were “going well” for the World Cup Qualifier (WCQs) in South Africa from April 1-19. “We started a couple of months ago with our new coach (former Sussex and England batsman) Colin Wells and the guys are shaping up very well. We have some new players, some youngsters in the team so it looks good for the future as well but we are ready now,” he said.Asked about their aspirations going into the big event, considering the relative strength of some of the other competing teams, Khurram said, “Our goal is to qualify for the World Cup. We have played against some of the teams such as Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands and others – they are very good teams but we are going well.”We have played some practice matches and we are also involved in the Emirates Airline Pro Arch Trophy against six English county teams taking place in the UAE. I’m sure the other teams are working hard but our preparations are going well too.”Khurram also said the sport should continue to be promoted in the UAE. “I think cricket will grow in the UAE, especially if we qualify for the World Cup. The ICC moving here is also a boost for cricket in the UAE as is the completion of the cricket stadium in Dubai Sports City and the ICC Global Cricket Academy. So cricket is developing here day by day.”Cricket has a huge following in the UAE especially if you take the big expatriate populations from places like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. For locals it’s not the No. 1 sport but there are many local people who play the game and that number is increasing,” he said.UAE are in Group B which includes Bermuda, Kenya, Netherlands, Afghanistan, and Denmark and they open their campaign against Bermauda in Potchefstroom on April 1.They qualified for the 1996 edition after winning the ICC Trophy (as it was then known) in 1993-94, defeating Kenya in the final. There was plenty of drama in the last qualifiers, when they narrowly missed out on making it to the 2007 tournament in West Indies when the lost to Netherlands in the fifth-sixth playoff match, thereby missing out on the last qualification spot.

MatériaMais Notícias

A negociação pela permanência de Pablo terá um novo capítulo na segunda-feira, quando o empresário do jogador se reunirá novamente com a diretoria do Corinthians. Após dizer no dia 2 de julho que a chance de ficar é de “99,9%”, o defensor voltou a mostrar otimismo.

– Posso dizer que vai dar tudo certo, tenho certeza. A diretoria está tratando de uma forma bem bacana, da minha parte e do meu empresário também – disse Pablo, depois do clássico contra o Palmeiras.

Não é só Pablo que está otimista. Na última terça-feira, o presidente do Timão, Roberto de Andrade, disse que faltava “pouco” para o acerto. O Corinthians precisa pagar 3 milhões de euros (cerca de R$ 11 milhões) ao Bordeaux (FRA), dono dos direitos econômicos, para garantir a permanência do zagueiro após o fim do período de empréstimo, em dezembro deste ano. Como o Timão rejeitou a oferta de venda casada do clube francês pelo lateral-esquerdo Guilherme Arana, a negociação é tratada de forma independente.

Há duas semanas, Fernando César, empresário de Pablo, já havia se reunido com o diretor de futebol Flávio Adauto e com o gerente de futebol Alessandro Nunes. Com as partes confiantes, o encontro na segunda-feira pode selar a permanência do zagueiro.

Contratado no início deste ano, Pablo é um dos principais destaques do Corinthians e tem 37 jogos, todos como titular, e dois gols. Ele é dúvida para o próximo duelo, porque sentiu a coxa direita no clássico contra o Palmeiras e será avaliado nesta quinta-feira.

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Tudo sobre

BordeauxCorinthians

Kevin Campbell has claimed that Leeds United “could still sign” Huddersfield Town midfielder Lewis O’Brien despite him recently signing a new contract with the Championship side.

What’s the story?

Reports over the course of the summer transfer window suggested O’Brien featured prominently on Marcelo Bielsa’s side’s shortlist, but a deal failed to materialise before the deadline, with suggestions that the Whites’ final offer failed to meet Huddersfield’s demands.

Since then, the 22-year-old has put pen to paper on a new contract to stay with the Terriers, but Campbell has been quick to insist that it may not stop a move to Elland Road in the near future.

He said: “No, no, he could still sign for Leeds next year. He has signed a new contract to up his money and make sure that Huddersfield can get the fee that they want. If Leeds come in they are going to have to come in correct.

“At the end of the day it is easy to say he shouldn’t have signed a new contract but if Leeds really want him they will come in with a bid that satisfies Huddersfield. Listen, he has done the right thing by signing a new contract. If Leeds want him they will get him. Let’s see how it goes.”

Second time lucky for Leeds

Having refused to kowtow to Huddersfield’s asking price for O’Brien, knowledge that the midfielder has signed a new contract with the club shouldn’t be something to overly disappoint Leeds fans.

As Campbell says, if the Whites feel they need the 22-year-old, then a potential move for him could be on the cards in the January transfer window.

A new contract has simply protected O’Brien’s value from Huddersfield’s perspective, but what it doesn’t do, is make him untouchable when it comes to selling him.

Victor Orta and co will surely know what the asking price is for the midfielder given the fact they reportedly had four bids for him rejected, and it will be more a case of whether Bielsa feels he needs his club’s transfer chiefs to push the boat out a little more to strengthen his options.

It could well be second time lucky for Leeds.

Meanwhile, Phil Hay has delivered his verdict on Leeds’ transfer business…

MatériaMais Notícias

Depois de serem bastantes criticados pela falta de gols do ataque, Rodrigo Pimpão e Roger desencantaram na vitória do último final de semana, contra a Chapecoense. A dupla de frente alvinegra iniciou e concluiu as jogadas dos dois tentos alvinegros em Chapecó, diminuindo a pressão pela efetividade ofensiva e ganhando moral para o clássico de quarta, contra o Vasco, no Nilton Santos.

No primeiro, Pimpão iniciou a jogada com o lançamento para Bruno Silva, que terminou com a assistência dele para Roger. No segundo tento, o centroavante tabelou com Arnaldo, que cruzou para o outro completar com a barriga.

– A gente é cobrado, na minha situação sou cobrado por isso. Mas pouca gente vê o outro lado, da característica do jogador. O Roger saiu dela, se doando para a equipe… entrega tática, marcação… mas somos cobrados como atacantes. É natural. Nesse jogo, nós fomos felizes. E que possamos fazer mais gols dentro do campeonato – comemorou Rodrigo Pimpão na entrevista coletiva de ontem.

Quem também celebrou a eficiência do setor de frente no triunfo foi o técnico Jair Ventura, que ainda lembrou da forte pressão criada em cima dos atacantes.

– Quando você não vence no futebol, começam alguns fantasmas. “O time está tomando muito gol, os atacantes não marcam gol”. Quebramos mais um tabu, vencemos a forte equipe da Chape jogando na casa deles, e os meus dois atacantes fizeram gols – ressaltou o técnico Jair Ventura sobre a dupla de frente.

Nas redes sociais alvinegras, os pedidos por reforços para o ataque são quase que frequentes. Enquanto isso, a dupla titular se sustenta e ganha pontos com a boa exibição no domingo. Agora, o objetivo é seguir forte contra o Vasco.

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According to a report by Centotrentuno (via Sport Witness), Cagliari midfielder Nahitan Nandez is now ‘at the top of [Fabio] Paratici’s wishlist’ and it is believed the player is now open to joining Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lowdown: Spurs in Nandez chase…

There have been no shortage of claims over the past week linking Tottenham with a swoop for the Uruguay international.

Fabrizio Romano and Sky Sports are just two reliable sources who say Spurs are indeed eyeing a swoop for Nandez as they make an approach to Calgliari.

Meanwhile, Calciomercato state that Paratici has even made an offer to sign him on loan with an obligation to buy – an operation totalling around €30 million (£25.5m).

Now, another claim from Italy has emerged with Paratici now seemingly pinpointing Nandez as a priority target.

The Latest: Nandez ‘top of Paratici’s wish list’…

As per Centorentuno (via Sport Witness), the Italian transfer chief has placed Nandez at the top of his wishlist this summer and a Tottenham bid could come soon.

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Spurs are apparently very keen on signing the 25-year-old this summer and ‘confirmations from London are constant’ over the player.

It is said that the Lilywhites are ‘attracted by the versatility and characteristics’ of Nandez that ‘perfectly match the style of the team’.

In another enticing claim, Centorentuno believe that the midfield ace ‘would like’ Spurs as a viable destination and wouldn’t say no to a move.

The Verdict: Get it done…

The 41-cap star could certainly come as a real bargain for Spurs and Paratici, especially considering he can also play as a right-wing back and solve their lack of depth defensively on that side.

This report claims Spurs could seal a move to sign Nandez for just a paid loan of €10 million (£8.5m) with a future fee of €15-20 million (£12.7m-£17m) – arguably pocket change for a player who has been called ‘powerful’ and a ‘machine’ by Serie A critics (Conor Clancy to This is Futbol).

At just 25, Nandez also holds the potential for plenty of sell-on value in years to come.

In other news: Nuno U-turn: Spurs pull plug on move away for player as source shares news, find out more here.

أكدت تقارير صحفية فرنسية، أن نادي باريس سان جيرمان قد توصل إلى اتفاق مع مدربه الأرجنتيني، ماوريسيو بوتشيتينو، للرحيل عن تدريب الفريق.

بوتشيتينو كان تولى تدريب باريس سان جيرمان قبل عامين، والأرجنتيني لديه عقد ينتهي في 30 يونيو 2023.

ولا تُريد إدارة باريس سان جيرمان الإبقاء على بوتشيتينو، بعد أن أقصى من مسابقة دوري أبطال أوروبا، حيث ودع الفريق المسابقة القارية من دور الـ16.

اقرأ أيضًا.. والد نيمار يوضح موقفه من الرحيل عن باريس سان جيرمان والعودة للبرازيل

وحسب صحيفة “ليكيب” الفرنسية، فإن باريس سان جيرمان توصل إلى اتفاق مع بوتشيتينو بشأن رحيله وطاقمه بعد أسبوعين من المفاوضات.

وأوضحت أن تم التوصل إلى تسوية بين بوتشيتينو وإدارة باريس سان جيرمان، بأن يحصل المدرب الأرجنتيني على مبلغ 10 ملايين يورو، للرحيل قبل عام من نهاية عقده.

تلك الخطوة، تفتح الباب حول إطفاء الطابع الرسمي على تعيين الفرنسي، كريستوف جالتيير مديرًا فنيًا للنادي الباريسي، بعد رحيله عن صفوف نيس.