All posts by h716a5.icu

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A summer of uncertainty is surely looming for Alfredo Morelos and Rangers, but what is the minimum the Gers should accept if they are to sell the Colombian international?

Steven Gerrard and the club have already started preparations for the next campaign, officially agreeing a deal for Jake Hastie this week.

Morelos could well go in the other direction though, as a report this week from The Express claimed the striker is on “thin ice” after his red card in the last Old Firm clash with Celtic.

But what price tag should the club stick on their 29-goal front man? A few of our writers at Football FanCast have given their verdicts down below…

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

Matt Dawson

“It’ll be incredibly interesting to see who comes for Morelos should he be put on the market. On his day, he’s a phenomenal player but his horrendous disciplinary record means Rangers should accept just about any offer that comes in. However, a sensible fee for the player would be something around the £15m-£20m mark. With that, Rangers could make mass improvements to the squad and the title will be much closer.”

Luke Glanville

“Morelos is perhaps Rangers’ most important player, and Steven Gerrard will undoubtedly do everything in his power to try to keep the Colombian this summer. However, if they can’t then the club needs to make sure they get the right price for him. All things considered, this should be no less than £30m in today’s inflated transfer market. By setting £30m as their asking price, the Gers would be giving themselves a win-win scenario. If someone meets that price, they’ll get a welcome cash injection. If not, they’ll get to keep their star man, a player who’s imperative to their chances of challenging Celtic next season.”

Billy Meyers

“Morelos is basically Rangers’ best player and their main source of goals, so anything under £30m in this day and age shouldn’t even be considered by Steven Gerrard. Even despite his woeful disciplinary record, there will be clubs willing to pay that somewhere, seeing as players such as Christian Benteke have gone for similar fees. A player of his pedigree, and at an age where he can only get better, is definitely worth that sum of money in this market.”

Champions League hero Divock Origi set to be rewarded by Klopp with a new contract. What a sentence that is. 

Indeed, not too long ago it seemed like Belgian forward Origi was spending his final days at Liverpool, but now he is scoring vital goals against Barcelona in the Champions League, and a brand spanking new deal is set to be handed to him because of it.

Alongside Georginio Wijnaldum, Origi was the difference during Tuesday night’s insane Anfield comeback against Barcelona as he scored twice – the first and the last – to send the Reds into the Champions League final.

Now according to the Daily Star, Liverpool are hoping to offer the 24-year-old new terms.

Origi only has 12 months on his current deal and rejected the opportunity to leave Anfield in January after making just one starting appearances in the first half of the campaign. But his resilience has finally paid dividends.

To give Origi a new deal would be a very positive move on Klopp’s part. The 24-year-old has shown in recent weeks that he has the passion and drive necessary to make it in the German’s Liverpool squad going forwards, and his willingness to sit on the bench and wait for his opportunity is something a manager will rarely find in a top quality player.

What a squad this is. Barely played all season? Doesn’t matter. 3-0 down to Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final? Good, makes for a far better story.

Klopp, with his FSG backers, has built a squad to be marvelled.

Indeed, with the greatest of respect to Origi he is the ultimate back-up player. Someone who won’t give the manager a headache, but also provide the goods when it is asked of him. And it really is testament to how well Klopp runs the club that players are willing to do that for him.

Frankly, Liverpool are an example to everyone in the league should heed heading into next season.

Liverpool fans, how happy are you to see Origi sign a new contract? Would you rather dip back into the transfer market? Let us know in the comments below!

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Leeds will be headed into the playoff final second leg against Derby without Kemar Roofe after it was revealed a calf problem will cause him to miss the game.

If he is able to return for the final at Wembley he must start, but that isn’t to say Patrick Bamford shouldn’t as well.

Roofe would’ve played

Despite Bamford’s impeccable minutes-to-goals ratio in the Championship this season, Roofe would have been set to retain his starting spot in Wednesday’s game at Elland Road.

The 26-year-old netted in the first leg of the tie, taking his record against Derby County this season to four goals in three games.

Leeds’ top scorer seems to have the Rams’ number this season but injury has seen him ruled out of the second leg, although Bielsa didn’t rule him out of the final.

Start them both in the final

Playoffs often come down to who wants it more, and Bamford has the motivation to get one over the Whites’ potential final opponents Aston Villa.

The former Middlesbrough man was banned for two games after an altercation between Leeds and Villa players, and there may be no better team for Bamford to start against.

Although if Roofe is back from injury he can also be utilised as a number 10, and with Tyler Roberts also out injured there is a spot to fill as an attacking midfielder.

During his last appearance as an attacking midfielder the striker picked up an injury that would see him miss almost six weeks of action, but during Leeds’ 2-1 win against Swansea, the former West Brom man looked like he was enjoying playing in that position.

Bielsa has a great chance to take advantage of Bamford’s extra incentive against Aston Villa whilst not losing Roofe’s influence on the pitch.

It is unknown whether or not Leeds’ number seven will be back for the final but if he is both men should start, with Roofe playing behind Bamford as he did earlier in the season.

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Christian Eriksen has been included in two separate Teams of the Decade, as selected journalists of The Times.

Both Oliver Kay and James Gheerbrant, journalists of excellent renown, have selected the Denmark international: Kay in a 4-4-2 formation alongside Yaya Toure and Gheerbrant in a 4-3-3 alongside both David Silva and N’Golo Kante.

Now, opinions are opinions and that’s fine; everyone has one and one of the great things in football is debating with other supporters.

But selecting Eriksen in a Team of the Decade, from 2009 to 2019, is genuinely ridiculous.

There are a number of possibilities that Kay and Gheerbrant could have explored: Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, the jewel in perhaps the best team ever seen in the Premier League, Steven Gerrard, who almost dragged a Liverpool team to the title under Brendan Rodgers, Frank Lampard, still in his pomp in the 2010s, or Cesc Fabregas, a star at both Chelsea and Arsenal.

But, no, they selected Eriksen.

Let’s examine this a bit. Now, clearly, he is an elite midfielder. He has the ability to pick the lock for Spurs from midfield and he has youth on his side but has he ever once been the best central midfielder in the Premier League? The answer to that question simply has to be no.

Eriksen has not won a trophy during his time at Spurs; he could win the Champions League on June 1 but that would be the sole reward for a six-year spell at Spurs.

He has never once had the most assists in the Premier League; in his time at the club, Gerrard, Fabregas, Mesut Ozil, De Bruyne (twice) and Eden Hazard all topped the assist charts. Eriksen came second in both 2016/17 and 2015/16 but is that a legacy?

He has never even been close to winning the Golden Boot. He has never really been close to winning the Premier League, either, despite Spurs running both Leicester City and Chelsea close.

It begs the question as to the criterion laid out by The Times for their selections but neither Kay nor Gheerbrant decide to explain the selection in the actual article.

Perhaps he is just their favourite player, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But to include him in a Team of the Decade is ridiculous; perhaps, as is more likely, they just couldn’t think of anyone else.

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Liverpool are one of three English sides chasing Ibrahima Konate, according to reports.

What’s the story?

Well, Euro United, via Sport Witness, claim that Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool are all vying to sign the young defender.

The 19 year-old had a fantastic breakout season with Red Bull Leipzig, racking up 42 appearances in all competitions with three goals.

The report from Sport Witness suggests the Bundesliga outfit would like to hang on to Konate for another season, so we could well see the Reds make a move and then loan him back for a campaign, as they did with Divock Origi back in 2014.

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

Mini Matip?

A swoop for Konate would be yet more smart business from Liverpool. Since Michael Edwards and Jurgen Klopp arrived at the club, the pair have carefully hand-picked every single transfer target, and they are usually young, physically dominant and comfortable on the ball.

Konate ticks all of these boxes, and may even remind the Anfield crowd of a certain Joel Matip, as the teenager loves to roam forward from defence with the ball at his feet.

Of course, Konate is not going to walk in and dislodge any of the current centre back options on offer to Klopp, but the 19 year-old has more than held his own in the Bundesliga, and could easily become third-choice behind Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez before too long.

He had one of his finest performances of the season in a recent 0-0 draw against Bayern Munich, winning two tackles and making six clearances, while counterpart Robert Lewandowski managed just one shot and a horrific 64% pass completion rate, per Whoscored.

Excellent recent transfer business has transformed Liverpool, and snatching Konate from the grasps of two of their “big six” rivals but would be a fine way to kick off the summer.

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Liverpool fans are very proud of an unofficial study that revealed they are the Premier League’s most disliked team.

The Reds seem to have drawn the ire of pretty much every fan base in the country this season, with many neutral fans adopting the “anyone but them” policy.

Jurgen Klopp has transformed Liverpool from a laughing stock into one of the most dominant teams in Europe, but until they win some silverware to back it up the questions will still be raised and rival fans will still get their laughs.

It is the Anfield faithful laughing at the moment though, after The Daily Mail shared a study of over 26,000 chants that revealed the Reds have over 50 songs sung about them by rival teams.

Leeds United take the cake with 117 songs aimed at them, per the study from FanChants, but no top flight outfit comes close to Liverpool.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where the Reds faithful are absolutely delighted to hear they are getting on everyone’s nerves…

Obviously, Everton need talent good enough to lead the club into Europe, but Shinji Kagawa just isn’t the sort of player to drag them to success.

Indeed, Ruhr Machrichten have claimed the Japanese attacking midfielder could be on the way to Goodison Park this summer, but the move would be a waste of money for the Toffees and hopefully, Marcel Brands realises this before it’s too late.

Despite playing for both Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League once upon a time, he’s not the type to grab a team by the scruff of the neck and lead them to that level. He’s more of a follower and, at this stage of their project, the Merseyside outfit certainly have enough of them.

The last few years haven’t held the success he found earlier in his career either. He’s now playing for Besiktas in Turkey and has scored just four times and assisted twice in 14 appearances, which proves he’s nowhere near good enough for Everton’s project.

Frankly, he can only dream of being as good as Gylfi Sigurdsson, the current incumbent of the number 10 berth for the Toffees.

With a stadium (yes, we know) on the way and an attacking style in mind, Marco Silva surely must reach Europe within the next five years minimum. To that end, he needs to invest in a central defender and a prolific striker and there’s just no need to waste money on a has-been like Kagawa.

He’s 30-years-old and will soon lose his sharpness (if he hasn’t already), so it’s not worth his wages even though he’s available on a free. Everton need to either find a young player to grow into the role or one in his prime who can lead the club to Europe.

Sadly, Kagawa is neither.

Everton fans, who do you think your club should sign this summer? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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Robbie Neilson reckons right-back George Baldock can be a success at Celtic if he moves there this summer, as reported by The Daily Record.

What’s he said?

As reported by The Daily Mail this week, the Hoops have opened talks on a potential deal for the player ahead of the new season.

Neilson was Baldock’s manager for a short time when they were both at MK Dons, before a move to Sheffield United for the defender in 2017.

He’s able to give good insight into how the player might fit in at Celtic and the Scottish game, currently plying his trade as Dundee United boss and having managed Hearts in the past.

Neilson is a big fan of the Sheffield United man and feels his attacking ambition could make him a hit at Celtic Park.

Keith from C’mon the Hoops throws back to the ‘Battle of Britain’ from the 2003 UEFA Cup quarter-finals in the video below…

As quoted by The Daily Record, he explained:

“George was a terrific player for me at MK Dons. I was gutted when he had to sell him.

“I was desperate to keep him but the chairman did the deal that saw him move to Sheffield United. He had to go and that was one of the biggest disappointments of my spell as MK Dons manager.

“My time with George was very brief but it was great while it lasted. He was a star in that MK Dons team.

“He is a very athletic player, has a superb attitude and works really hard at his game. He is a very good footballer and he would fit in well at Celtic.

“George’s biggest strength is he possesses real quality going forward. He is also very competitive, which is another attribute I’m sure the Celtic supporters will like about him.”

The right profile

Neilson’s assessment of Baldock certainly does sound exciting for Celtic fans, who have been craving a more dynamic option to Mikael Lustig at right-back for months now.

If he indeed does possess that quality moving forward with the ball then he’ll be well on his way to being a successful Hoops signing.

Celtic are a team that dominate possession and often have the opposition penned into their own box. That usually gives the full-backs great opportunities to find space and combine with wingers and if Baldock already relishes that kind of action then he could be the perfect fit.

At 26 years of age he is also coming into his prime and that’s what Neil Lennon needs this summer – hungry players in their prime who can help deliver trophy success.

It’s a big summer ahead for West Ham, who obviously look to push on from their tenth-placed finish last season. Three wins from their last three games saw them finish on a more than satisfactory 52 points, just five away from seventh and a spot in Europe and the ambition must be to challenge for the Europa League.

Indeed, with a 60,000 seat stadium, the foundations are set for bigger things, but it will take a touch more investment.

A man who appears to be on his way in is 23-year-old Villareal midfielder Pablo Fornals. Sky Sports have reported a £25m deal is close, while Claret and Hugh reported the deal has actually been completed.

So, let’s have a look at this seemingly inbound midfielder. The youngster worked under West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini at Malaga, who has reportedly been interested in bringing Fornals to the club since 2017.  On his Twitter, @GuillemBalague stated that the midfielder is a genius when it comes to passing and drives with the ball at high quality. He also stated the midfielder suffered with lapses in concentration, but added it’s something that can comfortably be eradicated. 

Lauded by ESPN in 2017 for his ability to operate as a No.10, the midfielder’s dribbling ability is also noted. So, with that in mind, a player who should perhaps be concerned is Manuel Lanzini. Yes, he’s been on his way back from a major injury but Fornals is looking like an upgrade.

When compared to the Spaniard, he on average had fewer shots, completed less key passes and was fouled less. Obviously, the return from injury is going to muddle the stats a little bit but it’s hard to doubt Fornals’ quality.

The Argentinian has struggled immensely with injuries since his 2015 signing, with 10 different lay-offs, including rupturing cruciate ligaments that saw him out for 229 days (as per TransferMarkt). With reinforcements now potentially coming in, Lanzini will have to prove his fitness, or risk becoming an outcast at the club.

West Ham fans, what do you think? Should Lanzini be concerned? How good of a signing do you think Fornals will turn out to be? Comment below. 

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Harry Maguire and Manchester United are a romantic tale of old. These two were linked with each other last year and the same story seems to be happening all over again, BBC report in their transfer update. After failing to secure this signing the last summer, Maguire ended up penning a new contract with Leicester City. However, BBC continue to report that the 26-year-old is still very much on United’s radar as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen on strengthening his central defensive zones. If those reports are to be believed, and if United are to push for the transfer, it could make for a very good bit of business on their end. Here are two main reasons why they should splash the cash for Maguire.

Value for money

Maguire has been the man of the hour since the 2018 World Cup in Russia where he stood out in a pretty successful England squad and was branded a proper revelation. Ever since then, the interest in the lad has increased and he’s grown to become a well-known player around the globe. That, and his new contract signed last year, pretty much jacked up his price which was initially around £70m, BBC claim. That was probably the main reason United backed away from the deal. Now, though, he looks well worth it.

Last season, he averaged a tackle and 4.5 clearances per game. His passing was also pretty impressive, with his accuracy being 86.1%. But that’s not the only thing that makes him a good defender and footballer. His physical presence, as well as a knack for the offensive with an occasional dribble and three assists in the league, has made him look like the real deal. He’s also both adept at keeping his net safe and the opposition’s under threat. Currently, he’s valued at £45m by Transfermarkt, but Leicester could definitely ask for more and it’s even been reported the price could reach a figure as high as £90m. But even so, it would be cash well spent.

Could Harry Maguire be on his way to Old Trafford? Check out the video below to see why it would make so much sense…

United need defenders, fast

And if this somehow hasn’t been emphasised enough just yet, Manchester United are leaking too many goals and are defensively nowhere near as solid as a big team should be. Whether this is down to their troops not being good enough or down to bad management, is still not completely clear, but they need a fix, and they need it soon. Their reported targeting of Maguire means they are aware of the problem, which is good, but simply being aware is not going to solve their problems. They need to act and do it fast.

Last season alone, they conceded 54 goals, which puts them right in the middle of the table when compared to the rest of the Premier League teams. But if they want to improve and contest for the title in the future, being in the middle of the table in anything won’t cut it anymore.