All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has dropped an injury update concerning Pascal Struijk.

What’s the latest?

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Whites’ trip to Manchester City on Tuesday evening, the 66-year-old Leeds manager revealed that, despite recovering from a hip injury, the 22-year-old missed the 3-2 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday with a fresh injury to his knee – something that will keep the former Netherlands youth international sidelined this evening.

On the current condition of Struijk, Bielsa said: “He’s not going to be available. Pascal’s injury is not very frequent. An explosive movement made two bones in his feet collide together.

“That does not generate an injury, nor an articulation or muscular. It has the effect of a knock on his bone. That generates pain. Until that pain disappears it’s going to prevent him from playing. Sincerely, in my whole career, I have never seen an injury like that.”

Fans will be terrified

Considering that Struijk is becoming an increasingly important player within Marcelo Bielsa’s first-team squad at Elland Road, coupled with the fact that the Whites are currently in the midst of a rather severe injury crisis, the news that the defender will once again be out of action against the reigning Premier League champions on Tuesday night will undoubtedly terrify fans of the club.

Indeed, over his 12 league appearances so far this season, the £8.1m-rated man has made an average of 1.6 interceptions, 2.3 tackles, 1.4 clearances and has won 3.8 duels per game.

These returns have seen the centre-back average a SofaScore match rating of 6.79, ranking him as Bielsa’s 14th-best performer in the top flight of English football.

As such, with fellow centre-backs Robin Koch and Liam Cooper also currently out of action due to injury, as well as defensive midfielder Kalvin Phillips, Bielsa has once again been left with very limited options in the heart of his defence for the trip to the Eithad, something that does not bode well whatsoever for Leeds’ chances of getting anything out of the game.

In other news: Bielsa must now unleash “predatorial” £16.5k-p/w LUFC dynamo, he’d give Pep nightmares

Lee Ryder has dropped some enticing insight from the Premier League on the potential takeover of Newcastle United ahead of their arbitration case.

The Lowdown: Arbitration soon

The arbitration hearing between the Magpies and the Premier League over the failed deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group is set to take place in the coming months.

The chief executive of Sports Direct has also launched a separate anti-competition claim against the division with regards to their decision-making process in nixing the bid.

The Latest: Premier League insight

Writing in his latest piece for The Chronicle, Ryder has shared that the Premier League are set to deny that they blocked the proposed takeover on Tyneside by the KSA consortium last summer.

This is a big claim by the Premier League ahead of arbitration, and it’s a topic which is set to be discussed ahead of the final verdict.

The Verdict: Enticing

The fact that the Premier League are set to deny blocking the proposed deal is certainly enticing going into the arbitration case, as it seems that neither side is backing down.

The results of the hearing should paint a much clearer picture over whether or not the potential takeover can be revived, but it would require full cooperation from all parties involved.

Nonetheless, Newcastle will be hoping that the results go in their favour. If so, the takeover process could be accelerated in what is not an ideal period for them in the middle of the summer transfer window and with the new 2021/22 season set to start in August.

In other news, find out what potential transfer blow NUFC have been dealt in pursuit of this ‘outstanding’ target

After coming off the bench to make a couple of promising cameos in recent weeks, it’s surely time for Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa to unleash Ian Poveda in the Premier League.

The Whites take on Brighton away from home on Saturday afternoon, and Bielsa will have some big calls to make, not least between Poveda and Helder Costa.

The latter has been in shocking form for a few weeks now, and his blank against Manchester United last time out saw him extend his run of games without a goal in the top flight to eight.

In fact, after seeing what Poveda produced after coming on as a substitute for Costa against Liverpool, former Leeds striker Noel Whelan made it clear that the young winger must “come before” the 27-year-old now.

He told Football Insider: “There is something there that is not right because Poveda came on and did more in that short time than Costa did in the 60 minutes he was on the field.

“He is fourth in the pecking order in terms of wingers for me. Poveda has to come before him now. He is direct, exciting and wants to take people on. He wants to do his job as a winger and Costa does not. He plays it safe and he’s negative. At least Poveda runs at people. He is positive and that is what a winger should do. Costa has been a massive flop. A real disappointment again.”

Paul Robinson added to the £10,000-a-week forward’s admirers, saying last year: “I think we’re going to see Poveda come through next season. Leeds have signed him for a reason, Bielsa knows he’s a top, top player.”

As Whelan says, Poveda’s directness could be exactly what Leeds need to unlock Brighton’s defence, and if he is given a rare opportunity to start from the off, would surely want to make his mark. Indeed, all 12 of his league appearances this term have been from the bench.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read the latest Leeds transfer rumours and news!”]

Bielsa just needs to give him a chance to shine, and a clash against Brighton would offer him exactly that. He could well be Leeds’ game-changer on the day.

Meanwhile, Leeds can finally bin this “liability”…

Ashley Preece has corroborated reports of Aston Villa being interested in Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips. 

The lowdown

Jonathan Northcroft of The Times claimed in March that Villa were ‘leading the race’ to sign Phillips.

And transfer insider Dean Jones has since described him as Steven Gerrard’s ‘number one target in that area of the field’.

Phillips is approaching the final two years of his contract with The Whites, the only senior side he’s played for.

Manchester United could compete with Villa with his signature, with the MEN reporting that they’ve already begun working on a move.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/aston-villa-latest-developments/” title=”Aston Villa latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The latest

A supporter asked Preece in a Birmingham Live Q & A whether there is ‘any truth’ in the links.

The journalist replied that ‘Villa’s interest in real’ and that ‘they have been quoted £60million’ by Leeds.

His personal prediction is that Phillips will remain at Elland Road ‘for at least another season’, but it remains to be seen as and when The Villans test the waters with a bid.

The verdict

To emphasise just how a big signing this could be, let’s look at Villa’s existing transfer record.

The most they’ve ever paid to sign a player is £34.6million. That’s what it took to sign Emiliano Buendia from Norwich City last summer.

If Villa cave to Leeds’ demands here, and they might have to given the competition, they could nearly double that benchmark.

It’s clear that Gerrard wants to sign a midfielder this summer, with Preece noting that the likes of Ibrahim Sangare, Boubacar Kamara and Geoffrey Kondogbia have all been considered too. But Phillips, an ‘extraordinary’ talent in the eyes of former England boss Fabio Capello, has the advantage of Premier League experience.

In other news, read this journalist’s reaction to a big Villa transfer update.

Marcel Brands can look to save Everton millions of pounds in the summer transfer market by urging Carlo Ancelotti to use Joao Virginia over signing SSC Napoli’s Alex Meret.

The Toffees have been linked with a potential move to sign Meret at the end of the season amid doubt in his future at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

Meret is thought to have grown somewhat unsettled in southern Italy as Gennaro Gattuso has shown a preference in ex-Arsenal shot-stopper David Ospina.

Ancelotti was claimed to be showing a strong interest in being reunited with Meret following his time in Naples as Everton are likely to be in the market for a new goalkeeper this summer, with doubt in AS Roma loanee Robin Olsen sealing a permanent move from the Serie A side after his home was recently broken into by machete-wielding burglars.

Ancelotti had been keen to agree on a deal with Roma to sign Olsen permanently, as the Sweden international has kept Jordan Pickford on his toes by offering the Italian an option to rotate his choice between the sticks.

That choice may soon be unavailable and in his place could sit Meret, with Il Romanista claiming that the Italian wants out but that a move to Roma – where he sits atop of Paulo Fonseca’s shopping list – is challenging as Napoli would demand no less than €20m (£17m).

Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis had been behind Meret’s move to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in 2018 when he paid SPAL €22m (£19m) and in doing so, went against Ancelotti’s wishes as he wanted the signing of Alphonse Areola instead.

Everton’s Director of Football, Brands, should now do the opposite of De Laurentiis and overlook a deal for Meret, and urge Ancelotti to use Virginia as Pickford’s understudy if a deal for Olsen cannot be agreed.

Virginia delivered an impressive performance against Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final last weekend, with the Portugal U21 international producing a number of pivotal saves to keep Everton in the tie until the closing stages.

It was a remarkable showing from the 21-year-old who had only played 137 minutes of first-team football for Everton previously, having been given an unscheduled Premier League debut against Burnley a week prior following an abdominal injury for Pickford.

Virginia was undoubtedly one of Everton’s stars of the day, having pulled off a fantastic fingertip save to push Raheem Sterling’s effort around the post. He smothered most of what the Citizens threw at him, in fact, until Ilkay Gundogan headed home in the 84th minute.

Ancelotti was pleased with Virginia’s efforts, telling BT Sport via quotes by The Guardian after the game: “Virginia did really well. He has no experience, but he is quality. I think he deserves the compliments.”

And the compliments kept coming, with Ben Godfrey telling EvertonTV: “I was massively impressed by his performance. He works hard every day in training.

“Some of the saves he made to keep us in the game were outstanding. I’m over the moon for him and, as long as he keeps working hard and trying to improve, then there will be plenty more appearances to come.”

Brands should urge Ancelotti to ensure Godfrey’s prophesy comes true, as Virginia is surely now a no-brainer that could emerge as the Italian’s Olsen replacement and save Everton millions of pounds.

AND in other news, an “exceptional” Everton figure is being eyed by a Premier League rival…

Leeds United are closing in on a deal to bring Nahitan Nandez to Elland Road this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian publication Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness), who claim that Marcelo Bielsa’s side are very close to completing a deal for the Cagliari Calcio central midfielder, with the Whites having only a few details to sort out before the 25-year-old makes a move to the Premier League club.

The report goes on to state that, despite both Inter Milan and ACF Fiorentina believed to be keen on the Uruguay international, neither side have made a concrete offer for Nandez, leaving Leeds with something of a clear run at the £19.8m-rated man, who is thought to have a €36m (£31m) release clause in his Cagliari contract.

Bielsa will be buzzing

Considering just how impressive Nandez was for Cagliari last season, in addition to how important the midfielder has been for Uruguay at this summer’s Copa America, the news that Leeds appear close to getting a deal over the line for the 25-year-old is sure to have left Bielsa buzzing.

Indeed, over his 32 Serie A appearances for Leonardo Semplici’s side last term, the industrious midfielder made an average of 0.7 interceptions, 1.8 tackles, 1.5 clearances and won 6.1 duels per game.

The £42k-per-week man also impressed for his side in an attacking capacity, scoring two goals, registering two assists and creating four big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of one key pass per league fixture.

These returns saw Nandez earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.80, ranking him as Cagliari’s 11th-best performer in the Italian top flight, playing a huge role in ensuring the Sardinian side retained their status as a Serie A team.

The 25-year-old has also featured in every game for Oscar Tabarez’s Uruguay side at the Copa America this summer, making an average of 1.7 tackles and winning an average of 5.7 duels over his three appearances in the competition, averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.77, helping his side progress to the knockout stages with one group game to spare.

Aside from his impressive displays for club and country, another reason as to why Nandez would be a smart signing for Leeds is the fact that Bielsa currently has no real backup for Kalvin Phillips in the middle of the park, an issue which must be addressed this summer if the Whites wish to push on from their impressive ninth-place finish last season.

As such, if Leeds are indeed close to getting a deal over the line for the man whom Serie A expert Conor Clancy dubbed a “powerful” midfielder and a “machine” this summer, he would appear to be a brilliant first signing of the window for Victor Orta to bring into the club.

In other news: Leeds could strike gold with powerful £17m-rated beast tipped to be “one of the best”

Leeds United transfer target Noni Madueke would represent a massive upgrade on Helder Costa amid speculation over a summer move to Elland Road.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent days have suggested that Marcelo Bielsa’s side have reignited their interest in the PSV Eindhoven winger after some third-party discussions, with the Whites given encouragement that the Dutch outfit will lower their asking price.

Football Insider’s report stated: “United are looking at the England Under-21 international as they look to recruit a wide attacker capable of competing for a first-team slot in Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

Far better than Helder Costa

With nine goals and eight assists in all competitions last season, Madueke really took his game to another level with PSV in 2020/21, so much so that he earned a call-up to the England under-21 setup, where then-manager Aidy Boothroyd talked up his potential.

The 50-year-old said: “He’s certainly a very talented young man, really excited to be called up by the Under 21s, and a little bit like Phil (Foden) last time, nobody had really heard of him until he came and played in the tournament.

“They knew a little bit about him but that set him off on a trajectory and we’re hoping Noni can create even more positive attention for the way that they play.”

Roger Schmidt, his manager at club level, has been equally effusive in his praise of the 1.82m (6 foot) winger, saying: “He is able to read situations, get to the right positions and be in the right place. He has a good sense of that, with his timing, and, technically, he has the skills when one-on-one.”

Costa, on the other hand, showed virtually nothing last season to suggest he’ll be a key player for Bielsa going forward, managing just three goals all term.

Not only did Madueke triple that number of goals, doing the same in terms of assists, but his key attacking metrics were all far better than Costa’s as well.

As per Whoscored, the PSV starlet averaged more shots, key passes, dribbles and crosses per game, while also recording more passes per match at a far better pass accuracy than Costa.

While Madueke’s stats have to be tempered due to him playing in the Eredivisie, there’s no questioning that he’s someone who takes responsibility for his team and is always looking to try and make things happen, which is more than be said for Costa.

It’s no surprise that Leeds are eyeing a move for the young English starlet, who it seems would be a huge upgrade on Costa at Elland Road.

Meanwhile, Leeds receive a major update on Marcelo Bielsa’s future…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who is a Wolverhampton Wanderers Hall of Famer, has claimed that Rafa Mir has no future at Wolves despite scoring 24 times in 49 games for SD Huesca.

Mir signed for Wolves when they were in the Championship, linking up with Nuno Espirito Santo for the second time following their time together at Valencia, where Nuno handed the 23-year old his debut.

Since joining in 2018, Mir has only made four appearances for Wolves failing to score in all of them, which coincides with a poor loan spell at Nottingham Forest which saw him fail to find the net in 13 games.

Speaking on Rafa Mir’s future at Wolves and what the club should do with the 23-year old, Bull told FFC:

“I think he’s gone now, I think he’s flown the nest and we could talk all day about transfers coming in and out, but he’s not going to fit into Nuno’s plans.

Wolves have struggled in the final third season with their top scorers being Pedro Neto and Ruben Neves, both on five goals with Raul Jimenez out injured.

Jimenez has been a big miss for Wolves who have had to cope without their talisman since November when he fractured his skull against Arsenal.

With Eddie Howe expected to become the new Celtic manager, there’s an obvious link between the Scottish giants and Bournemouth.

And Dean Windass told Football FanCast that following their failure to win the play-offs and secure a place back in the Premier League, he wouldn’t be surprised to see Howe make a raid on the Cherries squad for reported target Steve Cook, who would be available on a free to Dominic McKay this summer.

Whilst the likes of Ryan Fraser, Josh King and Callum Wilson have since been moved on, Bournemouth still have a handful of players that were relegated from the Premier League last season, which could appeal to Howe should be finally be appointed as Neil Lennon’s replacement in Glasgow.

Reports earlier this month believe that the 43-year-old is expected to be named the new Celtic boss now the season has ended, which should now be slightly more straightforward following Bournemouth’s play-off result.

Howe wanted to bring some of his Cherries coaching staff to Scotland. And whilst that remains a possibility, Windass exclusively told Football FanCast that Paradise could also appeal to a number of his former players, like 30-year-old Cook:

“Is he getting the job? There’s rumours, but there’s no other names being linked. Celtic have got a massive situation now where the pressure will be back on them now.

“In terms of bringing Bournemouth players in, only time will tell. Yes, with Steve Cook and players like that, now they’re in the Championship, would Celtic be appealing to them? Without a shadow of doubt the size of the football club.”

Speaking to Football Insider, BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Alan Hutton has lavished praise on Tottenham Hotspur chief Daniel Levy following an exciting development.

The Lowdown: Levy news dropped…

Coming out in the last two days, some big news has emerged in regards to the Spurs chief.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-developments/” title=”Tottenham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Indeed, as officially announced, he has now been voted on to the European Club Association board to represent Premier League football – reportedly beating Manchester City executive Ferran Soriano to the post (The Athletic).

The 59-year-old is set to replace Manchester United’s Ed Woodward in the role.

The Latest: Hutton hails Levy…

Speaking to FI, former Lilywhites defender Hutton has had his say and believes the appointment is ‘something that could work’.

The ex-Scotland international also branded Levy a ‘shrewd’ and ‘fantastic’ businessman.

“I think everybody knows Daniel Levy, how shrewd a businessman he is,” explained Hutton.

“Sometimes it can be his way or the highway and he sticks to his guns. That’s always been the way that he is.

“He doesn’t back down for anybody and obviously, they like what they see. I totally understand it. He’s a fantastic businessman and he probably ticks all the boxes.

“Sometimes it’s good for a change, a fresh face in there with new ideas and different opinions.

“So I think that’s something that could work and I’m sure he will relish the task.”

The Verdict: Big moment for Levy?

While he is controversial and a split figure among Spurs supporters, this comes as a big moment for Levy personally just five months after the European Super League scandal.

Now gifted a major new role at the pinnacle of European football, the Tottenham supremo has dealt with club protests, real financial concerns and a rocky few months on the pitch with one of their longest ever searches for a new manager.

Levy must now make the most of his new position of power as he also aims to help Spurs steadily grow into a football powerhouse.

In other news: ‘So excited’, ‘Start him against Palace’…Many Tottenham fans raving over ‘generational’ talent, find out more here.