All posts by z3u9t.icu

A number of Liverpool supporters have reacted negatively to a claim that Roberto Firmino hasn’t decided if he will stay put at Anfield or not.

The Brazilian has been a wonderful servant for the Reds, joining from Hoffenheim in 2015 and becoming one of the poster boys of the Jurgen Klopp era.

Firmino has made 311 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 94 goals and registering 73 assists, proving to be the perfect foil for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375258″]

At 30, the striker is not getting any younger, however, and his current Reds deal expires in the summer of 2023, with little sign of a new contract being agreed.

According to journalist Florian Plettenberg on Twitter, Firmino will be the man to decide over whether or not he stays at Anfield, with talks taking place in the coming months.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-18/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Liverpool fans react to Firmino claim

It suggests that a Liverpool exit isn’t out of the question and these fans reacted negatively to that possibility on Twitter.

“Never want to see Bobby leave, whatever his role in the squad becomes I hope he retires here”

Credit: @JoshuaKekana

“It will be a sad, sad day when Bobby moves on. He might not be quite what he was but the integral part he’s played can’t be overstated and his personality and selflessness has been invaluable to the culture and success of the side. One of my favourite ever #LFC players”

Credit: @reid1892

“I want Bobby to stay at Liverpool”

Credit: @JuniArga2

“Really hope we keep Bobby. Legend such a great player”

Credit: @MartinT_LFC75

“He’s a legend whatever decision he takes”

Credit: @supermanelfc

“HE CANNOT GO ANYWHERE”

Credit: @dantewillz

In other news, some Liverpool fans are excited after a transfer claim emerged. Read more here.

Aston Villa have been dealt a big injury blow ahead of their upcoming Premier League clash.

What’s the latest?

According to a recent report by Birmingham Live, after sitting out Zimbabwe’s World Cup qualifier against Ethiopia last weekend due to a groin strain, the 27-year-old is now a doubt for Steven Gerrard’s first game in the Aston Villa dugout against Brighton & Hove Albion this Saturday.

The report goes on to state that the defensive midfielder is set to be assessed ahead of the weekend’s clash, however, at present, it looks unlikely that the former Club Brugge man will be available for selection for the visit of the Seagulls.

Gerrard will be gutted

While Nakamba had not exactly been a guaranteed starter under the leadership of Dean Smith, with the midfielder being selected from the off in just three Premier League fixtures this season, the absence of the 27-year-old will nevertheless come as a blow to Gerrard, who will be gutted to have already lost a first-team member to injury before even taking charge of a match.

And, while the £6.3m-rated man has not had much of a chance to impress this term, he did turn in a decent display over his 63 minutes on the pitch in the club’s most recent fixture, making two tackles, one interception, blocking two shots and winning four duels against Southampton – with these returns seeing him earn a SofaScore match rating of 7.00.

Furthermore, with Gerrard favouring a three-man midfield during his time at Rangers, it would seem likely that the 41-year-old will look to set Villa up in the same fashion going forwards, meaning that Nakamba will more than likely be much more involved in games than under the leadership of Smith, potentially even becoming a key figure.

As such, the injury to the £32.5k-per-week midfielder will come as a blow to the former England international, who will undoubtedly be hoping to get his tenure at Villa off to a win against Brighton.

In other news: Purslow must sanction AVFC move for “outstanding” £18k-p/w ace, Gerrard would love him

A number of Manchester City fans have been reacting to reports that the Citizens could allow Bernardo Silva to leave on loan until the end of the season.

So far this term, the 27-year-old has featured heavily, making nine appearances in all competitions under Pep Guardiola (Transfermarkt). He made the switch to the Etihad Stadium in 2017 and has already played 210 games for the Cityzens, scoring 36 goals and providing 44 assists.

However, it seems that he could be out the door in January. As per Calciomercato (via Sport Witness), Juventus are interested in capturing the £63m-valued Portuguese international (Transfermarkt), and City would be open to an “interest loan”. However, the Turin club would first need to offload players to be able to intensify negotiations with the Premier League champions.

The news was shared on Twitter by @City_Xtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from Man City supporters. These fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts on the transfer rumours, and it is fair to say they were not best pleased with the notion of loaning out Silva. Indeed, one even said that club executives Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano should be sacked if they sanction any such move.

Let’s see what these fans had to say about the Silva news

“Txixi and Soriano out if this happens”

Credit: @ThomasSowell90

“NO! I want to retire at City, he loves this club”

Credit: @mcfcrr

“What? Why would we do that when he is one of our best players so far”

Credit: @RealSlimFoden

“If we do this then Txiki needs deporting to North Korea”

Credit: @TeacherOfBall

“Simple, if Bernardo left permanently or on loan it would be one of the biggest mistakes that the club had ever made regarding transfers, madness”

Credit: @BowdenJoniebee

“Yes let’s loan him for a year making maybe a couple mil, then discuss a straight loan to run down his contract and let them sign him for free or peanuts. Who comes up with this… surely they’re writing this laughing knowing it’s a complete joke”

Credit: @ManCitizen06

In other news, lots of Man City fans were gutted with this news on one of Bernardo’s team-mates

West Ham United were dealt a frustrating setback in their quest to qualify for the Champions League this season after they were held by relegation-battling Burnley at Turf Moor.

And it was yet another game in which Michail Antonio struggled in the final third.

The Clarets, who have won just once all season, largely matched the fourth-placed Irons and were resolute enough to not hand them many chances. That said, the 31-year-old put in another lacklustre display and that would’ve undoubtedly contributed to their futile attempts up top.

Across the 90 minutes he had on the pitch, Antonio failed to register a single shot on target, with both his efforts going wide. Even central defenders Issa Diop and James Tarkowski managed to hit the target.

His lack of influence for the visiting east Londoners was reflected by the fact that he recorded the fewest touches of any Hammers starter (34). One less than even goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski (35), as well as managing only ten accurate passes all game, too.

Elsewhere, the Jamaican international struggled to combat the physical threat on offer from the home side, losing possession a whopping 16 times, almost once every other touch of the ball, whilst he also won just 46% of his 15 battles, both on the ground and in the air, only further highlighting the way in which he was dominated by Sean Dyche’s towering backline.

‘Another Hammer who had a quiet game with the striker’s poor touch on a couple of occasions costing him the chance of a sight of goal,’ was how football.london reporter Tom Clark described Antonio’s performance after the match.

Indeed, that was the case and it has been that way for several games now. The former Nottingham Forest ace has scored just once in ten games and has now failed to surpass a 6.9 WhoScored rating in five of his last six matches.

His form has to be a major cause for concern to manager David Moyes and the club. He will certainly feel badly let down by his star man once again because if Antonio isn’t firing, West Ham often aren’t either.

The £70k-per-week forward must do better in the coming weeks, especially as he’s the only option in the role. He must do better.

AND in other news, Rob Newman can seal West Ham’s biggest signing since Payet in “complete” £24.3m-rated gem…

Plenty of Aston Villa fans have been sharing their delight at the club’s official Twitter post on Tuesday afternoon regarding striker Wesley Moraes.

The 24-year-old has been out of action for over 12 months after suffering a serious knee injury against Burnley on New Year’s Day last year.

Since then, Dean Smith’s side have gone from strength to strength, avoiding relegation on the last day of the 2019/20 campaign and racking up 40 points after just 26 games this season.

New striker Ollie Watkins has thrived since his arrival at Villa Park, scoring 12 goals in all competitions.

Wesley, who cost Villa £22.5m back in 2019, has made 22 appearances for the club, scoring six goals.

It seems as if a long-awaited return to the first-team fold to challenge Watkins for a starting spot could be gathering pace, though, after he was pictured in training.

The club shared three images from behind the scenes at training, with one fan descirbing the reveal as ‘excellent’.

These Villa fans were buzzing at the post

“Quality to see. Hopefully can kick on from where he left off before getting injured”

Credit: @ryanavfc7

“yessssss”

Credit: @lrwelizabeth

“get him in the team ASAP and give Watkins a hand”

Credit: @pjhollis74

“Great to see”

Credit: @Mattjacques2

“Excellent to see Wesley again. Can’t wait for him to be back on the pitch”

Credit: @VillaNoFiller

“Genuinely love our Wes”

Credit: @_CamMatthews

“Oh he’s beautiful”

Credit: @NCAVFC 

In other news: Plenty of Villa fans have been having their say on Johan Lange’s summer plans, find out more here. 

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Aston Villa striker Marlon Harewood has heaped praise on Emiliano Martinez, claiming every team needs a goalkeeper like the Argentinian.

Martinez joined the Midlands club from Arsenal in the last summer transfer window and has firmly established himself as the first-choice No.1 at Villa Park.

Despite a good spell in between the sticks last season, which included a successful FA Cup final appearance against Chelsea, the 28-year-old was unable to dethrone Bernd Leno as Arsenal’s main shot-stopper, prompting him to make that switch.

Speaking on his move to Villa Park and the impact he has made in the current campaign, Harewood told FFC:

“He has been a really good signing for them. They’ve needed it, every good team needs a good ‘keeper, a steady goalkeeper, and he’s shown it. All the top teams, whoever wins the league, you know your ‘keepers and clean sheets and how he’s saved goals throughout the season [makes a difference].

“You need that as a back four, as a team, that when you’re going forward to know that your ‘keeper’s a solid ‘keeper. He’s helped them this year.”

Based on current form, finding a goalkeeper better than Martinez in the country is a difficult challenge.

The Aston Villa man has kept 14 clean sheets in 26 Premier League appearances, one less than Manchester City’s Ederson, who currently leads in that category. The Villans’ defence as a whole, though, has been solid this season.

Dean Smith’s side have conceded just 27 goals in the 26 games they have played so far, showing an overall improvement to the backline. By the end of the 2019/20 Premier League campaign, Villa’s defence had been breached 67 times — the second-worst record in the division.

Aston Villa have become one of the more active clubs when it comes to being busy in the transfer market over the past few years.

The previous January window saw the Midlands club bring in five new players on permanent or loan deals as well as moving some other players out in the other direction.

However, one player that the Villans were not able to secure over the winter was Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Yves Bissouma.

After being mentioned with a potential £50m move away from the south coast club, Bissouma remained at Brighton and continues to play for Graham Potter’s side.

Once the window had closed, Steven Gerrard revealed that Villa had a bid of £25m rejected for the Mali international.

Since arriving at Brighton back in the 2018 summer transfer window from Lille in a deal worth a reported fee of £15m, the midfielder has become a pivotal figure for the Seagulls.

With 120 appearances under his belt for the club across all competitions, the 25-year-old has chipped in with five goals and two assists.

To highlight how important he is for his side, no other Brighton midfielder has been able to match the combined total of tackles and interceptions (115) he’s been able to rack up in this Premier League.

Labelled as an “exceptional” player in the past by Gary Lineker, Bissouma also showed during Brighton’s recent 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur just what he’s capable of on the pitch.

During the 90 minutes, the former Lille ace made four interceptions, three tackles, won seven of the nine duels he was involved in and completed all three dribbles he attempted.

This shows just how talented he is on and off the ball against an Antonio Conte team that, not long before, had put four goals past Gerrard’s side at Villa Park.

This also led to Potter describing his player as being at “Champions League level” in terms of his performances on the pitch.

Moving forward, it would be sensible for the Villans and Johan Lange to not only reignite their interest in Bissouma but to not consider giving Brighton the money that they would want for him.

In other news: “Gerrard wants..“: Journo drops teasing transfer claim, AVFC supporters surely buzzing

David Sullivan could waste further millions if West Ham United seal a £13.5m swoop for Cadiz CF striker Anthony Lozano to replace Sebastien Haller.

What’s the word?

According to Diario de Cadiz (13/1, p. 50), the Irons are set to imminently offer €15m (£13.5m) for 27-year-old forward Lozano as boss David Moyes is desperate to bolster his attacking options after Haller’s move to AFC Ajax.

Haller’s departure left Michail Antonio as the sole recognised senior striker at the London Stadium, and deprived Moyes of the man responsible for three of the Hammers’ 24 goals in the Premier League so far this season.

Only Tomas Soucek (5) and Jarrod Bowen (4) had scored more often than Haller in the top-flight this term, and would be joined by a forward hardly boasting a prolific record if Lozano is signed with the Honduras international having found the net just three times in La Liga.

Lozano has been a regular for Cadiz since their promotion to the highest level of Spanish domestic football last season, starting nine of his 14 appearances after missing two games through coronavirus in November, but had only scored once prior to the New Year.

Wasting further millions

Sullivan would be taking a massive gamble by backing Lozano to be the forward to offer Moyes what Haller could not, as the 33-cap marksman’s frequent struggles to score in La Liga this season are nothing new.

Lozano hit home just once in 34 La Liga outings for Girona before joining Cadiz in 2019, and is proving immensely wasteful at the Nuevo Estadio Ramon de Carranza with a return of just 0.2 goals a game despite fashioning 1.3 shots per match so far this season, per SofaScore.

He has further missed five clear-cut chances to score over his 14 appearances, and rarely creates opportunities for his teammates, despite penning one assist, as the former Valencia and Barcelona trainee offers a mere 0.3 key balls from his paltry 19.4 passes per game.

Sullivan opting for the £7,500-per-week man would likely only serve to see the West Ham co-owner and Chairman flutter his millions down the drain once again, having lost close to £25m on the sale of Haller having allowed the Irons’ club-record signing to leave for less than half of the fee paid to Eintracht Frankfurt just 18-months earlier.

The fee the Irons are touted to pay for Lozano is additionally far beyond his considered market value, as TransferMarkt tout the attacker to be worth £2.25m less than a year on from considering the 6ft hitman to be worth just £1m.

West Ham’s need for another striker is clear in their lack of depth, but Lozano’s ability to fill the void would be questionable.

AND in other news: Exclusive: West Ham’s Declan Rice tipped to join Chelsea on one condition…

Glasgow Rangers fans were livid with the BBC after they interviewed former owner Craig Whyte.

Whyte’s spell as owner of the Gers was a controversial one, to say the least. He purchased the club from Sir David Murray for just £1 in 2011, and he would end up owning for a year – he contributed heavily to the club going into administration and therefore dropping out of the Premiership and down to League Two.

Recently, Whyte was interviewed by the BBC about his spell at the club. Not only did he say that owning the Gers was the biggest regret of his life, he also revealed that he thought he had done nothing wrong. It is fair to say this did not go down well with the Gers fans – not only because of the interview’s content, but also the fact that the BBC had even given him the column space to share his thoughts.

The supporters were livid, and they took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Whyte interview below

“Chris McLaughlin cementing his Ibrox ban”

Credit: @wardstarfc

“An absolute embarrassment that the @BBCSport think this is newsworthy. And they wonder why so many grudge their ridiculous licence fee.”

Credit: @bbn1978

“Isn’t it embarrassing that @BBCchrismclaug isn’t allowed access to the club so instead goes to a criminal charlatan who tried to defraud and destroy a Scottish institution. Then instead of condemning him for the business & careers ruined he is offered a platform”

Credit: @petera1872

“This is shameful. It’s why McLaughlin and the BBC are not welcome at Ibrox. A puff piece on a guy who tried to kill our club.”

Credit: @Rangers_9293

“Final nail in the coffin for me. It’s not just McLaughlin (He should never be inside Ibrox again anyway) but the entire sports team editors and all need to be gone.”

Credit: @wfl71

“Hope they never get let back in again tbh”

Credit: @Stegthomson1

In other news, Rangers have been linked with this midfielder.

Ezgjan Alioski’s potential move to Galatasaray this summer isn’t yet guaranteed, with the Turkish giants also interested in Patrick van Aanholt.

The Lowdown: Alioski expected to leave

Alioski is widely expected to leave Leeds United at the end of the season, having made 168 appearances for the Whites and being a key man for a number of years. He has scored 22 times and registered 18 assists for the club.

Galatasaray have emerged as the strong favourites to acquire the 29-year-old’s signature, with some reports claiming a deal has already been agreed.

There could be a potential twist in the saga, however, following the emergence of a fresh report on the Turkish outfit.

The Latest: Van Aanholt also a target

According to Sporx [via Sport Witness], Galatasaray also see Crystal Palace left-back Van Aanholt as a possible option, with the Dutchman ironically linked with Leeds in the past, too.

The Turkish giants are set to decide between him and Alioski in the coming weeks.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Replacement still required

Whatever the eventual outcome, it appears highly unlikely that Alioski will end up staying put at Elland Road, so a replacement will be needed.

Leeds could do with bringing in a similarly experienced figure – someone who is actually a natural left-back, such as Nicolas Tagliafico, who has got three assists and averaged two tackles per game for Ajax in the Eredivisie this season.

Alioski did admirably in an auxiliary role, but signing someone who knows the position inside out could help make the Whites an even more balanced outfit.

In other news, Leeds are believed to be interested in signing a Premier League attacker this summer. Find out who it is here.