All posts by z3u9t.icu

A week on from their last outing, Tottenham Hotspur are finally back in action as they head to Portugal to face league runners-up Sporting CP in the Champions League.

Both teams will be looking to continue their hot start to the 2022/23 campaign and for Spurs, who remain unbeaten across all competitions so far this season, they can make it two wins from two with a victory at the Estádio José Alvalade.

Last time out, the Lilywhites defeated Ligue 1 outfit Marseille in a pretty drab affair in north London, where summer signing Richarlison stole the show by bagging a headed brace to secure all three points.

It was also another off-night for Heung-min Son, who must now be in jeopardy of being dropped, particularly given the form of his Brazilian teammate; he has effectively played himself into being undroppable in this current run.

There was also an eye-catching cameo off the bench from Dejan Kulusevski, so it could well be time for manager Antonio Conte to make the bold and ruthless decision to axe the South Korean from his starting lineup.

The 30-year-old attacker has started all seven of Tottenham’s matches this term but has failed to deliver more than the one goal contribution, with his solitary assist coming on the opening day in a 4-1 rout of Southampton, leading to ex-goalkeeper Paul Robinson describing the winger as “very quiet” earlier this month.

When you compare that to last season, it’s a glaring worry as the Gangwon native was averaging a goal or assist every 104 minutes across all competitions as he scored 24 goals and laid on a further ten assists from 45 outings, as per Transfermarkt.

Against Les Olympiens, he was pretty much rendered anonymous and was ineffective for large parts before being hooked four minutes from time. Even shot-stopper Hugo Lloris (25) had more accurate passes than Son (22) and he had attempted as many as nine long balls from his own net.

Elsewhere, the £192k-per-week star – who was described as an “absolute beast” by AJ Tracey last season – couldn’t manage a single shot on target, whilst he lost possession 17 times from his 47 touches and won just three of his nine duels against the opposition, via SofaScore.

Whether his poor form comes down to fitness or not remains to be seen but given the fact that he’s started 100% of matches in 2022/23, he could be due a rest if his performances weren’t already a sign of why he should be sat on the bench this evening.

As such, Conte must remove him from the XI tonight as his side look to continue their impressive start to the new campaign.

AND in other news, Spurs could cash in on £80k-p/w dud by signing “ingenious” gem who’s “frightening”…

Wolves’ signing of Nelson Semedo from Barcelona has proven to be something of a disaster, as the Portuguese right-back has seen his value drop off a cliff since his move to Molineux, while he is also struggling for regular game time in Bruno Lage’s side.

The Old Gold paid £37m to Barcelona to sign the full-back in September 2020, with Jeff Shi describing Semedo as “world-class” following his arrival.

However, his performances since then have been far from world-class, with Lage now regularly selecting Jonny ahead of the former Benfica man at right-back.

During his time at Wolves, Semedo has made 69 appearances in total, contributing two goals and three assists, but he has featured in just 190 minutes of Premier League action so far this season with two starts.

Last season saw the 28-year-old make 25 appearances in the top-flight for Wolves, in which he failed to score and provided just one assist, averaging a solid, if unspectacular, 6.82 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

Although Semedo has often looked dangerous going forward, his defensive attributes have never been particularly impressive, as he ranked as the tenth-best player in Wolves’ squad last season for blocks and interceptions, while he was ranked seventh for clearances, which suggests he could have offered a lot more.

It was no surprise, therefore, that the Athletic’s Tim Spiers described Semedo as a “liability at the back” in 2021, but sadly his attacking displays have also not been up to scratch in recent seasons.

His one goal contribution last season was another reason why the Old Gold struggled so much in the final third, while he ranked ninth for average key passes per game in Lage’s squad, which suggests that he wasn’t particularly creative.

The CIES football observatory now rates Semedo at €15m (£13m), which emphasises how much his stock has fallen during his time with the Old Gold, and the club must surely regret paying Barcelona so much to sign the £77k-per-week defender two years ago.

Crystal Palace had a fairly successful transfer window during the summer, building on their impressive season last term. Patrick Vieira added the likes of Chris Richards, Sam Johnstone, and Cheick Doucoure to his squad in order to provide much-needed depth.

Steve Parish, given his impact in the transfer window over the previous two summers, perhaps made a major blunder by missing out on one of the Scottish Premiership’s most creative players.

Glasgow Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo was heading into this season with just one year on his contract, and Giovanni van Bronckhorst looked like he wasn’t going to get him to stay in Scotland. Palace were linked with a move for the Nigerian, but nothing materialised and he joined fellow Premier League side Southampton in a deal that could rise to £10m.

Imagine him and Wilfried Zaha

Aribo was arguably Rangers’ finest player last season, becoming one of the side’s key creative outlets as they won the Scottish Cup and reached the final of the Europa League, with the 26-year-old even scoring in the final.

In the Premiership last season, Aribo scored eight goals and registered five assists while also making 1.8 key passes per match, displaying his creative talents to set up teammates as often as possible.

He created a further nine big chances and was successful with 57% of his attempted dribbles and it was arguably these stats that made teams from south of the border stand up and take note.

It’s a shame he didn’t join Palace, as Aribo would have formed a scary duo with Zaha spearheading the London side’s attack.

With Aribo usually operating high on the right or sometimes through the middle, combined with Zaha’s pace and goalscoring talents from the left, Vieira could well have had an unstoppable duo ready to take the Premier League by storm. Indeed, with Zaha finding the net four times already this term, it could have made their attack even more devastating.

The former Light Blues star has also proved it on the international stage, shining for Nigeria on various occasions, even scoring against Brazil in October 2019, his second international goal after making his debut the month before.

This led former Super Eagles star Victor Ikpeba to describe him as “exceptional” and his performances for the nation have vindicated this impressive praise.

In January’s African Cup of Nations tournament, Aribo averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.27 as Nigeria dazzled in the group stage. They were unfortunately knocked out in the last 16 by Tunisia, however, his displays likely attracted a few more potential suitors.

It looks like Vieira’s loss is Southampton’s gain and if he manages to make the same impact on the south coast as he did in Glasgow, Parish will be left red in the face.

Newcastle United have been dealt another injury setback ahead of their Premier League meeting with Fulham on Saturday afternoon.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to Craig Hope, with the journalist revealing in a recent report for the Daily Mail that Matt Ritchie looks unlikely to be available for selection for the trip to Craven Cottage this weekend.

It’s stated the 33-year-old picked up a calf injury during training last week – although it is hoped the midfielder’s layoff will be minimal.

Problems mounting for Howe

Injuries are now starting to stack up for Howe with Ritchie’s setback coming following the news that Alexander Isak, Chris Wood and Jonjo Shelvey all look set to sit out the Fulham fixture due to their own respective knocks, while Elliot Anderson and Allan Saint-Maximin are also doubts for the trip to west London.

While it is true that, following Matt Targett’s loan move to St. James’ Park back in January – a deal that the club made a permanent switch this summer – Ritchie has seen his game time become much more limited for the Magpies, the midfielder’s absence this weekend will nevertheless come as a blow to Howe.

Indeed, the former Scotland international has been a mainstay in Newcastle’s 20-man matchday squads so far this season, being an unused substitute in all but one of the club’s seven Premier League fixtures in 2022/23 – playing one minute of the 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers back in August.

Despite this, the £1.63m-rated talent has still proven this term that he is a reliable option to be called upon when required, something that will be of huge importance considering the hectic fixture schedule before the World Cup in Qatar.

He demonstrated how valuable a rotation option he can be when playing the full 90 minutes of Newcastle’s 2-1 Carabao Cup victory over Tranmere Rovers last month – with the 33-year-old earning an impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.0 for his efforts on the night.

Furthermore, the 16-cap international’s positional versatility also makes him an incredibly useful part of Howe’s first-team squad, with the £45k-per-week winger filling in at left-back for the vast majority of his 18 Premier League appearances last season.

As such, while Ritchie was never overly likely to be handed a start at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon, it is clear to see that the midfielder’s absence from the bench will nevertheless come as a blow to Howe – particularly following the news that Isak, Wood and Shelvey will also be unavailable for selection against Fulham.

Leeds United right-back Cody Drameh suffered an injury scare for the U21s against Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday evening.

The Lowdown: 5-3 win

Michael Skubala’s U21s began their EFL Trophy campaign with an entertaining 5-3 victory over League Two side Tranmere Rovers.

The Whites named an attacking side that included Sam Greenwood, Joe Gelhardt, Wilfried Gnonto, Sonny Perkins and Mateo Joseph. Gelhardt netted twice, and goals from Perkins, Joseph and Drameh sealed an impressive victory.

However, it may have come at a cost, with Drameh, who started against Brentford in the Premier League last month, suffering an injury scare.

The Latest: Tranmere ‘knock’

Leeds journalist Joe Donnohue was at Prenton Park for the game on Tuesday evening and shared news of a ‘knock’ for Drameh.

He relayed comments from Skubala, who stated that the 20-year-old was due to be assessed on Wednesday, but there is no word yet on the severity.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-52/” title=”Latest Leeds United news” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-03-10T184055Z_1834933207_UP1EI3A1FW561_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-AVA-REPORT-1-scaled-1.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Fingers crossed

Drameh has missed just one of Jesse Marsch’s Premier League squads this season, with the Leeds boss heaping praise on the full-back back in August.

He seems to be in the mix alongside Rasmus Kristensen and Luke Ayling at Elland Road, so it would be a shame if his injury proves to be serious, harming his long-term development and the manager’s depth.

Donnohue labelled Drameh as a ‘level above’ on Tuesday, while former Cardiff City manager Steve Morison described the defender as ‘excellent’ during his loan spell last season, so fingers crossed he can be back playing and pushing his way into the first-team once more relatively soon.

Leeds United were once a powerhouse of English football, but their 16-year absence from the Premier League this century has somewhat diminished their standing in the game.

Many might forget some of the huge names they once had at the club. One who very much got away from them was Rio Ferdinand, who excelled for the Whites but would go on to become one of the best defenders of his generation at Manchester United.

Leeds made him the world’s most expensive defender in 2000 when he was brought to Elland Road for £18m from West Ham United, and he would prove to be worth the outlay.

He was so impressive that just two years in Yorkshire was enough to see the Red Devils break the British transfer record and sign him for £30m.

It seemed like an impressive bit of business from the Whites, but what Ferdinand would go on to achieve far outweighed the £12m profit that Leeds earned.

He would go on to play 455 times for the Manchester club and won almost every trophy available to him. He became a mainstay under Sir Alex Ferguson, who so often rebuilt his teams to continue challenging in different eras.

Ferdinand remained the constant – a testament to his ever-growing skillset. Even the great Robert Pires named him among the “toughest” centre-backs he faced in his glittering career.

At Old Trafford, the Englishman won six Premier League titles, three League Cups and one Champions League, along with the FIFA Club World Cup and numerous Community Shields.

His stay at Leeds was brief, but had they been able to keep hold of him for a bit longer, they might have been able to build upon their fourth and fifth-placed finishes in 2001 and 2002.

Instead, they opted for the temporary financial boost instead. They were relegated just two years after the sale and would not return to the Premier League until 2020.

Following Ferdinand’s eight-month ban from football after an issue with drug testing, Ferguson labelled the player’s conduct surrounding the matter “phenomenal”, outlining the “praise and admiration” that the Scot had for him.

To earn such a glowing recommendation from arguably the greatest manager of all time is enough to outline what a mistake Leeds made, as Ferdinand could have instead been their stalwart to lead them to glory.

Transfer insider Dean Jones has given his verdict on the news of Crystal Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman signing a new deal with the Eagles.

The Lowdown: New contract

Freedman, a former Palace player and manager, has been in the role of sporting director since 2017. David Ornstein of The Athletic recently revealed that the 48-year-old has put pen to paper on fresh terms at Selhurst Park after he helped build a new side under Patrick Vieira last year.

Vieira heaped praise on Freedman last season, with the sporting director then helping the club sign Chris Richards, Sam Johnstone, Malcolm Ebiowei and Cheick Doucoure in recent months.

The Latest: Jones reacts

Jones, a transfer market reporter and columnist, told GiveMeSport that Palace have found the ‘perfect blend in Freedman’, describing the update on a new contract as ‘really good news’.

“Definitely yeah, he’s been such a key figure and implemented this transfer strategy, and it’s all looking really impressive.

“It’s a good example to other clubs in how finding someone that is bright enough to hold such a significant role but also has the understanding of the club’s past and the values that each new player needs to be true to in order to succeed.

“So, I think that Palace have found the perfect blend in Freedman, and it’s really good news for them that that is going to continue.”

The Verdict: Deserved

Freedman had a big task on his hands last year after Palace allowed eight ageing players to leave the club. However, he rose to the challenge and was the mastermind behind the signings of Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise, Joachim Andersen, Marc Guehi and Odsonne Edouard, all of whom are now considered key members of Vieira’s side.

Therefore, it’s fair to say that Freedman has earned his fresh contract, and hopefully, he’ll continue to have a positive impact from the boardroom with Vieira in the dugout for years to come.

Tottenham Hotspur are a team who, following Fabio Paratici’s appointment as the club’s sporting director in July of 2021, have enjoyed a great deal of success in the transfer market – with the Italian’s moves for Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur being particularly savvy signings.

However, in the years preceding the 50-year-old’s arrival at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs’ business in the transfer market was much more hit and miss, with Daniel Levy’s additions of the likes of Clinton N’Jie, Vincent Janssen, Serge Aurier and Tanguy Ndombele all proving to flop in north London.

And, perhaps the archetype of these failed signings was the chairman’s £11m move to bring the Olympique de Marseille winger Georges-Kevin N’Koudou to Tottenham back in the summer of 2016, as the then-21-year-old well and truly failed to make any sort of positive impact on Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Indeed, over his three years at Spurs, the Cameroon international would play a total of just 588 minutes of football, scoring one goal and providing two assists along the way, being loaned out to Burnley and AS Monaco before completing a €5m (£4.3m) permanent move to Besiktas JK in the summer of 2019.

Quite remarkably, only four of the £35k-per-week forward’s 27 appearances for Spurs came as starts, something that would appear to indicate that Pochettino saw very little of N’Koudou in training that would suggest he was anywhere near the level of Premier League football.

As a result, the player who Chris Miller dubbed an “awful signing” cost Tottenham a whopping £18.7k-per-minute he was on the pitch, with questions very much being raised as to exactly what Levy saw in the winger to pay £11m for his services, let alone hand the Frenchman a five-year deal in north London.

As such, considering the fact that N’Koudou currently boasts a Transfermarkt valuation of just £3.78m, coupled with Spurs making a 61% loss on the attacker, the argument that Levy’s deal for the 27-year-old was very much a shocker for his side is an easy one to make, leading us to believe that Paratici’s appointment at the club was a very wise move indeed.

Nottingham Forest have been handed an injury boost ahead of their upcoming Premier League clash against Arsenal as Lewis O’Brien returns to training.

The Lowdown: Arsenal looming

Steve Cooper’s side have a tough test ahead of them this weekend as they take on the Gunners, who are top of the league table, at the Emirates on Sunday.

Despite beating Liverpool 1-0 last weekend, Forest still have a challenge ahead of them if they want to pick up what would be their third victory of the campaign this time around.

Luckily for Cooper, it appears as though he may have one of his key players available for this match against Mikel Arteta’s side.

The Latest: O’Brien returns

According to a recent report from the Nottingham Post, O’Brien has been pictured in training after missing Forest’s three previous league games through illness.

Assuming the Englishman will be fit enough to play against Arsenal, this will surely be a big positive for the visiting club.

The Verdict: Big boost

Across the eight league games that the 24-year-old has played in for Forest this season, O’Brien has shown how much of a useful midfield figure he is, on and off the ball.

For example, from a defensive point of view, the Englishman has racked up the second-highest combined total of tackles and interceptions (21) at the club.

Then, in terms of his attacking output, only four other Forest players have made more shot-creating actions than O’Brien (17).

Hailed as an “exceptional” player by Carlos Corberan, the Forest star could be a vital figure for his team this weekend, especially in terms of his defensive talent as only Manchester City (69) and Liverpool (64) have had more shots at goal than Arsenal (63) in the league this season.

Moving forward, if the player is fit enough to play this weekend, Cooper should have no doubts over putting him back in the starting XI, as his presence could be the difference in seeing Forest pick up a positive result or not.

Sunderland may have seemingly earned a fine result away at ninth-placed Luton Town today, but there were still some disappointing performers for Tony Mowbray’s side.

Despite losing 4-0 last time out against Watford, the Hatters were previously on a fine unbeaten run of seven games in the Championship.

Despite dominating 58% of the ball, the Black Cats could only muster one more shot on target than the home side, who showed a clinical nature in front of Anthony Patterson’s goal.

There were underwhelming displays from even the most consistent players, with Corry Evans one of a few who will have let their manager down today. However, according to SofaScore, it was Leon Dajaku who was perhaps the worst performer for the visitors at Kenilworth Road.

His rating of 6.4 was the joint-lowest on his team and only level with Tom Lockyer and Harry Cornick on the opposition as the worst of anyone on the pitch.

Having been handed a big chance by Mowbray, making his first start of the season, Dajaku will have frustrated his manager with a toothless display. It is a testament to his performance that he was dragged off after just 61 minutes.

His time on the pitch saw him touch the ball just 21 times, as the German could only muster a miserable seven completed passes – even Patterson in goal recorded twice as many with 14.

To further compound the winger’s miserable afternoon, he also struck the woodwork.

When a forward has a poor day at the office offensively, it can be forgiven if they perform admirably with their work ethic. However, having lost 83% of his duels and not mustered a single tackle, interception or clearance, Dajaku was decidedly mediocre throughout.

On a day where the game was clearly there to be taken, and where Mowbray’s side had plenty of the ball to use as they pleased, the 21-year-old seemingly wilted under the pressure of his big opportunity.

Dajaku badly let his team down this afternoon and will surely have the manager thinking twice about including him from the outset again.