All posts by z3u9t.icu

After an impressive run of seven games without defeat, Crystal Palace find themselves in a blip, having lost their last three in the Premier League.

Next up for Patrick Vieira’s side is a home game against Everton, who go into the contest fresh from their first win in ten against Arsenal on Monday night.

The Eagles have scored 19 league goals in 15 games this term, but the goals have appeared to dry out recently, netting just once in their last three outings.

The regular inclusion of Jordan Ayew hasn’t helped, with some Palace fans labelling the Ghanaian a “liability” having not scored yet this season.

It’s time for Vieira to tinker with his frontline and the return of 23-year-old winger Eberechi Eze after a lengthy spell on the sidelines could prove exactly what the South London side needs.

On the Chalkboard

The winger signed from QPR in the summer of 2020 and impressed instantly last season, scoring four goals and registering six assists in 36 top-flight appearances.

However, Eze suffered a “freak” training ground incident in May, suffering serious damage to his Achilles. However, the £18m-rated forward made his return to first-team action last month as he was included on the bench against Burnley and has made cameos against Aston Villa and Manchester United since.

Now fit, the Englishman could offer his manager a much-needed alternative out wide with the Eagles set to play six league games in under three weeks.

Described as “ridiculous” and a “star boy” by sections of the Palace fanbase, Eze can play on the left, but has also been deployed as a “creative, dynamic” number ten which could offer Vieira versatility should the Frenchman opt to set up with an alternative to his much-used 4-3-3.

Supporters aren’t the only ones who have waxed lyrical about the young forward with Steve McLaren hailing his “great talent” and Gary Cahill calling him “phenomenal.”

Furthermore, the 23-year-old is an impressive set-piece taker, scoring a free-kick against Leeds United last season and delivering quality balls for his teammates on occasion. That would supply Vieira with yet more armoury and further reason to select him against Everton on Sunday.

In the past, there have been concerns about the average age of Crystal Palace’s squad, suggesting it’s too old. However, the South Londoners now have a handful of bright, young talents and Eze is certainly one of them; he deserves a chance.

AND in other news, Vieira must seal Palace swoop for “crazy” £10.8m-rated beast likened to “LeBron James”…

Transfers expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed the latest information regarding Wolverhampton Wanderers’ pursuit of signing young Portuguese forward Chiquinho.

What’s the story?

According to Romano, Wolves are close to making the 21-year-old winger their second signing of the January transfer window.

The transfers expert tweeted: “Wolves are closing on Chiquinho deal with Estoril, final details to be completed next week. Portuguese striker’s set to join on a permanent move for €3.5m fee plus €1.5m add ons.”

Valued at £900k by Transfermarkt, is set to depart Primeira Liga side Estoril, who are flying in the Portuguese top-flight this campaign as they currently sit sixth, and join up with his fellow countryman Bruno Lage at Molineux.

The Portuguese youngster has scored four goals and provided six assists in 18 appearances across all competitions in what has been his breakthrough campaign in top-flight football after Estoril were promoted last season.

According to The Athletic, the 21-year-old is set to be part of Wolves’ first-team group. Moreover, the West Midlands club have done business with Estoril before, signing defender Toti Gomes from the Portuguese outfit in September 2020 who was handed a shock debut on Saturday in the 3-1 win over Southampton.

Wolves fans will be buzzing

Although not a household name, Chiquinho offers a great deal of potential and, for a small fee in today’s market, the deal appears low risk, something that will no doubt delight supporters.

Wolves have become a hub for Portuguese talent with the likes of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Jose Sa and Nelson Semedo some of the names who hail from Portugal that have been lured to Molineux in recent years as well as former manager Nuno Espirito Santo and current boss Bruno Lage.

The 21-year-old mainly operates as a left-winger but is flexible and can also play on the right-hand side of a front-three, ideal for Wolves who tend to operate with a 3-4-3 setup.

Compared to the other wingers in Lage’s squad, Chiquinho would boast the most league goals so far this season, although the Premier League is a significant step up from the Portuguese top-flight. Currently, Adama Traore is the only wide man to have netted in the league this campaign.

There have been murmurs of the Spaniard departing Molineux in the near future and therefore the Portugal U21 international could prove to be a long-term replacement.

Moreover, Lage is yet to welcome back the injured Pedro Neto, who has been out since April with a serious knee injury.

He may be an unknown name, however, the stats back up the suggestion that Chiquinho could be an exciting prospect for Wolves. Seeing a Portuguese talent excel at Molineux isn’t unheard of.

In other news – £33k-p/w Wolves gem, who created two big chances, stars in victory over Southampton

Leeds could make an exciting move this summer by signing Stuttgart forward Nicolas Gonzalez.

What’s the story?

Reports over last summer’s transfer window suggested that Marcelo Bielsa’s side were very much interested in bringing the Argentina international to Elland Road from Bundesliga side Stuttgart, but a deal failed to materialise before the end of the deadline.

Now, Get German Football News editor-in-chief Daniel Pinder has exclusively told FFC that Gonzalez’s arrival at Elland Road this summer would help create an “exciting” attack for Marcelo Bielsa.

He said: “It’s that thing of, you’ve got Raphinha and potentially Gonzalez on the other wing and Bamford up front. And with their fast direct play up front, them interchanging, it would be an exciting time to be a Leeds fan if they signed Nicolas Gonzalez.”

Imagine him and Raphinha

With his ability to play up front and out wide on the left, the £22.5m-rated Gonzalez could form an outstanding duo with Raphinha on the right-hand side.

While the Brazilian can bring a bit of creativity and skill, the 23-year-old Gonzalez is more of an inside forward, with a real clinical edge.

This season has seen him score six goals and provide a further two assists in just 15 Bundesliga games, while his average of 3.3 shots per game actually ranks him third among all players in the division.

Gonzalez’s eye for goal would go a long way to easing the burden on Patrick Bamford’s shoulders, while Raphinha will enjoy trying to set up someone who’s “always looking to get in behind, and is strong in the one-on-ones”.

And judging by the kind of mentality he is, he appears to be a perfect fit for Bielsa’s side.

Stuttgart’s head coach, Pellegrino Matarazzo, said of him: “He’s got a lot of qualities, but what I like best about him is that he’s a winner. He wants to win at all costs. He always gives 100 percent, and gets stuck in. He’s very important for us.”

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Gonzalez’s versatility would tick two key boxes for Bielsa, namely, an elite wide player to go along with Raphinha, and also someone who can provide Bamford with some much-needed competition up front too.

Meanwhile, Leeds should land this “exceptional” English striker…

Liverpool are looking to achieve an unprecedented feat this year that would see them become the first English side to lift the quadruple.

Mohamed Salah is a major component for the Reds in their chase for glory and some interesting news has broken over the future of the Egyptian.

What’s the news?

Last week, an exclusive interview between FourFourTwo’s Chris Flanagan and Mo Salah was made public, with the Premier League’s top scorer offering words on the status of his contract talks with Liverpool.

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Chris Flanagan shared his verdict in the latest report via ThisisAnfield.com:

“He seemed very relaxed about everything, including his future.

“I got the sense that his number one aim is absolutely to stay at the club, but that he was prepared to wait a little longer to get the best deal possible if that’s what it takes.”

Fans on edge

Salah’s future at the club has been an overshadowing worry for Liverpool fans this season, with the Egyptian proving to be a talismanic figure for Klopp’s side since his transfer from Roma back in 2017.

The now 29-year-old has bagged 13 assists in 43 appearances for Klopp’s side this term, yet again proving his value to a side who are capitalising on his performances and setting their sights on an unprecedented quadruple trophy swoop.

Salah has remained composed throughout the contract debacle and has already equalled his goal tally of last season in six games less.

The £90m-rated sensation insisted his contract issues were not about monetary gain, as he told Flannagan: “I think the fans know what I want, but in the contract, it’s not everything about the money at all.”

Asked by ThisisAnfield, Flannagan gave his verdict on the quote from Salah: “His added quote that it wasn’t all about the money was interesting, as it was unprompted – I’d asked him how he saw his future, but my question hadn’t mentioned money.”

Either way, with the clock ticking on his deal, supporters will be on the edge of their seats about whether or not he’ll pen new terms in Merseyside. This claim certainly seems to suggest that he might, however.

In other news: Insider: Liverpool consider move for “world-class” £150m gem, imagine him & Fabinho…

A Paraguay international has dropped an inside claim on the latest injury that Miguel Almiron has sustained at Newcastle United.

Speaking to VERSUS radio, Antony Silva, who is currently a goalkeeper for Puebla and a national teammate of Almiron, claimed: “I spoke with Miguel and it is not as much as they say about his injury. He told me that he is fine.”

Newcastle need Almiron back

It seems as if the original injury suffered by Almiron is not as bad as first feared, which should give the St. James’ Park faithful a lot of hope going into the rest of the 2020/21 term.

In the last two games that the attacking midfield player has missed through injury, the North East club have only managed to pick up a mere two points against fellow relegation-threatened West Brom and at home to an Aston Villa side who were missing their talisman in Jack Grealish.

It is clear that Steve Bruce’s team miss him badly, given his eye for both a goal and assist, in a season where he has scored five and assisted three in 29 games in total over all competitions so far (Transfermarkt), as well as his all-round general hard work across the pitch.

Nonetheless, the Tyneside club will be hoping that the 27-year-old can return to the squad after the international break to help them fend off their relegation fears.

In other news, find out who was claimed to have their ‘best game’ for NUFC against Villa here!

Aston Villa will be hoping to bolster their attacking options this summer, but Dean Windass exclusively told Football FanCast that he doesn’t think they’ll turn to Josh King.

Villa considered exploring the option of signing the Norwegian striker 12 months ago prior to bringing in Ollie Watkins from Brentford.

But reports say that the 29-year-old is on Dean Smith’s radar once again as Villa look to improve on the 11th-place finish they achieved last season.

King, who ex-Villa striker Stan Collymore once labelled “unplayable”, will become a free agent at the end of this month following his release from Everton after his spell at Goodison Park didn’t go to plan.

He failed to start a single Premier League match since joining from Bournemouth, making just 11 substitute appearances and didn’t score, meaning he went the entire campaign without finding the net in the league.

And Windass believes that after his frustrations at Everton, King will want regular first-team football, something Villa cannot guarantee, with the impressive Ollie Watkins their first-choice striker.

“I don’t think they’ll come in for him. It’s not worked out at Everton, but every footballer has a level,” he told Football FanCast.

“Is the Championship his level? He needs to find somewhere where the manager trusts him. I can’t see him going to Villa, I can’t see him being understudy to Watkins, he’s not going to play, so why would he go if he’s not going to play.”

Steve Bull thinks that Wolves youngster Dion Sanderson deserves a chance to impress in the first-team in pre-season.

Sanderson has come through the Academy having been with the club since he was a boy, but has made just the one appearance in the first-team in a Carabao Cup tie at Aston Villa in October 2019.

Since then, the 21-year-old has enjoyed successful loan spells with both Cardiff and Sunderland, although a back problem saw him miss the latter’s play-off campaign.

Despite being absent for Sunderland’s final eight League One fixtures, the promising defender, who’s able to play anywhere across the back four, was still named as the Supporters’ Young Player of the Year for his excellent form prior to that injury.

Sanderson turned out 28 times in all competitions for the Black Cats, and more than played his part in their two-month unbeaten run at one point which left them on course for automatic promotion.

Having proved himself in the lower leagues, following on from his brief stint with Cardiff 12 months earlier, Bull exclusively told Football FanCast that he wants Sanderson to be given an opportunity to impress at his parent club:

“I can’t understand why they don’t bring him back, let’s see what he can do in pre-season!”

Some Liverpool fans have been reacting to an update on Kylian Mbappe’s future, with Paris Saint-Germain reportedly growing frustrated with him.

Mbappe is arguably the most exciting young player in the world at the moment, with Erling Haaland probably his biggest rival, in that respect.

The PSG superstar has been sensational for the Ligue 1 giants, scoring 120 goals in just 160 appearances, highlighting his pedigree in the final third.

On top of that, Mbappe is already a World Cup winner at the age of just 22 – he won it when he was only 19 – having clinched glory with France in 2018.

The forward has been linked with a move to Liverpool endless times in recent months, with the Reds reportedly seeing him as a long-term replacement for the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

According to Le Parisien, PSG are becoming irritated by Mbappe’s failure to sign a new deal with the club, with his current contract expiring in 2022, which could lead to his price dropping.

It suggests Liverpool may be boosted in their attempts to sign the France international, should they table an offer of somewhere in the region of £127m.

Liverpool fans excited by Mbappe update

These Liverpool fans provided their thoughts on the situation on Twitter.

“So Edwards is getting him for 20m, a new pair of shoes and on top some nice sweets. Go for it”

Credit: @nickcki2

“What a price”

Credit: @sisenor_9

“Nasser Al-Khelaifi doesn’t want any smoke with Edwards that’s why mbappe price is going down”

Credit: @parkthebus8989

“Ok now this actually looks more possible to do now that I have seen the fee”

Credit: @Ozan2splashy

“It. Is. Time”

Credit: @SeventySixRole

“Ordinarily I’d agree about not paying so much so near to the end of a contract but in his case it’s a must. Someone will pay it and they’ll be justified in doing so. He’s that good and the chance to sign him soon needs to be taken!”

Credit: @simonmorris79

“Cheap for him go and get him and use Haaland as a decoy to land Mbappe behind the scenes!”

Credit: @SteveKOPLilly

In other news, some Liverpool fans have been reacting to a report linking the Reds with a former Premier League ‘big six’ player. Read more about it here.

Former Leeds United star Jon Newsome has expressed some doubt over a swoop for Udinese star Rodrigo De Paul this summer, telling The Transfer Tavern that such a move would be a “gamble”.

Leeds have been heavily linked with a potential move for the 26-year-old, who has emerged as a real star during his time in Serie A.

De Paul has scored nine goals and registered 10 assists in 35 Serie A outings this term and is valued at £34.2m by Transfermarkt.

He could well have made the move to Elland Road last summer, as Leeds were reported to have made a number of bids for the star with Victor Orta confirming they had “analysed” him, and that interest has clearly not dissipated.

Reports in Italy, via The Sun, claim that Leeds aren’t the only club interested, as Liverpool are also considering a bid, along with AC Milan, but Newsome has sounded a note of caution over any move.

Speaking exclusively to TT, Newsome, who played for Leeds between 1991 and 1994, said: “Well I’ve been looking at the interest in him and the reports are that the player’s said that his first port of call will be Leeds United.

“If there are clubs interested in him and he’s got a choice, Leeds would be his first-choice.

“It’s a lot of money, it’s a gamble, obviously he’s not played in the Premier League.”

Manchester City were never in for Cristiano Ronaldo, former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer has exclusively told Football FanCast.

Before rivals Manchester United agreed a deal with Juventus to sign the Portuguese forward, he had been heavily linked with a move to the Etihad.

This came after City’s failed attempt to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham, with the 28-year-old recently confirming on Twitter that he would be staying at the north London club this summer.

Ultimately, given that failed pursuit of Kane, City moving for another forward like Ronaldo is logical. However, according to Palmer, based on what he has heard, a transfer was never on the cards.

“As far as I understand it, they were never in for Ronaldo,” the ex-Leeds United and Southampton player said. “They were never in for Ronaldo. I’ve had that on good authority. They made it very, very clear they wanted Harry Kane.”

Had they signed Ronaldo, it probably would have been game over for the rest of the Premier League.

The 36-year-old scored an impressive 29 goals in 33 Serie A appearances last season. Adding that sort of firepower to a team that was already capable of winning the Premier League could have made them unstoppable.