All posts by z3u9t.icu

Sunderland fans have been reacting after Chris Maguire scored for the club’s U23 side against Burnley on Monday.

The Black Cats hosted the Clarets in the Premier League 2. The score ended up being 3-0 to the home side, and Maguire was on the scoresheet. The victory now means the Wearside outfit are up to ninth in the Group 2 table with 24 points from 18 matches (flashscore.com).

To see Maguire playing at this level may seem unusual. After all, he is 32 years of age and has appeared 29 times in League One already this term, scoring four times and providing five assists (Transfermarkt). However, he has not started a match in the third tier since December 12th of last year, against Wigan, and he is therefore clearly in need of some match practice as we approach the end of the campaign.

The news of his goal was shared on Sunderland’s official Twitter account, and the fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

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

“Imagine my shock”

Credit: @RyanC2408

“The king has spoken”

Credit: @SAFCAcademy

“shock”

Credit: @kylesafc_73

“THE KING IS BACK”

Credit: @KINGMAGUIRE1

“Fantastic Chris but please save one for an important league game!”

Credit: @Squealer66

“Baffles me why he’s even playing in this game. He should be in the first team.”

Credit: @CameraChris79

In other news, Sunderland fans love this club video.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Peterborough director of football Barry Fry has named Manchester United as a potential rival to Chelsea in the race for Erling Haaland.

The Borussia Dortmund superstar is currently being linked with a move to west London, but Fry is expecting Manchester United to also make a play for him in the next transfer window.

Interest in Haaland in the summer is a inevitability, with the 20-year-old in incredible form right now as his climb to the summit of world football continues.

He has already hit the 30-goal mark in all competitions this season, so for any club currently in need of a striker, this looks to be their man.

Discussing where the future of Haaland, who is rated at up to €200m (£170m) by CIES, could lie in an exclusive interview with FFC, Fry said:

“They [Manchester United] are two or three quality players away from really challenging Man City. And if they want to do that, they’ve got to go for the best players and obviously he’s one of the best players about.

“I think Man United, not sure about Liverpool, their strategy on transfers and what have you, but I think Man United will compete with Chelsea for that signature, that’s for sure.”

Should Haaland end up at Old Trafford, he would join the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood, a wealth of attacking options that would make most Premier League managers jealous.

BBC Sport has revealed that Kyle Walker-Peters is a doubt for Southampton’s clash against West Bromwich Albion on Monday night.

Walker-Peters a doubt

Southampton face the Baggies at The Hawthorns as they look to move away from the relegation zone – three points would see Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side move up to 11th in the table and 13 points away from the drop (Sky Sports).

However, they could well be without Walker-Peters for the clash. He has a leg injury and is a doubt, although he has not yet been officially ruled out.

Blow for Saints

This is no doubt a blow for the south coast outfit. The 23-year-old has been an important player for Hasenhuttl so far this campaign – of the eight games in the Premier League in which he has not played a part, Southampton have lost seven and drawn one, conceding 26 times along the way (Transfermarkt).

Not only would his absence leave the Saints without an important player, Hasenhuttl would then be left with the difficult decision of who to put in his place. Yan Valery was the other natural option earlier on this season, but he is currently on loan at Birmingham City in the Championship. Unfortunately, Hasenhuttl may well be forced to play influential midfielder James Ward-Prowse out of position to the fill the role, as he has done on occasion in recent weeks.

Hopefully, £16.2m-valued Walker-Peters will be fit and ready for the clash tonight, although this news makes it seem unlikely.

In other news, Hasenhuttl makes this Danny Ings claim.

Marcel Brands could land Carlo Ancelotti his very own version of Jesse Lingard by signing Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli for Everton this summer.

Goodison Park has been touted as a potential destination for Alli to thrive in future seasons by former Premier League striker Dean Windass, who has been speaking exclusively with the Transfer Tavern.

Windass believes that a move to Merseyside or Aston Villa would allow Alli to hit the ground running as a big fish in a small pond, after falling to the wayside under Jose Mourinho in the “big” setting of north London.

Alli has only featured nine times in the top-flight this term and started just two of his appearances to date, while watching each of his side’s last three fixtures from the bench.

Yet, despite his lack of game time and Mourinho wanting him gone, Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy blocked Alli from reuniting with Mauricio Pochettino at Paris Saint-Germain in January after failing to land a replacement.

Recent reports by Football Insider have claimed that Mourinho is likely to again look at offloading Alli come the end of the season, though, and Windass feels Everton would make a suitable destination.

“I think Everton or Aston Villa, one of those teams where he then becomes a big fish in a small pond again. At the minute, he’s a small fish in a big pond,” the ex-Hull City striker told TT.

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“The kid needs to be playing to get back into the England squad. Gareth [Southgate] will be on the phone saying: ‘I think you’re a great player, but you need to be playing your club football.’”

It remains to be seen if Everton have any interest in signing Alli come the summer, but Brands pursuing the England international as an option to strengthen Ancelotti’s squad could see the Toffees’ Director of Football land the Italian his Lingard-esque playmaker.

The Goodison Park natives were linked with Alli prior to the mid-season transfer window, when Levy was claimed to have denied the midfielder a move away from Tottenham as PSG refused to pay £3m for a temporary deal.

Levy priced the £100,000-per-week playmaker at such a figure as he allegedly felt Alli was worth £45m, but is now expected to have to settle for £25m in the event of a summer sale.

That price may be considered acceptable by the Everton hierarchy, as the 25-year-old is still yet to enter his prime years but has 37 caps for England to his name along with 50 goals and 36 assists in 165 career Premier League appearances to date.

A change of setting for the player former Spurs midfielder Darren Anderton once dubbed “a freak of a talent” could see Alli rediscover his lost form in a similar way to how Lingard has since joining West Ham on loan from Manchester United in January.

Lingard had only played three times under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this season – each in the domestic cups – before moving to the London Stadium, where he has since been described as “a big fish in a smaller pond” by Danny Mills.

Southgate also recalled Lingard to the England squad for the first time in two years after seeing him thrive in claret and blue, with the 28-year-old involved in more Premier League goals (11 – eight scored, three assisted) than any player since his Irons debut on February 3rd.

Life away from an established top-six club has clearly done Lingard the world of good and could be what Alli needs to remain a player considered among the world’s best.

AND in other news, Marcel Brands could deliver Everton’s own Virgil van Dijk with £17.5m summer swoop…

A new report has emerged and it has exposed a worrying trend of Jose Mourinho’s at Tottenham Hotspur this season.

Spurs have endured an indifferent season. Back in December things were rosy, with the north London outfit sat top of the Premier League but now in April, things have taken a turn for the worst.

They are out of the FA Cup, Europa League and their chances of making the top four appear all but over – the one thing going for them is the upcoming Carabao Cup final, though they’ll face the red-hot league leaders, Manchester City.

A lot of Spurs’ issues have come down to their defensive problems, perhaps a surprise statement considering they hold the fourth-best defensive record in the top-flight but having dropped a whopping 18 points from winning positions, their season could’ve been far, far better.

But now a study conducted by the CIES Football Observatory has highlighted another worry.

As of this month, the Lilywhites are just one of three Premier League teams that have failed to give a single minute of league action to a player aged 21 or younger.

Given their troubles throughout the campaign, it surely can do Spurs no harm if they took a step back and put one eye on the future.

By comparison, Wolves have given an astounding 16.2% of all their minutes to U21 players, even Man City are up there in fifth and they occupy the top spot, so clearly it can pay dividends to have just a little bit of faith in your up-and-coming prospects.

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Of course, we have seen Mourinho hand out such opportunities, but these have come in dead rubber encounters, such as the second-leg against Wolfsberger AC in the Europa League, where Spurs were already in possession of a three-goal advantage.

The likes of Alfie Devine, Dane Scarlett, and Oliver Skipp are hugely talented and impressive youngsters, who are all more than worthy of playing some minutes at the very top level.

After Brexit, and with Spurs’ likely upcoming homegrown registration battle next season, Mourinho must do more to map out a better plan for the club’s current crop of youngsters.

This will leave Daniel Levy teeming with frustration too, as he’s less likely to make a substantial profit on these players if they are not being exposed to senior football.

Young prospects like Scarlett have cost the club nothing to develop but if he lives up to his true potential, then Levy could easily make a substantial sale on him in the future – though, not if Mourinho keeps up this concerning trend.

He has a history of it too, letting the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah slip his grasp at Chelsea, so again, the Spurs chairman ought to be feeling a little anxious over this latest report.

AND in other news, £18m-rated “role model” wants Spurs move, Levy must now strike…

Reported Southampton transfer target Tammy Abraham is said to be looking to leave Chelsea this summer and after he was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the FA Cup semi-final last weekend, it is looking increasingly likely that he won’t be at Stamford Bridge next season.

According to Eurosport, Southampton and West Ham are both considering moves for the England international this summer, as he continues to struggle for game time under Chelsea’s new manager.

It was suggested at the time that Abraham could look for a new venture ahead of next season and it feels as if his complete omission for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final could be the final straw for the young striker at Chelsea.

Since Tuchel’s appointment on the 26th January, Abraham has completed 90 minutes just once in a 1-0 FA Cup win against Barnsley when he scored, so it is perhaps surprising that he has been used so sparingly in the Premier League and Champions League by the former PSG and Borussia Dortmund boss.

Despite his lack of minutes this season, the former Aston Villa loanee has six goals in just 12 top-flight starts this season, as well as six goals in cup competitions, so it is clear that he can be relied upon to find the back of the net when he features.

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The 23-year-old striker was prolific during his time with the Villans in the Championship, hitting 25 goals in 37 league appearances, which led Jack Grealish to sing his praises on Instagram last year, saying:

“Unbelievable. Couldn’t believe how good he was with the ball for how tall he is. Loved playing with him.”

Given that Southampton spent the majority of their FA Cup semi-final launching long balls to Danny Ings and Nathan Redmond, having a striker such as the six-foot-three Abraham certainly seems like a good idea ahead of next season.

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It certainly seems likely that he will depart Stamford Bridge, so Martin Semmens should do everything he can to bring the striker to St Mary’s, as he could be a superb addition to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.

And, in other news… Ralph blew it: Hasenhuttl’s tactical blunder cost Saints at Wembley, they were woeful

Crystal Palace’s hopes of appointing Eddie Howe as the club’s new manager this summer appear to have taken a significant blow.

When replying to a supporter’s questions on Twitter, journalist Alan Nixon suggested that it is “unlikely” that the former Bournemouth manager would be taking the reins at Selhurst Park – a gutting development for Steve Parish, who reportedly had his eyes on Howe.

With Roy Hodgson’s contract at the club winding down, it was reported by Football Insider that Howe had been sounded out by the hierarchy at Selhurst Park, with further suggestions from Give Me Sport implying that he could have potentially been interested in the role come the end of the season.

However, with Howe now seeming unlikely to take over, it means that Palace are charged with the task of finding another suitable candidate to succeed Hodgson.

The former Bournemouth boss would certainly have been an interesting appointment at Selhurst Park, having done remarkably well to earn promotion with the Cherries as well as establish them in the Premier League before relegation at the end of last season.

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In all, the 43-year-old has overseen 190 matches in the Premier League, winning 56 of those. He has also been linked to the vacancy at Scottish giants Celtic so whether the likelihood of him being appointed Palace manager is impacted by progress made at Parkhead remains to be seen.

In the meantime, the Eagles remain linked with various candidates for the role ahead of Hodgson’s potential departure. Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael has been rumoured to be under consideration, whilst Burnley’s Sean Dyche is also thought to be on Parish’s shortlist ahead of the summer.

Whoever gets appointed at Selhurst Park, there will surely be a tinge of disappointment at potentially having missed out on Howe.

AND in more news, find out which current PL star could be the perfect arrival for the Eagles in the summer…

Crystal Palace have seemingly handed Celtic a major boost in their pursuit of Eddie Howe.

That’s according to Football Insider, who have been informed from sources close to both the Eagles and the Hoops.

Burnley’s Sean Dyche is now the favourite to take over from Roy Hodgson, with a Palace source admitting ‘Dyche figures most prominently in the thoughts of the board’ – ten words that could be key in Celtic’s attempts to land Howe.

Howe has spoken to Palace ahead of a potential Selhurst Park swoop, but it seems as if they now have Dyche at the top of their list.

A Celtic source meanwhile believes the 43-year-old, who verbally agreed on a Parkhead move at the beginning of the month, has been hedging his bets while waiting to see how events pan out in London.

Transfer Tavern take

In our opinion, Dyche being the favourite for the Palace job may now lead to Howe eventually putting pen to paper on a Glasgow move.

As a Hoops source believes, he could have been waiting to see what was going on in Croydon, however, he was tabled a ‘wonderful offer’ by Celtic and may now be willing to sign the paperwork with Dyche moving to the fore in London.

Of course, details such as his coaching staff, salary and transfer budget may still need to be agreed, but with Palace now aiming for Dyche, we feel that will only spell good news for the Hoops going forward if Howe is their man.

In other news: Manager of Premier League giants talks to Celtic star ahead of possible summer move, find out how it went here. 

According to a teasing update by reliable Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold, the Lilywhites have now begun to filter out the long list of managerial candidates and are about to ‘formally’ approach more targets in the coming weeks – with the hunt for a boss now seemingly heating up.

Gold drops teasing managerial update

Indeed, Tottenham are allegedly well underway in the search for Jose Mourinho’s successor to take over after interim boss Ryan Mason sees out the 2020/2021 campaign.

As well as chairman Daniel Levy narrowing down his options and prioritising certain targets to be formally approached, Spurs are also believed to have definitely begun the managerial search process according to Gold.

football.london and the reporter’s information is that Tottenham Hotspur hope to announce their next boss before the end of this season – but that factor could make it difficult to speak to managers already in work.

It is unclear who has now entered the favourites position to be appointed with recent top target Erik Ten Hag having signed a new deal at Eredivisie giants Ajax.

Ralf Rangnick, Roberto Martinez, Graham Potter and Massimiliano Allegri are still mentioned by Gold in this report as gaffers who have admirers within the club.

Transfer Tavern take

The Ten Hag blow, coming after fellow former target Julian Nagelsmann opted for Bayern Munich, is particularly concerning given the shrinking list of alternatives.

We are surprised that Champions League-winning and free agent boss Rafael Benitez hasn’t been mentioned more given he is without a club and has vast experience at the top level.

However, of the men seriously linked, Rangnick certainly presents himself as Tottenham’s next best target.

He is the dubbed father of gegenpressing and a ‘perfectionist’ in his craft according to RB Leipzig striker Yussuf Poulsen – as well as being a potentially cheaper appointment for Levy than previous targets like Nagelsmann.

While the search grows more complicated, Gold’s update that Spurs are preparing to ‘formally’ approach candidates comes as a teasing one holding encouragement.

In other news: Tottenham are reportedly set for a significant end of season decision, find out more here.

Leeds United are on the lookout to sign a strong alternative to Kalvin Phillips this summer, seeing midfield as a key area in which to strengthen.

The next transfer window has the potential to be an exciting one at Elland Road as Marcelo Bielsa aims to make his squad even more formidable. A mid-table finish in the Premier League appears to be on the cards this season, but there is no reason why Leeds can’t aim for higher in 2021/22, assuming the right players are brought in.

Leeds keen on signing Phillips alternative

According to Football Insider, the Whites believe that signing a backup to the ‘outstanding’ Phillips is of paramount importance in order to allow the England midfielder a breather from time to time.

No names are specified in terms of potential players to come in, but Bielsa reportedly views it as a ‘key position for squad improvement’.

Transfer Tavern take

The importance of having top-quality depth in the Premier League is huge, with small squads often found wanting as the season progresses. Given the relentless nature of Phillips’ role, with endless running required, it makes perfect sense to sign someone who is capable of dovetailing with the 25-year-old, who has started every league match for which he has been available this term.

That way, Leeds are more likely to see the best of the Englishman throughout a whole campaign, alleviating the risk of burnout and keeping competition for places healthy.

In other news, a reliable journalist has dropped a big Leeds transfer claim – find out who the player in question is here.