All posts by z3u9t.icu

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According to the Daily Mail, West Ham United are interested in signing Alaves centre-back Guillermo Maripan in this summer’s transfer window.

What’s the word, then?

Maripan is a 6ft 4in centre-back who has impressed for Alaves this season.

Indeed, the 24-year-old has scored twice in 22 La Liga appearances during the 2018-19 campaign, helping his Basque club into fifth position in the table.

According to the Daily Mail, West Ham ‘are showing interest’ in Maripan, but they will face competition from Roma for the powerful defender.

The Hammers have not exactly been water-tight defensively this season, conceding 46 times in their 31 Premier League games, including three against Huddersfield Town at the weekend.

And therefore it is not too much of a surprise that Manuel Pellegrini’s side are being linked with a swoop for a player who has been very impressive this term.

What would Maripan bring to West Ham?

West Ham are not exactly short of height in central defence, with last summer’s arrival Issa Diop also standing at 6ft 4in.

There has not really been a lot of consistency in Pellegrini’s back four this term, though, and that will need to change next season if they are to move forward.

Maripan’s height means that he is a force in both penalty boxes, but the 11-time Chile international is a ball-playing centre-back.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals what Lasagne-Gate was really like for Tottenham’s food-poisoned stars – Check out the video below…

Indeed, what the South American lacks in speed, he more than makes up for in other areas of his game, including technical skills.

Roma will seemingly have something to say about Maripan’s future, but West Ham should certainly be looking to explore a possible deal for the colossus who would the perfect addition alongside Diop in the backline next term.

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Paulo Dybala. A player who is obviously a world-class talent, that much goes without saying.

The Juventus man has forged a career from excelling in the No.10 role, showcasing exquisite dribbling skills and an uncanny eye for goal that has seem him rise from mere obscurity at Palermo to a footballing icon at Juventus.

Recent reports have been linking the Argentina international with a move to Liverpool, who are quite clearly in need of some depth in attack with just Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge available as backup.

Are the media letting Jurgen Klopp off lightly for his lack of silverware? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

However, Jurgen Klopp has his formidable attacking trident of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, a trio which works extremely well and would be foolish to disrupt.

This is where the problem lies. Firstly, as aforesaid, the Reds need depth. But it is somewhat of a catch 22 when looking to sign a player to solve this, as any potential arrival would need to understand that they may not be starting week in, week out.

Another issue is replicating Firmino’s role in this system. Few strikers have the mindset that the Brazilian possesses, as he is a player who always puts the team first and finds himself in areas that a forward should be alien to, all to help the team.

Firmino’s tendency to drop deep – very deep – and drag centre-backs infield with him is vital in helping Mane and Salah score the amount of goals that they do; note that the two Africans have both hit 20 goals in successive seasons, whereas Firmino’s tally is a lot lower as he sacrifices personal statistics for the good of the team.

Would Dybala, or anyone else for that matter, arrive at Anfield and immediately throw themselves and their reputation under the bus so Mane and Salah can score goals? Think of it this way: if Dybala arrived in a big-money deal, and only scored around 10 goals, he would be regarded as a flop even if he was allowing Mane and Salah to hit 20 goals yet again.

Firmino’s role is understood well by the Liverpool fans and by most of those interested in the Premier League, and it is a unique one that helps keep the Reds’ attack finely balanced.

In searching for a back-up option, Klopp should perhaps set his sights a little lower than such a huge, world-renowned name like Dybala, in order not to upset the dynamics of the side.

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Everton will have to pay £60million if they wish to keep both Kurt Zouma and Andre Gomes at the club next season, per The Times.

The two loanees, from Chelsea and Barcelona respectively, are highly rated at Goodison Park and the club has already told Chelsea that they wish to buy Zouma.

What’s the word?

Zouma and Gomes have both featured prominently at Goodison Park this season.

The three-time France international’s future is, per the report, complicated by Chelsea’s transfer ban but there is a chance that an appeal against FIFA’s judgement could be successful, leading to the possibility of the Blues being allowed to buy players this summer.

That would surely leave them more open to the sale of Zouma but, even so, the Times report that he would cost around £30m.

The same goes for Gomes, who had been struggling to find his way into Barcelona’s team in La Liga.

For the Toffees to keep both players, then, and before considering any further additions to the squad, they face a payout of £60m.

The report also claims that the futures of defenders Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines remain up in the air, with their contracts set to expire in the summer.

A ruinous deal

These deals could set Everton back significantly, and not just in monetary terms. There is a major rebuild needed at Goodison Park after a season of stagnation under Marco Silva.

A new striker, a couple of new midfielders and a defensive overhaul is required, but paying £60m to keep two players who have hardly set the world alight seems a poor start. It’s more than they forked out for £45m club-record signing Gylfi Sigurdsson two years ago.

Zouma and Gomes are clearly talented but the risk here is Everton spending most of their summer budget on two players who have already proven that they are not superstars and subsequently ignoring the bigger issues at play.

For starters, Everton still haven’t found a convincing replacement for Romelu Lukaku, an issue which has plagued Ronald Koeman, Sam Allardyce and now Silva. The wing berths remain conundrums too, while Jagielka and Baines’ potential departures will leave a huge leadership void throughout the first team squad.

Those problems need addressing this summer, so the question has to be asked: How much money would be left to fix them if both players joined permanently?

Everton should be very wary of paying £60m just to maintain the status quo.

When Paul Heckingbottom took over at Easter Road in February, he inherited a side that languished in eighth place in the table, some 12 points behind then third-placed Aberdeen.

If anyone had said at that time, that Hibs would go into the fixture split with an outside chance of claiming a Europa League spot, they would have been laughed at.

Such has been the effect the new boss has had, everyone associated with the club are riding the crest of a wave, and with a derby win over Hearts in their back pocket, Hibs fans are strarting to believe.

At the very least, they will now have a realistic expectation of finishing as Edinburgh’s top team, but with a good finish, anything could be possible.

29-year-old stalwart, Paul Hanlon, is Hibs through-and-through. A one club player — but for a brief month on loan at St Johnstone in 2008 — and he admitted that the club were drifting towards a lower half finish before Heckingbottom’s arrival, and he insisted people had “written us off” when talking of the top six.

But now, having achieved that goal as a minimum, his sights are set much higher.

He told the Edinburgh News: “If you go back to just before the manager came in, everybody had written us off as far as making the top six.

“It was always going to be a big ask, so to show the form we have done is great. We now have to try and keep it going and see where we finish.

“It has been a massive turnaround. It is exciting and it is what you want at this stage of the season.”

Certainly, with the remaining fixtures now announced, the rest of April will be hugely significant to their European ambitions.

With Hearts now in their rear-view mirror, focus shifts to the two sides above them — Kilmarnock and Aberdeen — who both also harbour aspirations of a third-placed finish.

With their two rivals playing each other when the SPFL resumes after this weekend’s break for the Scottish Cup Semi-Finals, Hibs have the unenviable task of trying to prolong the wait for Celtic’s title-winning party, and hope that they can get one over on Heckingbottom’s predecessor in the Hibs hot-seat, Neil Lennon.

Should they do so, it would see them close the gap on at least one of those above them, and with April’s last round of fixtures seeing the small matter of the final Edinburgh derby of the season — at Easter Road this time — with Kilmarnock and Aberdeen visiting the top two, Celtic and Rangers respectively, they could go into May, just three points behind third, at worst.

There are lots of ifs and buts in there, of course, but with the run Hibs have been on since Heckingbottom arrived, and confidence at a massive high, why shouldn’t the fans dream of what might be.

It would be the happily-ever-after ending, to what has already been, a fairy-tale couple of months for the green half of Edinburgh.

What do you think if your Europa League hopes, Hibs fans? Are they realistic, or would you settle for finishing above your Edinburgh neighbours? Let us know your opinion, and join in the debate below…

Rangers fans haven’t been impressed with Kyle Lafferty to say the least, but they could have a bad case of deja vu if Greg Stewart signs from Aberdeen in summer.

The Scot hasn’t even scored a league goal for his new club since joining on loan in January and surely that’s enough to put anyone off signing a centre-forward. Not the Gers though apparently because, according to the Daily Record, they’re interested.

Frankly, Rangers need another striker with a sharp eye for goal, not for missing it, and they’ve already had a bad enough experience with Lafferty.

Indeed, the Ibrox forward in question has scored just five and assisted one in 21 Premiership appearances this season, so it’s understandable why fans are so disappointed with the 31-year-old who signed from Hearts in the summer.

Furthermore, there’s some pretty worrying similarities between the two.

Stewart is 29 and Lafferty is 31, and that’s just too old for the future Steven Gerrard is trying to build at Rangers. Their age could be forgiven if they were top-class talent, but they’re really not, and a young prospect would be better taking their place in the squad.

They’re both also valued under £1m on Transfermarkt. We know players can be under or over-valued, but this just proves Lafferty’s signing and the potential signing of Stewart is way under the expectation of the Rangers faithful. They want signings to be excited about and neither of these players have that aura.

Yes, they already have Alfredo Morelos, but we’ve seen what a hot head he can be since he joined, so it’s important there are two great strikers at the club so one can fill in every time Morelos gets a ban. Regardless of his attitude, the club can’t mount a title challenge with only him, Kyle Lafferty and Greg Stewart.

Quality in depth is key over a season.

If Rangers sign Stewart, there’s a very strong chance he’ll end up like Lafferty and never live up to expectations. Come on Rangers, you’ve got to do better than these two!

Rangers fans, who do you think your club should sign instead of Greg Stewart? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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Tottenham Hotspur supporters have waxed lyrical about the form of youngster Troy Parrott and some have even urged Mauricio Pochettino to start the teenager against Huddersfield Town this weekend.

The striker scored twice on Wednesday as Spurs’ Under-18 side beat Chelsea 2-0.

Parrott netted the first after an excellent through ball from midfield before doubling his tally with an exquisite free-kick.

The 17-year-old has scored a total of 14 goals for the Under-18 side this season in just ten games.

Indeed, he has scored braces in six games thus far this season, twice against Brighton & Hove Albion, and once versus West Ham United, Aston Villa, Leicester City and now the Blues.

He has also scored three goals in five UEFA Youth League outings, including a strike against Barcelona.

And fans believe that he is capable of doing a job for the first-team, particularly after Harry Kane sustained an injury in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Manchester City.

The England captain limped straight down the tunnel after a clash with Three Lions team-mate Fabian Delph at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and could miss the run-in as Spurs attempt to qualify for the Champions League via a top-four finish.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

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Middlesbrough Chairman Steve Gibson has launched quite a controversial demand that the EFL looks into the financial conduct of three Championship clubs.

Those being questioned by Gibson are Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Derby. According to The Telegraph, he is insisting that they’ve attempted to bypass new profitability and sustainability laws. As a result, a meeting has been arranged for all Championship clubs to attend on the 24th April.

However, Villa fans seem to have laughed off the accusations, with one individual calling Gibson jealous.

Another supporter labelled the Boro Chairman a grass whilst one fan claimed he was clutching at straws. One further member of the Villa Park faithful insisted that Gibson’s accusations were a result of their underperformance, hoping their play-off rivals would get a points deduction.

Aston Villa are currently one of the teams in the box seat for a play-off place, sitting in fifth, five points ahead of Boro who are a place outside the top six.

Dean Smith’s men have been on a tremendous run of form and seem to be timing their bid for promotion just at the right time having won eight games on the bounce.

Here’s the best of the reaction to Gibson’s demands on Twitter.

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Loads of Newcastle fans have been reacting to an update from the club, who informed fans that Mike Dean will take charge of their trip to Brighton.

Newcastle are now mathematically safe from relegation after Liverpool beat Cardiff on Sunday evening, with the Magpies of course taking three points against Southampton on Saturday.

Still, the club’s future is completely up in the air due to the uncertainty surrounding both the owner and manager, and fans will want to enjoy every last second of Rafael Benitez’s tenure if this is to be the last of it.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals why Tyne-Wear is a more intense derby than anything London can offer – check out the video below….

The third-to-last game of the Spaniard’s current contract comes this weekend when his side will travel to the Amex Stadium to take on a Brighton team still battling the drop, and Dean has been appointed to the clash.

Needless to say, fans are reacting with a mixture of hilarious sarcasm and pure anger to the news, as Dean has not exactly endeared himself to the Tyneside faithful with his decisions this season.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions to the club’s tweet down below…

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Liverpool travel to Barcelona on Wednesday evening for what is a crucial Champions League semi-final inside the Camp Nou, where Jurgen Klopp’s men will have the chance to score a vital away goal.

It will certainly be a tough task for the Reds against one of the best sides in Europe, and it will be an enticing watch as to who comes out on top between Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk, arguably two of the best in their positions in world football.

However, the job could be made harder for Liverpool if Roberto Firmino cannot recover from his ‘small muscle tear’, which ruled him out of the 5-0 win over Huddersfield.

Watch “Jurgen Klopp’s” hilarious masterplan for winning the title in the video below…

The Brazilian is a crucial cog in Klopp’s team, and his absence could be a significant factor in Liverpool’s chances of getting a result against the Spanish champions.

Firstly, let’s see how the Reds may set up with Firmino available…

This is how Klopp opted to line his side up against the Terriers, apart from Daniel Sturridge coming in for Firmino, and saw a performance from his men which yielded five goals and a clean sheet; a real swashbuckling showing.

However, if Firmino is unavailable, the former Borussia Dortmund boss will have to rethink things – Sturridge was ineffective against the league’s basement side in Huddersfield, so he can’t be seriously considered against Barcelona.

Of course, Xherdan Shaqiri is an option to come in, so too is Divock Origi, but we don’t think that Klopp will spring any surprises; instead, we think he may just alter one in-form star’s position slightly…

Instead of bringing in a recognised attacker, Klopp should move Keita out onto the left-wing, and put Sadio Mane into the centre-forward role where he has shone at times this season.

The Guinean international has played out on the left four times in the current campaign, and it is an area that Klopp has said in that past that Keita can play in due to his ‘speed’ and ‘football intelligence’.

The chain reaction of Firmino missing out and pushing Keita wide would then make room for Georginio Wijnaldum, who has recently seen his spot hijacked by a resurgent Jordan Henderson.

In Mane’s case, the Senegalese international played as a centre-forward in the 5-0 win over Watford earlier in the season, a game in which he netted two goals – including an expertly taken back-heel chip over Ben Foster.

Given the lack of quality in the forward options behind Firmino, such as Origi and Sturridge, this would be Klopp’s best lineup in the absence of his first-choice No.9, and would go some way to helping them get a result and potentially a crucial away goal.

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It has been reported that Ander Herrera has agreed a contract with Paris Saint-Germain ahead of a summer move to the French champions.

The Spanish international’s contract at Old Trafford is up at the end of the season, and the Red Devils have struggled to tie him down to fresh terms due to Herrera’s wage demands – the midfielder has been asking for a rise from his current £80,000-a-week deal to a salary of £200,000-a-week.

However, whilst it is debatable whether or not a 29-year-old approaching his thirties is worth being amongst the club’s top earners, one thing is for certain; there isn’t a player like Herrera at United, and he will be sorely missed based on his performance against Chelsea on Sunday.

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The former Athletic Bilbao man made Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men look a completely different side to the one that had won just two out of their last seven prior to their meeting with the Blues.

Herrera made three tackles, whilst also committing four fouls along the way, but it is that bite and tenacity in the middle of the park that United have sorely missed in his recent absence.

He gives the attackers confidence as they know there’s a solid base behind them, whilst he gives the defenders that extra bit of belief as a result of the protection he gives them – he is arguably the glue that keeps the team together.

Admittedly, United still looked fairly lost after Marcos Alonso netted an equaliser, but they seemed a far more comfortable unit with Herrera sat in midfield.

His demands are representative of the crumbling wage structure at the club, ignited by placing the ineffective, out of favour Alexis Sanchez on a salary of £350,000-a-week potentially rising to £500,000-a-week with on bonuses.

But, even though the club should not bow down to his demands, they must ensure they replace him immediately, or United should prepare themselves for a turbulent start to next season.