All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Crystal Palace embarked on a mass overhaul of their first-team squad over the summer, allowing several experienced campaigners to depart before replacing them with exciting, young acquisitions.

And the early indications are that the capital club’s dealings were a huge success. The likes of Marc Guehi, Odsonne Edouard and Conor Gallagher have all hit the ground running at Selhurst Park, propelling Patrick Vieira’s new-look side to a memorable victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

However, while there can be little doubt over the incomings in south London, the club’s hierarchy arguably made a few mistakes when allowing some seasoned professionals to walk out the exit.

Winger Andros Townsend has been excelling at fellow Premier League club Everton in the opening weeks of the new campaign with five goals for the Toffees already, but defender Patrick van Aanholt is another who Palace chairman Steve Parish may have some regrets over.

After joining the Eagles via a £9.45m move in January 2017, the attacking left-back went on to make 134 appearances in all competitions, scoring 14 goals and providing six assists in the process.

His impressive performances for Palace saw him soon became a pivotal part of the English sides system under former manager Roy Hodgson, earning him 19 caps for the Netherlands senior setup as a result.

But while the ex-England boss brought stability to Palace during his tenure, Hodgson has left behind an imbalanced and unstable playing squad, with the Selhurst Park outfit having the oldest squad in the top flight in 2020/21.

Consequently, Van Aanholt was one of the players sacrificed to make way for the new era in south London and was phased out of the Palace starting XI in the final few weeks of last term, allowing promising full-back Tyrick Mitchell a chance to shine.

However, the now 31-year-old still made 22 Premier League appearances for Palace, recording 1.4 interceptions per game and 1.1 defensive dribbles per game, the third-highest totals in the Palace squad for each metric, respectively.

His departure on a free transfer in the previous window has left Mitchell as the only natural left-back in Vieira’s squad, while Van Aanholt’s eye-catching performances for Galatasaray in the Europa League will surely leave Parish and co. lamenting their decision to let the defender go.

And, in other news…Signed for £0, sold for £49.5m: Parish struck gold for Palace over £90k-p/w gem

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly keen to bring PSV Eindhoven winger Noni Madueke back to north London this summer.

What’s the story?

According to Sky Sports, Spurs are one of three Premier League clubs interested in securing the highly-rated 19-year-old’s services, with Leicester City and Wolves also credited with an interest.

The report states that PSV are set to demand between £30m and £34m for their prized asset, a valuation which could prove too costly for the English trio with less than two weeks remaining of the current transfer window.

Tottenham fans will be buzzing

Madueke, who was born in Barnet, came up through the youth ranks with Tottenham until he was released at the age of 16 and then moved to Netherlands back in 2018 when PSV came calling.

Since then, the England under-21 international has gone from strength to strength. After making his debut for the Eredivisie giants in 2019/20, Madueke enjoyed his breakout season last term.

In 32 appearances for Roger Schmidt’s side in all competitions, the skillful winger bagged nine goals and provided a further eight assists for his teammates, establishing himself as one of Europe’s most exciting young talents.

Sky Sports claimed that his impressive performances caught the eye of some of the continent’s top clubs, stating: “Last season, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Manchester City were among the top clubs tracking his development, as he scored seven goals and created six more in the Eredivisie.

“And a string of scouts from Europe’s elite clubs – including Juventus – were said to have been watching him against Benfica on Wednesday night.”

The youngster has started the new campaign in scintillating form as well, contributing to six goals in just seven outings as PSV attempt to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League.

However, prising him away from the Philips Stadion may be a tricky task for Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, after Schmidt claimed that the talented teenager would be staying put this summer in a recent interview.

Speaking to ESPN (via Football.London), he said: “I’m not afraid [of Madueke leaving], why should I be? He will one day leave PSV if he continues to develop like he is now.

“I’m not afraid it will happen now. We can’t sell key players anymore. We’ve already done that with Donyell Malen, Denzel Dumfries and Pablo Rosario, so we can’t lose any more.

“And PSV is also a fantastic club for Noni to develop. He is very young, he can play a lot here, score goals and cheer with the team. I think he feels very good here.”

Potentially bringing Madueke back to north London could go down as some of the best business Levy has managed to pull off in years, and given the teenager’s obvious talents, it’s a coup which could have Spurs fans buzzing if the club chief gets it over the line.

In other news…Pundit cannot see £40.5m-rated ace leaving his club for Spurs 

As per Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge (speaking to GIVEMESPORT), Tottenham defender Cristian Romero has suffered a ‘serious strain’, rather than a tear to his hamstring, as first thought.

The Lowdown: Spurs’ injury woes

Argentine defender Romero is not the only injury Tottenham are currently dealing with. Central midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, once hailed by teammate Harry Winks as ‘a technically gifted player’, has been sidelined for a long period after suffering a knee injury, which has meant missing the last five matches.

Emerson Royal also missed the recent 3-0 win over Norwich as he was unavailable due to an unknown injury. This was a blow for Spurs, as he currently leads the team in tackles, with 3.6 per game.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/spurs-developments-2/” title=”Spurs developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Romero sustained his injury whilst on international duty with Argentina last month. Unfortunately for Antonio Conte, this will continue to affect Tottenham’s defensive stability, as his average of 1.3 blocks per game is the highest at the club by a fair margin.

The Latest: Bridge gives Romero update

Conte had recently stated that Romero’s injury is ‘serious’, but has thus far failed to go into any details. However, Bridge has confirmed that the 23-year-old has not torn his hamstring.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he said: “I kind of thought the worst when Conte said we will know more in seven to 10 days, but I’m told it’s not a tear, it’s a serious strain. So, is that January? He did say January or February.”

The Verdict: Not as serious as first thought

To Spurs fans’ relief, Romero’s injury is not as bad as first thought. Bridge has shed light on the fact that the Argentine has not torn his hamstring – an injury that can keep a player out of action for over three months.

It is still unclear as to when he will return, but it sounds like best case will be January, a potentially massive relief to Conte and co coming off the back of the hectic Christmas fixture period.

Romero has been regularly applauded since moving to Spurs from Atalanta earlier this year, even drawing praise from Brazil legend Cafu, who admitted that he had a ‘very good game’ in the Copa America final. The Lilywhites faithful will surely be counting down the days until his return.

Aston Villa’s defence has pretty much picked itself over the last 18 months after some solid results and excellent performances under Dean Smith and now Steven Gerrard.

Emiliano Martinez is the undisputed number one goalkeeper, while Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Matt Targett make up the back-four in front of him when they’re all fit. The likes of Kortney Hause and Axel Tuanzebe make the central defensive positions somewhat competitive, but the full-backs have been pretty much set in stone.

So when Targett suffered a head injury against Manchester City and was forced off, there were instantly worries from Villa fans as to who would fill in and how much of a blow it would turn out to be in the upcoming games.

If the win and performance against Leicester is anything to go by though, they needn’t have worried because Ashley Young is on the scene.

The former Manchester United man made his name as a winger, lighting up the Premier League for Villa before his move to Old Trafford where he won the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League. But during his time up north, Young’s game transformed from a flying winger to a reliable full-back. That was solidified when he moved to Italy with Inter Milan and won the Scudetto playing as a left wing-back.

Upon his return to Villa Park in the summer on a free transfer, where he signed a £50k-per-week deal, many lauded his versatility as a big reason why the deal was a good one for the club despite him being 36-years-old these days. His performance against Leicester in the 2-1 win from left-back proved them right.

He won 100% of his tackles on the day and only Emi Buendia completed more dribbles than him in a Villa shirt during the game. Despite being naturally right-footed, he kept the width well to stretch the Leicester defence and was a threat going forward with his crossing ability. His performance meant Villa barely missed Targett in the game and were able to pick up three points without him.

With a trip to Anfield up next, Gerrard will want his strongest defence available to him. But with Young’s experience and winning mentality, that could well include the veteran who the Villans boss dubbed “outstanding” in a wing-back role to provide a threat going forward as well as security defensively against the most potent attack in the country.

As he proved only last weekend, he can be game-changing in that position.

AND in other news, Matty Cash stole the show against Leicester.

Flocking to Twitter, many West Ham United fans have gone wild for an update on exciting youngster Conor Coventry from a Rush Green source.

The 21-year-old has been subject to heavy interest from Peterborough over the last week as The Posh make a move to sign him on loan for the 2021/2022 season.

He has excelled in pre-season for West Ham and is widely regarded as the possible next big talent to come through at the London Stadium, drawing some comparisons with Declan Rice.

When news broke of the Irons considering his loan exit for this campaign, there was plenty of uproar on social media given their lack of depth in central midfield.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-latest-gossip/” title=”West Ham latest gossip…” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Now, a West Ham source has brought news from Rush Green, explaining to Football Insider that manager David Moyes has ‘pulled the plug’ on a Coventry exit.

Indeed, the Scotsman has apparently changed his mind on the talent and wants him in West Ham’s first team over what will be a long and gruelling campaign fighting on multiple fronts.

Flocking to this development, it’s safe to say many Hammers are ecstatic over the U-turn – find all of their best reactions to the news, in reply to West Ham Fan Zone and West Ham News & Views, down below.

West Ham fans flock to Coventry update…

“Great decision”

Credit: @oogle_bleh

“Yessss”

Credit: @TalkinWestHam

“Wow a good decision kick on young fella”

Credit: @rkellyboy

“Brilliant news”

Credit: @JODYALLEYCAT

“Best news I’ve heard all day!”

Credit: @LindsayWesker

“Excellent news. Equivalent to a new signing”

Credit: @JBsOpinions

“Hallelujah”

Credit: @Timmywink

“so glad to see Moyes putting his foot down about our youth lads! Gotta get the new blood into the squad, heaven knows we need the depth”

Credit: @ryryboltwrap

In other news: ‘Yessss’, ‘What we’ve been asking for’…West Ham fans have also erupted over this ‘beautiful’ club post, find out more here.

Wolves will have to act shrewdly in the transfer market this summer, knowing they have limited cash to spend.

The Old Gold could sell Ruben Neves and Adama Traore to finance new faces but that wouldn’t be the greatest of starts of Bruno Lage’s reign.

What’s the word?

With spending limited, a €15m (£12.8m) bid to sign another young player might not be the best of ideas.

However, that’s what Wolves look as though they’re going through with as a report from A Bola claims that they have submitted an offer to sign Kaio Jorge.

The Santos teenager is one of the most promising young players in world football, though, with both Arsenal and Chelsea also courting his services.

That said, it’s the Midlands side who look favourites for Jorge’s signature at the moment with their formal offer putting them ahead of other English clubs.

Better than Silva?

Lage is famed for helping to progress one of the hottest young talents around; Joao Felix.

He came through under the Portuguese coach at Benfica and eventually earned a massive £113m move to Atletico Madrid.

For a young player like Fabio Silva, he will surely be licking his lips over getting to work with the new Wolves boss.

Unfortunately, the teenager has endured quite a tough start to life in England. Silva has shown flashes of quality and earned several starts towards the end of the campaign but he’s still only scored four goals in Wolves colours.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-wolves-transfer-news-alena-dike-neves-barisic” title=”Real the latest Wolves transfer news!”]

For a player who cost £35.6m that evidently isn’t good enough but Fosun knew they were paying for his potential.

Jorge, on the other hand, arguably has a lot more promise. That’s despite his price tag being more than half of what Wolves paid for Silva.

He’s been compared to Neymar which, judging by the side he plays for, is hardly a surprise. The Brazilian sensation made his name at Santos before earning his big move to Europe with Barcelona.

Jorge isn’t quite on the same upward trajectory but he has similar qualities. Described as “lethal” by in-depth performance blog Wyscout, the 19-year-old already has 72 first-team matches under his belt, scoring 15 goals in the process.

That’s at a similar rate to Silva who has 57 outings to his name at the age of 18, beating the goalkeeper on seven occasions.

Although Silva’s movement catches the eye, Jorge appears to have a better range of qualities.

His dribbling is mesmeric and he knows how to beat players with relative ease. South American football enthusiast, Tom Robinson, once wrote: “As you would expect from any young Brazilian prospect, Kaio boasts supreme technique and has fantastic quick feet and skills.”

Robinson continued: “While not being an out-and-out skill merchant like some Brazilian attacking talents, Kaio does have the invention, creativity and jeitinho, to try a moment of magic that can turn a game and crucially has the technique and skill to pull it off.”

Those sorts of attributes are often mouth-watering for supporters. Jorge is a menace for defenders and at Santos this year, he has produced an incredible 3.4 shots per game; 1.9 more than Silva.

The Brazilian wonderkid is also fouled 0.9 times more per game than Wolves’ own budding prodigy.

Of course, Kaio is ahead in his development but the comparisons to players like Neymar tell the story.

He’d be a brilliant capture for Wolves, one that could just usurp Silva in the pecking order.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Soro: Celtic must sign “exceptional” 22 y/o who crushed Ange this year…

Celtic had endured a topsy-turvy start to the new season before the international break kicked in.

Ange Postecoglou had repaired some of the rubble that was still lingering over Parkhead from last term but an Old Firm defeat brought back distasteful memories.

However, buoyed by three new signings that walked through the door on transfer deadline day, the Hoops were back with a bang on Saturday afternoon.

The Bhoys dismissed Ross County in routine fashion as they claimed all three points and won 3-0.

Their match was played just an hour after one of their former strikers, Odsonne Edouard, bagged twice for his new club Crystal Palace.

Yet, the man who for so long had played second fiddle under him last season, Albian Ajeti, took advantage of a slice of rare good fortune.

He has been behind Kyogo Furuhashi in the pecking order since the Japanese striker’s arrival but after his injury, Ajeti scored two of his own goals to carry Celtic to victory.

That said, the Swiss forward wasn’t their true hero from the win this weekend. Instead, that honour has to go to new arrival, Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Celtic found it difficult to bring the defender to Paradise on deadline day and at one stage, it looked as though a move wouldn’t go through. Tottenham wanted a permanent deal for the defender so Postecoglou walked away.

Yet, in the final hour of the window, Spurs couldn’t find a buyer so they contacted the Hoops again and agreed to send him on loan.

That decision is already paying dividends. Carter-Vickers scored a heavily deflected attempt to open the scoring but was a rock at the back and in possession of the ball.

It has taken his defensive colleague Carl Starfelt a while to adjust to Scottish football but it took no such adaptation period for the United States international.

He took more touches (126) than everyone on the pitch barring Starfelt while his 102 passes were again only second to the man next to him at centre-back.

Nine of Carter-Vickers’ 14 long balls were successful while he even produced a key pass from the middle of defence.

Furthermore, he succeeded in four ground duels – a team-high – and also won three aerial duels throughout the encounter.

Topped off with a goal in the second half, this was as close to a complete performance from a central defender that you could ask for.

AND in other news, Forget Soro: Celtic must unleash rarely-seen 20 y/o with a “wand of a left foot”…

Liverpool are mooted to have looked at Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse as a potential transfer option during the recent transfer window, as reported by GOAL.

Starting off the new term in blistering fashion, the 26-year-old has shone for the Saints, registering three goal contributions in four games; one goal and two assists [Transfermarkt].

Owing to his fantastic form, it may come as little surprise to hear that other clubs were interested in his services during the summer.

Liverpool were reportedly one of the clubs that looked at Ward-Prowse in the summer transfer period, potentially as a replacement for former icon Georginio Wijnaldum who has recently departed Anfield [GOAL].

Of course, Ward-Prowse signed a new five-year deal at St Mary’s last month, putting to bed any speculation that he might leave the South Coast club for the time being [Southampton FC Official].

In light of this news, it was no wonder that plenty of Liverpool fans took to social media to vent their fury at recent developments.

Liverpool fans react:

Replying to LFC Transfer Room on Twitter, here is what some fans had to say about the Ward Prowse links:

“This is so annoying. It’s already in the past. Transfer window already shut. Can we focus on being competitive this season?”

Credit: @AchiyaLarry”Can you just stop now? That’s all we have been hearing for the past 4 months & here we are with only 1 signing.”Credit: @Jordan_KloppEra”Every player in the League was watched by us in the window lads, get it right”Credit: @LFC_Lewis66″Liverpool are not serious on signings, we are like Arsenal”Credit: @trustwealthy106″Interested FC”Credit: @Okotb22″Prepare yourself for more and more of this shameless PR and leaking tactically news to deceive fans. Never expected FSG to bring themselves this low. There was no need comparing our position#LFC”Credit: @VonTheRedIn other news, Liverpool fans fume after a fringe member of the squad was not sold during the window. Find out more here.

Derby County are considering a move to bring Josh Bowler to Pride Park this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Hull Live, who claim that Wayne Rooney’s side are interested in speaking with the 22-year-old in the coming weeks, with the winger set to leave Everton upon the expiry of his current contract at the end of the month.

The report also suggests that Hull City could be keen to bring the player back to the KCOM Stadium this summer, with Bowler having spent a year on loan at the club in the season before last.

Roberts 2.0

While Bowler impressed for David Unsworth’s Everton U23 side this term, scoring three goals and providing two assists over his six Premier League 2 appearances, the winger’s returns in professional football have not been overly convincing – with the youth side manager claiming that the youngster has been “frustrated” by his lack of first-team opportunities with the Toffees.

In his aforementioned loan spell with Hull, Bowler went on to make 28 Championship appearances for the Tigers, over which he scored one goal, registered no assists and created no big chances for his teammates, in addition to averaging a mere 0.3 shots on target and 0.2 key passes per game.

These disappointing returns saw the £3.1k-per-week man earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of just 6.31, ranking him as Hull’s worst performer out of all 32 of their players to make an appearance in the league that year – with Grant McCann’s side finishing rock bottom in the Championship standings.

As such, with Derby County barely scraping Championship survival themselves last season, unless Wayne Rooney can bring in a number of quality additions to his side over the summer, next term would not appear to bode overly well for the Rams either.

And, one signing made by the 35-year-old manager who particularly failed to impress for Derby last season was that of Manchester City winger Patrick Roberts, who scored one goal, provided one assist and created one big chance over his 24 Championship appearances, as well as averaging a disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.42.

So, if Rooney wishes to avoid a repeat of the mistake of signing Roberts last season, with similar statistics between the two players in their last Championship outings, it would be highly advisable for the former Manchester United forward to turn his focus away from Bowler this summer.

In other news: Rooney must sanction Derby swoop for £24k-p/w beast with who’s “like a Paul Scholes”

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic are on the road once again this afternoon with an SPFL clash against Ross County.

After getting knocked out of the Scottish Cup last weekend following a 2-1 defeat to Rangers in the semi-final, the 56-year-old manager will be hoping his side can bounce back by securing all three points today – and, in doing so, take a step closer to the title before next weekend’s Old Firm showdown.

Speaking in his latest press conference ahead of today’s game, the 56-year-old revealed that his side will be without Josip Juranovic through injury, but that Giorgos Giakoumakis will be in contention this time around.

With that in mind, here’s how we feel Celtic could line up this afternoon.

Firstly, having played in all but two of Celtic’s league games this season, it’d be hard to see anyone other than Joe Hart start in goal.

For the back four, with Juranovic out, it seems likely that Anthony Ralston will come in at right-back alongside the centre-back duo of Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers, with Greg Taylor in the left-back position.

In the middle of the park, we think Callum McGregor will lead his team out once again but see a different pair of midfielders line up next to him from the two that he played with last time out.

Having claimed to have “lost his edge” by Pat Bonner, Tom Rogic could be set for a place on the substitutes bench this time out, alongside Reo Hatate – who also failed to impress in last weekend’s defeat at Hampden Park.

With that in mind, we think Postecoglou will give starts to Matt O’Riley and David Turnbull – the latter of whom has been praised for his “phenomenal” performances in the past – to see if they can freshen things up in that area of the pitch.

Then, for the final three attacking positions, we predict that Jota and Liel Abada will keep their places in the side, but also that Kyogo Furuhashi will come in and play through the middle, leaving Daizen Maeda on the substitutes bench.

Whether the 56-year-old Hoops boss goes with this exact starting XI that we have suggested or not, he will undoubtedly want to see a reaction from his players in response to last weekend’s disappointment.

In other news: Sold for £2m, now worth £540k: Celtic struck gold on £17k-p/w dud who “had issues”