All posts by z3u9t.icu

Conor Hourihane has recently addressed his Aston Villa future, and a number of Villa fans have been sharing their thoughts on the midfielder on social media.

The 30-year-old spent the second half of the 2020/21 campaign on loan at Swansea City, helping them to the playoff final.

Hourihane started at Wembley in the 2-0 defeat to Brentford last weekend and has one year remaining on his current Villa contract.

The Ireland international struggled to break into Dean Smith’s side last season before moving to Wales and regularly had to make do with a place on the bench in the Premier League.

Asked during an Ireland press conference if his future could lie away from Villa Park, reported by Birmingham Live, Hourihane, who has made 150 appearances for Villa, said:

“Probably so, there’s no getting away from that.

“Then we’ll see what happens with the future after these games. I will be heading back to Villa for pre-season and see where we go from there.”

Villa fans react

@AVFC_News shared the update on the £30,000-a-week midfielder, while also asking supporters if they would like to see Hourihane handed a chance next season.

This is what they had to say in reply, with one describing the midfielder as ‘fantastic’…

“Sorry no. He’s been a great player for the club, but he’s just not the quality we need now to progress.”Credit: @smnhndmch”No. He isn’t going to get much/any prem game time. He won’t be happy. He has been great for us but best for him to move on”Credit: @ChrisPe51882185″Did an absolutely fantastic job for the club and we should be eternally grateful but sadly he isn’t good enough for where we hope to be in the future.”Credit: @ryhallnobby”I’ve got a lot of time for Conor, he’s done great for us, but we need to step up now.”Credit: @tommcal1″Hourihane has been quality for us and he played a massive part in getting us to where we are now. Think it’s best for both to move on now though. I will be forever grateful”Credit: @misterbee82″Time to move on! Great player who helped us get to this position, but let’s remember him for his good times!”Credit: @MichaelJEdwar14

In other news: Villa source shares Emi Buendia progress, find out more here. 

Derby County remained in the Championship after a dramatic 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday at Pride Park on the final day of the season.

Sam Hutchinson gave Wednesday the lead in the relegation shoot-out on the stroke of half-time.

Martyn Waghorn equalised four minutes into the second half before an excellent Patrick Roberts strike gave Derby the advantage.

Incredibly, though, the visitors then wrestled back control through goals from Callum Paterson and Julian Borner.

But Kamil Jozwiak entered the fray on 73 minutes, replacing Graham Shinnie, and he came up with a crucial contribution.

The Pole won a penalty just over 10 minutes from time after he was taken down by Chey Dunkley.

Waghnorn stepped up and scored to restore parity – meanwhile, Cardiff City found an equaliser against Rotherham in the dying stages, and that proved to be enough to keep Derby up.

Here’s what Derby fans had to say about Jozwiak after his vital contribution.

Jozwiak plays key role as Derby survive

“I WANT TO CUDDLE KAMIL JOZWIAK”

Credit: @RJConway92

“Get in line pal”

Credit: @Joeya7xdcfc2000

“Jóźwiak was a hero when he came on. Performed a textbook reducer when they were on the break to stop them, won the penalty, took a bruising tackle at the end to take time off the clock. Hopefully we’ll see the best of him next season”

Credit: @bojanglez

“Jozwiak my boy”

Credit: @rheaakilgourr

“Kamil Jozwiak appreciation post”

Credit: @JakubKrupa

“go on kamil”

Credit: @joepotts_

“Jozwiak proving his worth too great performance”

Credit: @DannyPorter97

In other news, fans fumed at this takeover development.

According to a report by Turkish news outlet Sabah, via West Ham Gossip, the Hammers and GSB could let winger Felipe Anderson leave for nothing as Super Lig giants Galatasaray eye a move for the Brazilian. 

Anderson, who has spent this season on loan at FC Porto, has endured a spell to forget in the Liga NOS – starting just one league match and totalling a meagre 128 minutes over 2020/2021 (WhoScored).

The 28-year-old, however, is still attracting interest from Galatasaray as they aim to bolster their squad for next season after losing out on the title to rivals Besiktas in very dramatic fashion. 

The Turkish club do want to pay a fee for Anderson, though, meaning West Ham could well allow him to leave on a free transfer just to get his £85,000-per-week wages off the books.

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Horrified by this development, it’s safe to say plenty of Irons were outraged at GSB as they pray this doesn’t come to fruition.

Find all of their verdicts down below.

West Ham fans horrified by Anderson development

“We could finish 3rd but at the end of the day we’re still run by clueless crooks”

Credit: @jxck_whufc

“What a joke if this happens. Should of pulled him out of Porto ASAP when he weren’t playing and not just let him rot”

Credit: @BubblesFC3

“Great transfer business as usual”

Credit: @CharlieWestHam0

“Every single season we strip players to free up wages. Sick of it.”

Credit: @Kniighty

“This would be the most stupid thing ever. He’s had a bad year but we can still get AT LEAST £10 million for him.”

Credit: @JH_Journalism

“This would be so stupid. We need numbers for the Europa league group stage.”

Credit: @westhamonline5

“so dumb letting him go for free”

Credit: @JLingzSZN

“If that doesn’t scream GSB idk what does”

Credit: @RokasWHU

In other news: West Ham make approach to sign this ‘outstanding’ £120,000-per-week attacker, find out more here.

Manchester City fans are livid after some of their players were snubbed by EA when they revealed their FIFA 21 Team of the Season.

It has been a fabulous season for the Citizens so far. They are currently ten points clear at the top of the Premier League (Sky Sports), have already lifted the League Cup and have one foot in the Champions League final after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their semi-final.

Some of Pep Guardiola’s men have had fantastic seasons, and Ederson, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne were all selected. However, there were some surprising omissions, such as John Stones and Phil Foden, who have both arguably had their best seasons to date at the Etihad Stadium.

The news of EA’s decision was shared on Twitter by @City_Xtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the City supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the Man City fans had to say below

“What a joke. Ederson and Cancelo ? The best : Foden, Mahrez left out.”

Credit: @FreddyJeffr

“What a joke. No Mahrez and Stones.”

Credit: @DonLuigi_

“ONLY????”

Credit: @VelA0911

“How Mahrez or Foden didn’t make it is beyond me”

Credit: @ok_xander

“Foden, Mahrez, Stones robbed”

Credit: @city_scout

“Foden? Mahrez?”

Credit: @Happiness_Mirth

In other news, Man City fans are delighted with this Gundogan news.

After returning from injury recently, Southampton striker Michael Obafemi seemingly has an ideal opportunity to prove himself to Ralph Hasenhuttl in the final few games of the Premier League season.

The Republic of Ireland U’21 international was close to joining Swansea City on loan in the January transfer window after barely featuring in the first half of the season, before an injury problem meant that the deal was called off and that he would stay at Staplewood to recover.

However, the 20-year-old has now made a full recovery and should be in contention to feature in some of Southampton’s final five Premier League fixtures which, barring an unlikely series of results from Fulham and West Brom, will have very little bearing on the Saints’ season.

Hasenhuhttl’s side look to be safe from relegation despite an awful run of form in 2021, which suggests that some of the younger players in the squad could be given opportunities to impress over the coming weeks.

Obafemi has made just two substitute appearances for the Saints this season and has seemingly fallen behind the likes of Nathan Tella and Dan N’Lundulu in the pecking order, despite having plenty of experience in the Premier League.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/southampton-saints-ralph-hasenhuttl-martin-semmens-st-marys” title=”Latest Southampton news, transfer rumours and more”]

In total, the 20-year-old forward has made 35 appearances for the senior side at Southampton, in which he has contributed five goals and four assists, yet it seems that Hasenhuttl is not convinced by his professionalism, which might explain his lack of appearances earlier in the season.

However, now that he has returned from injury at a time where Danny Ings is currently sidelined, it seems as if he has been handed a golden chance to prove that he has the quality to play in the Premier League, and these next few games could end up defining his Southampton career.

[freshpress-quiz id=“594431″]

After all, Obafemi has just one year left on his deal, and if he fails to impress in the next few weeks, he could end up departing St Mary’s ahead of next season, either on loan or permanently, which would be a shame as he has shown a lot of promise at times, notably when he became Southampton’s youngest ever scorer in the Premier League back in 2018.

And, in other news… Hasenhuttl handed huge boost over £5m Saints beast dubbed “one of the best” by Guardiola

Carlo Ancelotti can discover Everton’s new Mikel Arteta with a £17m swoop for Fenerbahce’s in-demand midfielder Ozan Tufan this summer.

What’s the word?

According to Ajansspor, the Toffees have joined the race to sign Tufan as Fenerbahce strive to use the upcoming European Championships as a chance to drive up his market value.

Tufan has suitors across Europe, with five sides already launching official approaches to sound out the 26-year-old’s potential availability.

As well as Everton, Crystal Palace and Leicester City are understood to be keen on bringing Tufan to the Premier League at the end of the season, but they could face competition from Bundesliga outfit SV Werder Bremen and La Liga’s Real Sociedad.

Fenerbahce are said to see Euro 2020 as their chance to earn €20m (£17m) through Tufan’s sale, should he have a good tournament, having decided to sell him in order to raise funds for potential arrivals.

Crystal Palace have long been potential suitors for Tufan, and came close to signing the Bursa-born star in 2018, but are only said to have improved their former €13m (£11m) offer to €15m (£13m).

Fenerbahce have expressed their stance to Tufan and his agent, despite the 58-cap Turkey international scoring five goals and providing six assists over his 27 Super Lig appearances this term.

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Tufan has conveyed desires to one day play in the Premier League, noting ahead of Turkey’s 2-2 draw with Latvia on Tuesday: “The place I want to play is the English Premier League. I want to see myself there.”

Should Everton sign Fenerbahce’s Tufan?

Tufan’s move to Crystal Palace in 2018 broke down as the Eagles were forced to change their plans at the eleventh hour, when an injury to Bakary Sako left the Selhurst Park natives scrambling to strengthen Roy Hodgson’s offensive options.

Had it not been for the late blow, Tufan would likely already be playing in the Premier League as the midfielder was all set to fly to England. Now, Ancelotti should see that his opportunity comes at Goodison Park to land Everton’s potential new Arteta.

Everton may face strong competition in the race to snap up Tufan in the off-season, with Fanatik citing Liverpool as scouting the 26-year-old whilst he delivered a Man of the Match performance with two goals against Norway last Saturday.

Winning the race could see Ancelotti acquire a midfield star once compared to Yaya Toure, and one who received lavish praise from Fenerbahce’s Sporting Director Emre Belozoglu after netting a brace as Turkey beat Norway.

“You scored an excellent goal. You showed a great performance, made us happy, made us proud. Especially the second goal you scored was good for your quality,” Belozoglu said, via quotes by Sabah.

Tufan now has nine goals to his name in international football and previously scored against Germany, as he captained the Crescent-Stars to a 3-3 draw away to Joachim Low’s side last October.

Everton know all about goal-scoring and creative midfielders having witnessed Arteta ply his trade at Goodison Park for six-and-a-half-years, over which the current Arsenal head coach scored 35 and assisted 35 goals in 209 games across all competitions.

The Toffees have not had a similarly creative central midfielder since Arteta left to join the Gunners as a player in 2011, and have struggled in the area this season with Abdoulaye Doucoure the lead-option with two goals and three assists in 25 Premier League games.

Ancelotti may face a vast amount of competition for Tufan, but the Fenerbahce star could alleviate Everton’s long-running shortcoming.

AND in other news, a Carlo Ancelotti target once valued at £89m “would be interested” in joining Everton this summer…

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City look to have been handed a potential boost in their hopes of signing Tottenham Hotspur forward Harry Kane this summer, after it was revealed that the England captain will look to leave the North London club should they fail to qualify for the Champions League next season.

According to The Athletic, Kane is running out of patience at Spurs and will push for a move away this summer if they fail to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League.

It claims that the 27-year-old striker has become frustrated by a lack of trophies with the Lilywhites and is concerned by the prospect of a second successive season without Champions League football.

Jose Mourinho’s side have slipped down the Premier League table after a promising start to the season and blew their chances of winning the Europa League after a capitulation in the second leg against Dinamo Zagreb recently.

Manchester City are one of the sides who have been touted as a potential destination for Kane in the future and this summer could represent their best opportunity to bring him to the Etihad, although Spurs chairman Daniel Levy will undoubtedly still demand a huge fee for the Englishman.

The Spurs academy graduate has enjoyed a phenomenal season so far, contributing 19 goals and 13 assists in 29 Premier League appearances and averaging an incredible 7.82 rating for his performances, which comfortably ranks him as the best player in the top-flight this season according to WhoScored.

City’s vulnerabilities in attack were exposed on Saturday as they struggled to break down a Leeds United side who were down to 10 men for the entire second half, with Guardiola’s side regularly sending crosses into the box despite the lack of physicality and aerial presence offered by the front three.

Therefore, it seems clear that Guardiola needs to add a powerful striker such as Kane to his side ahead of next season to avoid losing games such as the one against Marcelo Bielsa’s side, and the “unbelievable” Spurs man would undoubtedly score a hatful of goals should he make the switch to the Etihad, so sporting director Txiki Begiristain should do everything in his power to sign him.

And, in other news… Forget Mendes: Txiki should seal City swoop for 25 y/o beast dubbed “one of the best” 

According to a report by El Gol Digital, Tottenham summer signing Sergio Reguilon wishes to return to Spain after falling into an ‘unstable project’ in north London, coming as a potential blow for manager Jose Mourinho and the Lilywhites.

Tottenham dealt potential Reguilon blow

Reguilon has arguably been impressive since joining from Real Madrid in 2020, with a report from Football Insider at the back end of last year describing him as ‘phenomenal’ in training.

He has also been a regular for Mourinho since signing at Hotspur Way, starting 16 Premier League matches whilst grabbing three assists in that time (WhoScored). He is in the top four Spurs performers for both tackles and interceptions per game over the course of the season (WhoScored).

Providing an update on Reguilon’s future amid the presence of a buy-back Real Madrid clause, El Gol Digital have provided a potentially alarming claim.

Transfer Tavern take

The Spanish outlet stated that he now wishes to return to Spain, preferably with his former club Sevilla, as the 24-year-old emerges as a top target for Los Palanganas at left-back.

A potential blow in Spurs’ wishes to keep Reguilon, it is stated by El Gol Digital that he wants to go back to his homeland amid this interest, but only time will tell what comes of the report.

One of only two left-back options, it’s safe to say that Mourinho will not want to lose the Spaniard after a solid debut season.

In other news: Tottenham have identified a potentially ‘perfect’ heir to Mourinho, find out more here.

Bruce had alluded to Wilson nearing a return to fitness before the international break, but he had not improved enough for consideration for Saturday’s shambolic 3-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Newcastle come out of the pause in domestic fixtures with a tough trip to Tottenham, and they will then face Burnley, West Ham, Liverpool, Arsenal, Leicester and Manchester City before two crucial six-pointers with Sheffield United and Fulham.

Wilson returning to feature in north London would come as a huge boost for Bruce, who has missed the England forward’s creativity in recent weeks, having lost not only his top-scorer but also the Toon’s lead creator with five league assists.

Goals have come few and far between for Newcastle since beating Southampton at the start of last month, with the Tyneside outfit only netting three times in their past six games.

Points have been just as challenging for the Magpies to secure in that period, with three from a possible 18, to extend the side’s torrid form to two wins in 18 Premier League fixtures.

Bruce will hope to see Wilson’s seemingly imminent return inspire a turn of form that will keep the St. James’ Park natives in the top-flight for another year, as Dwight Gayle and Joelinton have failed to carry the burden with Andy Carroll out of favour.

After cutting an invisible figure on the periphery against Aston Villa, Gayle was an unused substitute against Brighton beside Carroll, who has only featured for three minutes in Newcastle’s last five games combined.

That’s despite Joelinton being fielded on the wing at the Amex Stadium, where Gayle and Carroll stormed down the tunnel at the full-time whistle and did not reappear for the post-game workout, per the Daily Mail.

Bruce clearly does not feel the trio of forwards are able to lead the line like Wilson can, making the striker’s return – however soon it will be – vitally important.

AND in other news, Newcastle are ready to bring a “special” talent back to St. James’ for eight-times what they sold him for…

Very few club figures have been able to get away with Celtic’s diabolical season. Neil Lennon has already paid the price while it’s perhaps driven Peter Lawwell to retirement too.

The boardroom figure will depart Parkhead in the summer and with it, he will leave behind a number of mistakes; one of which was ensuring that Lennon stayed for so long.

On the chalkboard

Celtic are on the verge of losing their grasp on the SPFL title to their biggest rivals and there are a number of reasons why.

On the field of play, the primary reason has been their defence. Individual errors have plagued their backline with the Bhoys conceding many more goals than Rangers in the league. They also shipped a haul of 19 strikes in just six Europa League outings.

It has been a dismal campaign for a host of defenders, no less than the likes of Shane Duffy whose loan spell from Brighton has not gone according to plan. The Irishman has been littered with mistakes but so have the goalkeepers.

Vasilis Barkas was branded “awful” by Frank McAvennie for some of his mistakes, claiming the club’s recruitment needed to be looked at as a result. He cost £4.5m in the summer but has been shocking on a number of occasions. He conceded four against AC Milan and was especially poor for the opener, somehow letting a free-kick find the net on his side of the goal.

Scott Bain has arguably been no better. The stopper was another to have a horror show in Europe. When Celtic were battered and bruised by Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic, it was Bain who was at fault.

He let the ball roll across his six-yard box for the second goal and then for the fourth and final strike, the goalkeeper came racing out and failed to clear.

Youngster Conor Hazard has also had his difficulties. He was the hero in the Scottish Cup final back in December by saving a succession of penalties in the shoot-out. His performance in normal time, however, was shocking. He was bullied from a corner for Hearts’ second and then for their third, he came out and failed to punch; an action that led to a simple concession.

A solution?

It’s been difficult to find a solution between the sticks. Of course, losing Fraser Forster at the start of the term was a huge blow. Following his loan spell, he headed back to Southampton.

Though, they also lost another stopper in Craig Gordon. The 38-year-old was offered a new deal but would have to have taken a significant pay cut in order to stay in Glasgow.

Instead, he moved to Edinburgh to play for Hearts. He was second fiddle last season but was unquestionably better than all three of Celtic’s current options between the sticks. He has proven Peter Lawwell wrong in the last few months, demonstrating why he should have been offered far greater terms to stay.

You only need to look at words from Steven Naismith for evidence. Speaking earlier this season, the Hearts forward noted: “I said when we got him that he would be the best signing we’ve made by a country mile, just for his pure quality.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-celtic-manager-hunt-stories-wagner-marsch-martinez-lennon-news” title=”The last stories on Celtic’s hunt for a new manager!”]

Naismith added: “He’s worth eight points a season on his own. He’s won us this semi-final – with having him in the goal we’re in the final. He played a bigger part than anybody else.”

Gordon exudes confidence and has made Hearts a better side. He has won games on his own for the Jam Tarts, something Celtic could have unquestionably benefited from this season.

After all, their goalkeeper’s have lost the Hoops a number of matches in 2020/21 alone.

AND in other news, Forget Harper: Celtic should swoop for 5-goal gem who’s been “on top of the world”…