Tag Futebol

[ad_pod ]

Real Madrid are concerned by the prospect of Tottenham Hotspur winning the Champions League as they attempt to sign Christian Eriksen this summer, per AS.

What’s the word?

The Denmark international has long been a target of the Spanish giants.

But AS report that the Spanish giants are worried that Spurs could beat Liverpool in the Champions League final, having qualified after an unforgettable victory over Ajax on Wednesday, and suddenly ramp up their asking price.

Madrid, AS claim, believe they will have to pay a maximum of €70million (£60.5m) to secure Eriksen’s signature, though Spurs have thus far demanded €100m (£86m).

But a victory over the Reds, Madrid believe, would complicate matters and, despite reaching a verbal agreement with the Denmark international over a transfer, the club are said to be worried about the prospect of Eriksen extending his current contract.

His deal expires in 2020 and if no extension is agreed, he will be available on a free transfer at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season.

Ambitions fulfilled

The best players want to win the biggest trophies.

There has long been a debate over whether Tottenham can reach the next level and keep their stars happy.

A win in the Champions League final, with Spurs crowned European champions, would do just that.

It remains to be seen if Eriksen, however, would view it as a swansong or a reason to stay.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy will surely hope for the latter, particularly if Spurs want to go one step further and attempt to win the Premier League.

[ad_pod ]

Bright Enobakhare has had a thoroughly successful loan spell with League One side Coventry in the second half of the campaign.

His performances have been excellent for the Sky Blues and, despite only being with the club since January, he was named their young player of the year.

However, while discussing whether he should get another chance at Molineux on Twitter, Wolves supporters were split on the future of the 21-year-old.

One fan said that by keeping him around he could save the club £20m in future investment in the transfer market. Two other supporters meanwhile made comparisons between him and Adama Traore, claiming that Enobakhare had the same dribbling ability but a better final ball.

However, there were less convincing responses too with a further tweet suggesting Niall Ennis was higher up in the pecking order and another commenting that he wasn’t ready yet.

In 18 matches since arriving at the Ricoh, Enobakhare has scored six goals. He was able to play a bit part throughout Wolves’ Championship winning campaign last year, playing in 21 matches.

Here’s the best of the Twitter discussion surrounding the Nigerian’s future:

[ad_pod ]

According to Mundo Deportivo, Tottenham are interested in a move for Barcelona star Malcom, a player who has found chances hard to come by in Catalonia during his time with the Spanish champions.

Barcelona signed the Brazilian for £36.5m back in the summer on a five-year contract, having swooped in to snatch the attacker from the clutches of Roma – the Italian side had even agreed personal terms with Malcom.

The North London Derby of 2008 may never be matched for drama. Lewis from Norwich City Central explains why it’s his all time favourite derby in the video below…

However, despite their efforts to lure him away from Roma and towards the Camp Nou, the former Bordeaux forward hasn’t been able to repay the club’s faith in him – he has scored just three goals for the club in 15 appearances.

In fairness, he has only made one start in La Liga this season, but he is quite clearly a player that comes with some doubts – as a result, Football FanCast take a look at some potential consequences of Tottenham spending big on Malcom…

Big risk, no reward

Apart from a stellar period with Bordeaux, in which he found the back of the net 23 times and recorded 16 assists in just under 100 appearances, Malcom has done very little in European football to merit such a huge fee – the aforementioned report from Mundo Deportivo states that they will not sell him for less than €50m (£43.05m).

To spend such a huge fee on a 22-year-old who hasn’t really proven himself at all yet would be a huge risk, and not one that Spurs need to be dealing with whilst a number of problematic areas already exist.

Money wasted on needless area

The north London side are very strong in attack and never seem to find it difficult to score goals.

Mauricio Pochettino has the likes of Heung-min Son, Lucas Moura, Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen at his disposal, almost all of whom are marquee attackers and would almost certainly keep Malcom out of the side.

Do Spurs really want to be spending a huge sum of money on someone who will be a rotation option at best? Even more so when the full-back areas are so weak and the departed Mousa Dembele has still evidently not been replaced.

Lucas Moura moved on

Both Lucas and Malcom are very similar players; both are diminutive, weak attackers, who lack  consistency. Oh, and they’re both Brazilian.

The former Paris Saint-Germain forward looked to be finding his feet in a Tottenham shirt, although he has tailed off significantly barring a goal against Liverpool on Sunday. Prior to that his last goal involvement came at the start of January, and even that was only an assist against Tranmere.

Given the fact that they are both similar players, if Malcom were to be bought in, it could potentially signal the end of Lucas’ time in north London.

It has been a frustrating four years for Lucas Joao at Sheffield Wednesday.

The Portuguese forward, who is valued at £1.8 million (by Transfermarkt), joined the club in 2015 from Primeira Liga side Nacional amidst a wave of excitement yet he ultimately failed to deliver in his first season despite making 40 appearances in the Championship. A struggle to adapt to English football saw him score just six times as the Owls were beaten 1-0 in the play-off final by Hull City.

A poor start to the following campaign culminated in Joao being loaned out to Blackburn Rovers in the 2017 January transfer window. Although he would show glimmers of his attacking ability for the Blue and Whites, the 25-year-old was unable to save the club from suffering their first relegation to the third tier in 38 years.

After returning to Hillsborough last season, Joao posted his best total of goals for the club (9) as the Owls finished in an underwhelming position of 15th in the Championship. Despite already matching this haul for the current campaign, it has become clear that the forward may be surplus to requirements in the summer as manager Steve Bruce looks to build his own squad of players.

According to the Sun via HITC, the Owls are looking to offload Joao but will only accept offers in the region of £8m. Whereas some fans would argue that he still has something to offer for the club, when you consider that Bruce has six other strikers to choose from it is clear that he needs to downsize ahead of the 2019/20 season.

With Steven Fletcher top-scoring for Wednesday and Gary Hooper returning to form after a long period spent on the sidelines, it may be time for Joao to leave. A new start for the Portugal international could help revive a career which has unfortunately failed to take-off since he made the move to Yorkshire four years ago.

What do you think Owls fans? Should Bruce sell Joao in the summer? Or does he deserve one final chance to impress at Hillsborough? Get in touch below.

[ad_pod ]

Spurs host Arsenal on Saturday where they will be hoping to make a big improvement on performance standards having lost to both Burnley and Chelsea in their last two games, but it seems they may have to take on their bitter rivals without Jan Vertonghen and Harry Winks.

The pair have been two of Spurs’ most consistent players this season but both are doubts for the north London derby due to injuries and will be assessed ahead of the 12:30pm kick-off.

Winks has been the Lilywhites’ breakout star of the 18/19 season and the 23-year-old has filled the void left by Moussa Dembele capably, while Vertonghen has been typically solid at the heart of defence or at left-wing-back – see his man of the match performance versus Dortmund.

Who have been the biggest title race bottlers? Liverpool? Spurs? The Pl>ymaker FC squad discuss in the video below…

The duo may join Dele Alli (late stages of rehab) and Eric Dier (rebuilding fitness after illness) on the sidelines and Spurs fans on Twitter were, once again, cursing their luck ahead of the highly-anticipated clash…

لم يغلق أولي سولشاير، المدير الفني لفريق مانشستر يونايتد الإنجليزي، الباب أمام إمكانية حسم ناديه لصفقات قبل غلق نافذة الانتقالات الجارية.

وتحدث سولشاير في مؤتمر صحفي، قبل مباراة فريقه أمام توتنهام، ونشر الموقع الرسمي لمانشستر يونايتد تصريحاته.

وقال سولشاير: “حسنًا، لن أتحدث عن نافذة الانتقالات الآن، بالطبع، كل تركيزي على مباراة الأحد، يعمل النادي دائمًا بجد لتقوية الفريق، إذا حدث شيء ما فستعرف”.

طالع .. برشلونة يعلن موقفه من رحيل ديمبلي إلى مانشستر يونايتد

وواصل سولشاير الحديث عن تحركات مانشستر يونايتد في سوق الانتقالات مقارنة بالتعاقدات التي أجرتها أندية ليفربول وتشيلسي ومانشستر سيتي وحتى إيفرتون.

وأردف: “حسنًا، عندما نخطط أن يكون لدينا لاعبون هنا نؤمن بهم، بالطبع، لا تزال فترة الانتقالات مفتوحة لبعض الوقت والنادي يعمل، وهم يعرفون وجهة نظري”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. بوروسيا دورتموند يعلن قراره النهائي بشأن انتقال سانشو لمانشستر يونايتد

وأكد: “نحن هنا للتعزيز على المدى الطويل ولن أقول ما هو مقبول أو غير مقبول للأندية أو الفرق الأخرى في هذه الفترة الصعبة، وإذا حدث شيء ما سنعلن ذلك”.

وشدد: “الشيء الرئيسي الآن هو الحصول على نتائج على أرض الملعب، نحن بحاجة للحصول على النتائج، هناك طرق عديدة لتحسين الفريق، نحن نعمل الآن هنا من أجل التحسن”.

وتابع: “أواصل القراءة عن اللاعبين الذين يجب أن يلعبوا بدلاً من اللاعبين الذين يلعبون، لأنهم يؤدون بشكل جيد في المباريات ويحصلون على الفرص، هذا يخبرني أن لدي فريق قوي أيضًا”.

وأتم: “بالطبع نحن بحاجة إلى الحفاظ على لياقتنا البدنية والابتعاد عن الإصابات، لكني أشعر أن هناك المزيد والمزيد من المنافسة”.

With back-to-back 0-0 draws following quite a considerable gap in matches, Liverpool aren’t producing the thrilling football they did before the New Year. 

Indeed, it’s the first time this season that Jurgen Klopp’s men have played consecutive goalless draws in all competitions, as that fiery chemistry of their attacking trio just isn’t there anymore.

It doesn’t seem like the hot-weather training in Marbella’s worked in Klopp’s favour in reinvigorating his side’s momentum. In comparison, they’ve looked quite lacking in the attacking front and not been as sleek as they were in the first half of the season.

So much so that, against Bayern Munich, the Reds created a plethora of chances in front of a buzzing Anfield, but only had two shots on target.

Liverpool were even more frustrating against an injury-ravaged Manchester United at Old Trafford. Even after watching their rivals suffer three injuries, Liverpool were shallow going forward, with Mohammed Salah having yet another forgettable outing against the Red Devils.

They looked too predictable and one-dimensional against United, keeping on moving through the right and relying on James Milner’s crossing, which was extremely ineffective. After losing Roberto Firmino, Liverpool lost the drive in attack and even though Sadio Mane ran at United’s defence, they couldn’t break their resolve.

The fact that Liverpool only had one shot on target, a weak shot from Daniel Sturridge, against United proves something’s wrong with their confidence. Maybe the pressure from Manchester City’s catching up to them, but Liverpool seems to have run out of ideas and options at the wrong time.

Having joined the club on an initial six-month loan deal back in the summer of 2016, Pablo Hernandez has proven himself to be a mainstay of the first-team squad at Leeds.

The man signed by Garry Monk has since played 150 times for the Whites – just seven less than the total he managed for Valencia in the early days of his footballing career.

And his numbers have been the best it’s ever been. The £1.35m-rated ace has scored 33 times and provided a further 36 assists in his time at Elland Road, and this season has been particularly impressive, given that he will turn 35 next month.

Watch Leeds United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

He has managed six goals and six assists in 28 appearances in the Championship, whilst his form prior to the postponement of football a couple of weeks ago was a sign of someone who was really stepping up his game at the business end of the season. In his last four games in the league, he found the back of the net twice and set up two others, including providing the match-winning contribution in back-to-back matches against Reading and Middlesbrough respectively.

As per Whoscored, his average match rating of 7.19 in the Championship is the third-highest of any player in the Leeds squad, only behind Luke Ayling and Kalvin Phillips. Whilst the latter has been the talk of a high-profile move to Manchester United and has thus been in the spotlight a lot more, Hernandez has quietly been going about his business.

Are you a Championship expert? How much did each of these big-money signings cost?

He ranks second for both goals scored and assists provided this campaign, whilst his total of 1.5 tackles, 2.3 shots and 2.3 key passes per game ranks him 6th, 2nd and 1st amongst his teammates. It’s no wonder then that he has been widely praised for his ageless displays this year.

Speaking earlier in 2020, Marcelo Bielsa remarked: “When he plays well, the team plays well. When he is at a good football level, a good fitness level, he is well and the team plays well as well.”

And judging by Hernandez’s performances and end product, it’s no surprise Leeds are so close to a return to the top-flight.

Meanwhile, selling this star could be Leeds’ worst mistake ever.

One of the casualties of Unai Emery’s ill-fated reign at Arsenal, Mesut Ozil’s career at the Emirates in the past couple of seasons has been a roller-coaster ride to say the least. The former Germany international was often side-lined by the ex-Gunners manager last season, and the 31-year-old made just 24 appearances in the Premier League.

Watch Arsenal Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

But following the departure of Emery, Ozil has come to the fore-front once more, featuring prominently under both Freddie Ljungberg and Mikel Arteta. The German has started six out of the last seven games in the top-flight, and against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, he delivered a midfield masterclass for the majority of the game.

Can you name all of these obscure Arsenal signings? Give it a go now!

As per Sofascore, he had an impressive 84% pass accuracy, provided two key passes, and also won six duels and three free-kicks for his team. And after seeing his performance, Arsenal fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the play-maker.

Some fans hearkened back to Emery’s reign in charge, with one supporter in particular insisting that Arteta is “steadily unlocking Ozil”.

Another couple of supporters hailed one key part of Ozil’s display against the Blues, citing that his work rate was outstanding in the clash.

If Arteta can get Ozil playing to his best, then the Gunners are no doubt a much better outfit with him. The north London side desperately need someone to feed the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, and the German’s abilities in the number ten role can be the key to all that. It really is in the new Arsenal head coach’s mission objectives over the coming weeks and months.

Meanwhile, Arsenal could face major problems in the transfer market due to this one main issue.

Usually, Sean Dyche cuts a cool, calm and collected figure. The Burnley manager is one who knows how to get the best out of his side and after his side finished 7th last year, the fact that they’re now 19th has piled some pressure on the 47-year-old. After the game, Dyche was seen furiously exchanging words with Jurgen Klopp, and this article from The Mirror explains why.

Dyche was supposedly getting agitated throughout the match as Jurgen Klopp spent plenty of time in the Mike Dean’s ear as he protested for the 4th official to give his players more protection from their host’s physical style. Joe Gomez suffered as a result of the Clarets way of going about the game, being stretchered off in the first half, and it seems that the Burnley chief was wound up by his German counterpart’s attempts to get his players punished.

Ultimately, it was probably a heat of the moment affair from Dyche, who is usually a such a well-spoken and respectful manager both on and away from the touchline. It seemed clear that whatever Klopp had been doing to wind up Dyche had been ticking away with the Turf Moor gaffer for a while, and by the time he’d had time to collect his thoughts for the post-match press conference he was again the composed figure we’ve all come to know as he claimed that he ‘just said well done’ to the Reds’ boss.

You can read exactly what the Kopites were writing about Dyche here:

The Kopites were far from complimentary about Dyche and it’s fair to say none of them will be too bothered if the Burnley man is let go for his poor form anytime soon.