All posts by z3u9t.icu

Crystal Palace attacker Eberechi Eze could be set to return to action quicker than first anticipated, according to journalist Tom Barclay.

The Lowdown: Out since May

The 23-year-old enjoyed a brilliant maiden season at the Eagles with 10 goal involvements in his debut Premier League campaign following his move from QPR for £19.5m. However, the player suffered a serious Achilles injury in training back in May and hasn’t played since, with scans revealing that he could face between six to eight months of rehabilitation.

It has been reported that Eze was in Gareth Southgate’s plans for his England squad for the European Championship before he got injured in training.

The Latest: Eze ahead of schedule for a return

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Barclay has suggested that Eze’s return to action may not be too far away, but advised caution over reintroducing him to the fold due to the nature of the injury.

The journalist said: “I’m told there is a good chance that there’s a good chance actually that he’s ahead of schedule on his return. Achilles injuries are bad injuries, they can keep you out for a long time and they can affect you going forward.”

The Verdict: Great news but don’t rush him back

Right now, rushing Eze back is something Viera should avoid given Palace’s decent start to the season. They currently sit 14th in the Premier League table but have taken points off Brentford, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton and most recently Leicester City.

Summer signings Odsonne Edouard and Michael Olise have already made their mark, whilst Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher has caught the eye as Viera’s number 10, with two goals in the 2-2 draw with West Ham in August.

If Palace are to remain in the Premier League and potentially flirt with the top half or even the European places, having their best players available for selection is a must. Eze’s return will obviously be most welcome given his impact last season but, as Barclay has warned, the Eagles must not rush him back prematurely and risk aggravating the injury again.

In other news, these Palace fans have been reacting to a video from the club’s official Twitter channel. Find out more here.

Emerson Royal put in his best performance since joining Tottenham Hotspur this summer as they defeated Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

The Brazilian right-back was drafted in on deadline day, signing in a €30m (£26m) deal from Barcelona, and finally, the north London outfit caught a glimpse of exactly what he had to offer.

In a game where Heung-min Son excelled with two assists and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg ran the show from the engine room, it was the 22-year-old defender who was an unsung hero for Nuno Santo and his side.

No player recorded more touches of the ball than Emerson (86) as he was a constant threat down that right flank.

Not only was he a rock defensively but he also got up the pitch to contribute in the final third.

As per SofaScore, Emerson recorded a match-high four interceptions, helping thwart the threat of wing-back Matt Target and Danny Ings, who was on his side in Villa’s two-man attack. He also made six clearances, two tackles and won a whopping ten duels.

The Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick wrote in his post-match ratings column:

“A promising showing after a tough start in the Premier League. Committed and aggressive defensively and got forward well, creating a big chance for Son at the start of the second half.”

Indeed, the £26m-rated dynamo won three free-kicks, created one key chance and managed to pull off 100% of his dribbles, via SofaScore, further suggesting that he was capable of contributing in the final third.

It was only his third start in the Premier League but for the very first time, Nuno witnessed a player that should be starting there week in, week out. He’s a breath of fresh air in comparison to Serge Aurier, who left the Lilywhites by mutual consent in the summer.

According to football.london’s Alasdair Gold, the Brazil international has impressed staff with his “incredible” fitness levels and we saw some of that during the match today.

The Hotspur faithful were equally impressed by Emerson, too, with many expressing their delight with his performance.

On a day where Spurs ended a run of three straight heavy Premier League defeats, it was the new summer signing that went hugely under-the-radar and deserves plenty of credit for such a showing.

AND in other news, Forget Son: £36m-rated Spurs machine who had 6 dribbles stole the show against Villa…

When Celtic enter the League Cup on Sunday afternoon, they will take plenty of confidence into the clash.

The Hoops have now recorded three victories on the trot and have totted up back-to-back clean sheets. Both of those were rarities last season, so Ange Postecoglou’s men should savour that.

On the chalkboard

That being said, Celtic will have to be wary this weekend because their opposition are Hearts, a team who caused them grief on the opening day of the Premiership campaign.

The Bhoys were miles from their best as a late goal from John Souttar ensured a losing start to Postecoglou’s league reign two weeks ago. However, they are now in a very different place after scoring 13 goals in their last three outings across all competitions.

Their new signings have hit the ground running too, but one player who is yet to be seen at Parkhead or in Celtic colours is James McCarthy. The Irishman signed on the same day as Joe Hart, but with no pre-season minutes under his belt having been a free agent, he is some way behind in terms of his fitness.

Postecoglou has claimed that it could be a while before we see the midfielder in full action, but with the League Cup right around the corner, now feels like the perfect time to hand him his Hoops debut.

Celtic didn’t win a single trophy last season, so the cup competitions will hold a little more significance than normal. However, with weary legs setting in against Jablonec last Thursday, the manager may favour rotation.

Tom Rogic stood out in that match but tired significantly. With an important clash with AZ Alkmaar coming up, the Australian should be given time to recover with McCarthy coming in.

The former Crystal Palace man won’t be completely fresh himself but he’s an experienced campaigner who should be able to replace him and perform reliably at the base of midfield. Dubbed “top-class” by Postecoglou, the 30-year-old could be the heir to Scott Brown in the middle of the park.

Callum McGregor has performed admirably in a deeper role but McCarthy is more accustomed to playing there. During his last full season with Palace, he won 2.5 tackles per game, proving that he can stick his boot in and win the ball when it matters.

On that evidence, the 30-year-old might be the perfect player to combat Hearts, so Postecoglou needs to hand him some sort of role on Sunday.

AND in other news, Celtic close to signing £2.5m “creative monster”, he’s perfect for Postecoglou…

With the return of Premier League action now in sight, Southampton have an away clash against Norwich City next up as they look to continue the good run of form they were on prior to the current international break having won three of their previous four league games.

On the chalkboard

In terms of who Ralph Hasenhuttl could pick in his starting XI to take on the Canaries, who are currently sitting at the bottom of the Premier League table with just five points on the board, one player that should definitely be in the running for a place in the team at the weekend is Adam Armstrong, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £53k-per-week according to Salary Sport.

Armstrong’s previous appearance for Southampton saw him score the winning goal in their 1-0 win over Aston Villa just before the current international break after which the striker said that he is “confident with both feet” when it comes to striking the ball the way he did for the goal against Villa.

As well as the goal, Armstrong managed to put in a solid display across the pitch for the Saints in an attacking and defensive sense with three dribbles completed, 13 passes made, seven duels won, two tackles made and one interception, ultimately earning him an impressive overall match rating of 7.3/10 according to SofaScore, which would make him a real nuisance for Norwich’s defenders if he puts in a similar sort of performance this weekend.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/check-out-the-latest-southampton-news” title=”Check out the latest Southampton news!”]

In addition to this, the 24-year-old, who is currently valued at £16.2m according to Transfermarkt, has provided two assists and scored one other goal in the nine league games he appeared in for Southampton this season prior to the Villa match.

It’s safe to say Armstrong has not proven himself to be a consistent goalscoring threat for Southampton yet in the same way former Saints striker Danny Ings had after scoring 46 goals in 100 games for the club before moving to Villa in the summer.

However, the forward has still shown in the few months he’s been at St. Mary’s that he is still a useful attacking option for Hasenhuttl with the potential to grow and develop his game after joining from Blackburn Rovers back in August.

Taking all of this into account, Hasenhuttl should definitely keep Armstrong in the team to face Norwich at the weekend to see if he can continue his goalscoring run and give newly appointed Canaries manager Dean Smith nightmares after ending his reign at Villa with a defeat.

In other news: Lost the ball 81x: Ralph must brutally axe “unbelievable” Saints dud, he’s a liability – opinion

Celtic remain in talks over a move for Tottenham defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, according to American reporter Larry Henry Jr.

The Lowdown: Carter-Vickers’ links

Carter-Vickers’ name has been mentioned a fair few times this month in regards to a move to Celtic Park.

Bournemouth, Celtic and Newcastle appeared to be the three teams in the hunt for the defender, with The Daily Record suggesting Carter-Vickers is keen on a Celtic transfer.

Capable of playing at both centre-back and right-back, Carter-Vickers has less than 12 months left on his contract in north London, and after six loan spells, it seems as if a permanent exit could be on the cards.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-10/” title=”Celtic updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Recent update

The Hoops brought in Carl Starfelt after Kristoffer Ajer left for Brentford, but the links to Carter-Vickers haven’t gone away.

Henry Jr posted on Twitter on Thursday evening to provide an update on the USA international.

He suggested that both Celtic and Newcastle remain in talks with Spurs over the 23-year-old, with Tottenham set to place a sell-on clause in any permanent transfer.

“An update on Cameron Carter-Vickers, per a source close to the player. Both Celtic and Newcastle remain in talks with Tottenham over a deal and Spurs will receive a sell-on clause in addition to a transfer fee.”

The Verdict: Avoid

Carter-Vickers is valued at £5m by Tottenham despite making just four senior appearances for the club.

Transfermarkt have his valuation down at just £1.8m, and for a player with no Premier League experience and less than 12 months left on his deal, £5m seems a bit much.

The Hoops could possibly find better value for money elsewhere, but it seems as if they are still in the hunt for the versatile defender, so it could be a link to keep a close eye on over the coming days.

In other news: £5.4m-rated club captain admits he would ‘immediately’ sign for Celtic; he’s on £18,000-a-week. 

As confirmed by the club, beloved West Ham United third choice goalkeeper David Martin has signed a one-year contract extension until 2022.

The 35-year-old, son of Hammers legend Alvin Martin, will now remain at the London Stadium for a little while longer and serve as another option between the sticks behind Lukasz Fabianski and Darren Randolph.

The shot stopper is regarded as a real positive influence behind the scenes in terms of nurturing West Ham’s exciting young crop of goalkeepers coming through the ranks.

West Ham now confirm that Martin is set to do so for another year after having established himself as a respected and valued member of the senior side (whufc.com).

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

Indeed, teammates and colleagues highly regard his unique role within the club and it’s clear Irons supporters feel exactly the same way.

Flocking to Twitter, in reply to West Ham’s announcement from their official account, supporters dropped many excited reactions.

Find all of their best ones down below.

West Ham fans overjoyed by Martin announcement

“Fabulous news! David is one of us a real fan and the positively he brings to the entire squad and the dressing room is really special.

It’s going to be a special season and we’re thrilled David is going to be part of that”

Credit: @ZaynafamilyMary

“Fantastic!”

Credit: @DEPtones

“Born Leaders at my Football Club. Yes West Ham United. Well deserved”

Credit: @gazhxc

“YES THE GOATTTT”

Credit: @AkiW_M

“Beauty decision.”

Credit: @AllVIkpNk

“Yesss”

Credit: @Eva__Dreams

“Excellent news”

Credit: @Tony_McNulty

“I’m happy with this good news for the squad bonding and positive things around the club”

Credit: @KDGAMING1996

In other news: West Ham enter talks to sign this ‘very fast’ 42-cap forward who is likely to leave club, find out more here.

Graham Roberts has been impressed with Steven Bergwijn’s start to the Premier League season at Tottenham, after the club failed with a late window move for Wolves’ Adama Traore, as per David Ornstein of The Athletic.

The Dutchman made just three league starts from February onwards having fallen out of favour under Jose Mourinho, although he did get a decent amount of game-time once Ryan Mason became interim head coach.

In Bergwijn’s penultimate game of the season, he notched his first goal in his 34th appearance against Aston Villa, but it was an underwhelming first full campaign in English football for the winger.

Bergwijn’s performances led to reports that he could make an instant return to Holland with Ajax, but he’s since knuckled down and is firmly part of Nuno Espirito Santo’s plans following a full pre-season.

And with Harry Kane not available to start the opening-day win over Manchester City, Bergwijn was the beneficiary and took his opportunity by producing an impressive display, which included the assist for Heung Min Son’s winner.

He continued his form in the win at Wolves and started again against Watford, and whilst Tottenham had been heavily linked with a potential replacement in Adama Traore prior to the window slamming shut on Tuesday, Roberts exclusively told Football FanCast:

“He’s playing well at the moment; he’s doing really well.”

Tottenham Hotspur have suffered a huge blow in their pursuit of Inter striker Lautaro Martinez, after Fabrizio Romano revealed on Twitter that the striker has signed a contract extension in Milan.

The Lowdown: Lautaro Martinez profiled

Regarded as one of the deadliest hitmen in the top five leagues in Europe, Martinez has had his fair share of admirers this summer, playing a key role in his sides’ Scudetto winning 2020/21 campaign.

Since joining the Italian outfit in 2018, he has notched 50 goals and 20 assists over 133 games for the Italian champions [Transfermarkt].

He has also been previously hailed as ‘spectacular’ by international team-mate Lionel Messi, lending credence to his ability to bury goal-scoring opportunities at will [Irish Examiner].

His next career steps now look to be settled, owing to an update from reliable transfer guru Romano.

The Latest: Romano drops latest on Martinez

Speaking to his 4.8 million followers on Twitter, Romano signified that the Argentina forward has reached an agreement to sign a new contract in Milan, ending the statement with “Lautaro stays – confirmed”.

Detailing interest in his services this window, the well-respected journalist also added that Tottenham and Atletico Madrid both previously bid €70m (£59.9 million) plus add-ons, in an attempt to prize Martinez away from Internazionale.

The Verdict: Losing out on Martinez may not be detrimental as Kane returns to the fold at Spurs

Despite seemingly losing out on their preferred target, there is plenty to be positive about currently as a Spurs supporter.

Although Martinez is a handful for any defence in the world, the news that talisman Harry Kane will be staying at N17 for the foreseeable future certainly softens the blow.

There are also many advantages from a financial standpoint. In a deal which would have likely shattered Tottenham’s transfer record, exceeding pressure would have been thrust on Martinez to hit the ground running in English football, with little notion of an adaptation period.

The Lilywhites may be better off focusing all of their energies into re-integrating Kane to the forefront of their starting line-up as opposed to pursuing Martinez, something that doesn’t seem to be going too badly after the England star’s brace against Pacos de Ferreira during the week.

In other news, Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a blow in a transfer chase. Find out more here.

The curtain will come down on a wonderful four years in charge for Nuno Santo on Sunday.

He has changed the face of Wolverhampton Wanderers, turning them into an established Premier League outfit.

Unfortunately, their clash with Manchester United this afternoon will represent his final in the Molineux dugout.

He surprisingly announced the decision to resign on Friday, leaving the Old Gold’s future well and truly up in the air.

Wolves will be aiming to send Nuno off with an almighty bang but it won’t be easy against one of the best sides in the top-flight.

Though, with nothing to play for, the Midlands outfit can kick back and relax on the final day of the season.

Thus, how will their final ever team selection under the Portuguese look? Here’s what we’re predicting…

We’re tipping Nuno to make three changes from the team that lost to Everton last time out.

John Ruddy continues in goal but there are changes to the backline in front of him with Max Kilman dropping out.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-wolves-transfer-rumours-and-news-soumare-dias-dembele-marques-nuno-santo” title=”Read the latest Wolves transfer rumours and news!”]

The Englishman is replaced by 18-year-old Christian Marques, someone we’ve raved about on Football FanCast this weekend.

The centre-back has never been seen in the first-team but with nothing riding on the match, this feels like as good a time as any to hand him his Premier League debut.

Another change is at right wing-back where Ki-Jana Hoever is given a chance ahead of Nelson Semedo, something that occurred in the 2-1 win over Brighton.

The third and final change is in the middle of the park where Joao Moutinho is axed from the starting XI in favour of the young Vitinha.

If Wolves don’t exercise the option to buy clause in his loan contract then this could be the 21-year-old’s final outing in the Old Gold.

There is no room for Willian Jose while Raul Jimenez won’t be fit to play despite his promising recovery from a fractured skull.

Marcal has returned from injury but Rayan Ait-Nouri gets the nod on the left-hand side.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Silva: Wolves should replace Nuno with “spectacular” 44y/o Mendes client…

Everton will face their fierce rivals this afternoon when they make the short trip to Anfield in the away fixture of the Merseyside Derby.

Frank Lampard has revealed several injury concerns that he will be hoping won’t setback his team from putting on a performance in the Premier League clash, with Donny van de Beek, Andre Gomes and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all ruled out against Liverpool.

Andros Townsend, Tom Davies and Nathan Patterson all remain unchanged on the injury table for the foreseeable, however, the Toffees boss has hinted that a recent returnee is in doubt to feature today.

Lampard took to his pre-match press conference to respond to doubt over Yerry Mina’s inclusion in the starting line-up:

“That’s a decision I’ll have to make closer to the game, because of the tight turnaround. He’s an important player to us and we’ve got to understand we’ve got six more games after this.”

With that being said, this is how Football FanCast expects Everton to line up this afternoon…

We predict that Lampard will make just two changes from the team that drew with Leicester City on Wednesday night, with his typical 4-3-3 formation deployed.

The first change we expect to see is Michael Keane returning to the back-line after the manager’s comments suggesting that Mina may be rested at Anfield today, so it would seem likely that the defender will reprise his role in the otherwise unchanged back four alongside Seamus Coleman, Vitaliy Mykolenko and Ben Godfrey.

The second change we think the Toffees boss will make is the inclusion of Abdoulaye Doucoure, who hasn’t been given much game time as of late with just six minutes played since the Burnley clash at the beginning of the month.

The 29-year-old gem who was hailed “underrated” by Jamie Redknapp, has played ten times in the Merseyside Derby, winning two, drawing two and losing six whilst scoring and assisting once against the Kopites.

We expect to see Doucoure earn his role back in the starting line-up to replace £100k-per-week flop Alex Iwobi in the midfield, playing just ahead of Allan and Fabian Delph to assist with the attacking threat needed to have any chance of beating their title-challenging rivals this afternoon.

Lampard will be feeling the pressure come 4:30pm if Burnley take a result in their fixture a few hours before the derby, with Everton just one point clear of their relegation rivals, a win for Burnley and a loss for the Toffees could spell danger as the side would fall into the bottom three by end of play.

AND in other news: Huge blow: Everton dealt worrying injury setback before Liverpool, Lamps surely gutted