All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Manchester United have held internal talks over signing Everton forward Richarlison, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Richarlison’s season

The Brazilian forward, valued at €50m by CIES Football Observatory, has contributed to ten Premier League goals in a struggling Everton side this season.

Richarlison has scored six times and provided four assists under both Rafa Benitez and Frank Lampard while playing mostly as a centre-forward or a left-winger.

He’s still under contract at Goodison Park for a further two years, but with the Toffees flirting with relegation, it looks as if United are keeping tabs on the forward’s situation.

The Latest: United talks

Romano shared an update on Richarlison on Thursday afternoon, sharing details of an agency switch for the 24-year-old.

The transfer guru revealed that the Red Devils have spoken about Richarlison internally, along with Benfica’s Darwin Nunez.

“Everton striker Richarlison and his Velasco Sport Group have now officially signed with CAA Base agency.

“Been told Manchester United have discussed Richarlison internally, alongside Darwin Nunez and other options.

“Of course no talks now – he’s totally focused on Everton.”

The Verdict: Ten Hag involved?

Erik ten Hag looks likely to be the next manager at Old Trafford and wanted to be involved in talks over signings, outgoings and new contracts.

However, it is unlikely that he’ll know about these talks regarding Richarlison as he is preparing his Ajax side for a Dutch Cup final this weekend.

Should the 52-year-old want Richarlison, then a summer move could be explored, especially if Everton suffer relegation, however, for now, it seems to be a case of United chiefs drawing up a list of potential targets for their soon to be new boss.

In other news: ‘Brilliant…’ – Sky Sports man buzzes at who Ten Hag may now bring to Man Utd; it’s ‘important’. 

Everton have been linked with a move for Real Betis midfielder Nabil Fekir as new manager Rafael Benitez looks to replace the departed James Rodriguez.

What’s the story?

According to reports in Spain, the Toffees are one of three Premier League clubs interested in securing the 28-year-old’s signature, with West Ham United and Arsenal also listed as potential suitors.

Claims state that: “His excellent form has sparked the interest of several Premier League clubs. Nabil Fekir is in advanced negotiations to close his renewal with Real Betis.

“The Franco-Algerian player is very happy in Andalusia and has a lot of confidence in the Verdiblanco sports project. However, a powerful financial offer, both for him and for the club, could change the plans.”

New James Rodriguez

Fekir has established himself as one of Europe’s most exciting attacking talents in recent years after rising through the ranks at former club Lyon.

During his time with the Ligue 1 giants, he scored 69 goals and provided a further 46 assists in 193 appearances, earning the praise of several pundits, teammates and rivals alike.

One of his admirers was former Barcelona winger Malcom. The Brazilian lauded Fekir’s ability in the final third ahead of a Champions League clash between the Blaugrana and Lyon back in 2019.

“Fekir is a big player, and when I was in France, he scored incredible goals,” Malcom told Telefoot (as relayed by Goal). “It will be more difficult with him (in the Lyon team).”

Since then, the stocky attacker has made the switch to Spanish football, becoming a pivotal part of Real Betis’s recent success, bagging 14 goals and laying on a further 15 assists in 81 outings.

However, Fekir’s current contract expires in the summer of 2023, and although he’s believed to be happy at Betis, a move could be on the horizon for creative talent if a substantial offer is incoming.

The £22.5m-rated gem would be the ideal replacement for Rodriguez, who departed Goodison Park after just 12 months over the summer.

The Colombian was the Toffees’ chief creator last term with 1.7 key passes per game, a number Everton’s French target has bettered this season with 2.5 per game. As a result, he could provide Benitez with the midfield playmaker his first-team squad is currently lacking.

And, in other news…Forget Townsend: Everton powerhouse who won 8 duels was Rafa’s unsung hero vs MUFC 

A number of Aston Villa fans have been reacting to news shared by the Premier League in regards to the upcoming international break.

Villa announced on Monday that both Emiliano Buendia and Emiliano Martinez have been called up by Argentina for next month’s World Cup qualifiers.

Several Villa supporters weren’t impressed, as Argentina is currently on the UK Government’s red-list regarding travel to England, meaning a 10-day period of hotel isolation would be required for the pair before players can return to Villa.

However, Premier League clubs have now decided that they will not release players to represent their countries in red-list countries.

So, as it stands, it appears as if Buendia and Martinez will not be travelling next month and look set to remain in the Midlands.

Villa fans react

@AVFCFaithful_ shared the Premier League’s statement on Twitter on Tuesday evening.

This is what these Villa fans had to say in reply, with more than one labelling it as ‘good news for Villa’.

“Well done”

Credit: @HappyAVFC

“Good news for Villa”

Credit: @RossMatthewman7

“brilliant”

Credit: @charliepowellm1

“It’s a shame for them. But the league has to take priority for me”

Credit: @VillaVisionBen

“Right decision. Can’t afford to pay players millions and not see them for a month.”

Credit: @stevesanderstax

“Brilliant so what does that mean to our players now then”

Credit: @paigeysadler56

In other news: ‘Wow’, ‘Come on’, ‘Pay it’ – Many AVFC fans flock to Fabrizio Romano’s transfer news. 

After falling to a defeat last time out in the Premier League, Leeds United will be hoping to pick up their first win of the new season when they travel to Newcastle United on Friday night.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side lost 3-0 to Liverpool, with Pascal Struijk’s red card for his challenge on Harvey Elliott the understandable talking point after the game.

However, the defeat meant that the Whites now linger only just above the relegation zone and desperately need a positive performance and result against the Magpies tonight to lift the mood.

One way in which Bielsa can do that even before the game is by starting new signing Dan James.

The Wales international arrived from Manchester United on transfer deadline day and has only been restricted to one substitute appearance thus far as Bielsa understandably looks to ease him into life at Elland Road.

However, with Rodrigo badly struggling at the start of this new season – here on FFC we’ve called on the Leeds boss to drop the Spaniard tonight – James might have the perfect chance to make his full debut for the club.

Speaking after the game against Liverpool last week, former Leeds striker Noel Whelan said: “He came into really tough circumstances in the game. We were fighting to get back into it and were down to 10 men, so it wasn’t the ideal circumstances to make your debut.

“But the glimpses we saw of him, he has good feet, good link-up play, he’s good at cutting inside. He is a top player all round. It was everything that we expected, that he showed at Man United during the time he was there.

“He looks like the type of player who will be perfect for Elland Road. He ticks a lot of the boxes that will make us a better team this season. We do play very direct and down the wings and the cut inside to link up with Patrick Bamford.”

His former Old Trafford teammate Andreas Pereira lauded the 23-year-old as being “explosive and so fast” in an interview with the club’s official website last season, and that level of pace and directness is something that the Whites could really do with as they look to get their campaign going.

His performances at Euro 2020 over the summer showed exactly why he could be a major thorn in the Magpies’ defence, averaging an impressive 2.5 key passes and 1.5 dribbles per game – not only was he electric taking players on, but he also showed an impressive end product too.

The £43m-rated star could terrify Newcastle tonight at St James’ Park if Bielsa decides to start him.

Meanwhile, this Leeds star must be dropped tonight against Newcastle…

Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers side went into Saturday afternoon’s West Midlands derby in much-improved form, as after losing their first three league games of the 2021/22 campaign, the 45-year-old’s Wolves side had picked up nine points from a possible 12 over their last four fixtures.

However, after Danny Ings opened the scoring for Aston Villa shortly after half-time and John McGinn doubled the home side’s lead on the 68-minute mark, it appeared as if Wolves’ fine run of form would be coming to an end at Villa Park.

The latter of these goals led to Lage making a double substitution with around 15 minutes to go, bringing on both Fabio Silva and Daniel Podence for Joao Moutinho and Fernando Marcal respectively – a decision which would change the game completely.

Just five passes made

With Francisco Trincao being ruled out of the game after falling ill while on international duty with Portugal, there was something of a pre-match debate as to who should come in to replace the Barcelona loanee in the Wolves starting XI – Adama Traore or Podence.

While Traore did light up the fixture on occasion due to his remarkable strength on the ball and dizzying dribbles – of which he completed six – it was undoubtedly the Portuguese’s introduction to the game which began to turn the tide for Wolves.

Indeed, despite the £22.5m-rated forward featuring for just 16 minutes, as well as making only five passes and touching the ball just 14 times, the 25-year-old nevertheless ended the game with one assist and one key pass to his name. He played an influential role in his side’s thrilling comeback, with late goals from Romain Saiss, Conor Coady and Ruben Neves securing a famous 3-2 win over Wolves’ West Midlands rivals.

As a result of his efforts, Podence earned a SofaScore match rating of 7.3 – with only Saiss and Neves receiving a higher score for Wolves on the day – while The Athletic journalist Tim Spiers claimed that the Portugal international’s introduction to the game finally saw Lage’s side showing signs of “intent” in the match.

While it is impossible to know whether or not Podence would have had the same impact if he had started ahead of Traore, it seems certain that the £60k-per-week winger will ultimately believe that his performance proved his manager wrong – a sentiment that we wouldn’t argue against.

In other news: “Huge” £51k-p/w Wolves target “able to leave” in January, he’d be a major coup for Shi

Dean Windass is confident that West Ham will sign Jesse Lingard before the transfer window closes later this month.

Lingard has been linked with a return to the London Stadium following his memorable loan spell during the second half of last season, with The Athletic claiming last month that he would cost £30m.

However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has previously said that Lingard is part of his plans for the current season despite the array of attacking players at his disposal.

Lingard featured heavily in pre-season, but a positive COVID-19 test saw him miss out on being involved in United’s opening-day victory over Leeds.

He was back in the frame at Southampton on Sunday – and made his first Premier League appearance for the Red Devils since the final day of the 2019-2020 campaign.

But Lingard played only the final five minutes, which suggests he’s some way down the pecking order, with both Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford to come back into the fold.

West Ham first-team coach Stuart Pearce recently told talkSPORT that West Ham are still interested in signing him, and Windass exclusively told FFC that he will return to east London:

“I think West Ham will do that. I just can’t see him being at Manchester United with Sancho coming in now, and you’ve still got Martial and Dan James.”

After only a few days since the club announced they had struck a deal for the loan signing of Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona, it seems as though Aston Villa have set their eyes on another incoming transfer target this month which would surely please a lot of fans.

What’s the latest?

After it was recently revealed that Villa were leading the race to sign Everton defender Lucas Digne, in a recent Twitter post from journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, he claimed that “new direct contacts will take place between Aston Villa and Everton to discuss fee on [a] permanent move” this week.

Romano also added that Digne’s “understood to be attracted by Villa” but that it’s not yet fully agreed between the two clubs.

Fans buzzing

Since joining Everton back in the 2018 summer transfer window from Barcelona in a deal worth a reported fee of £18m, the Frenchman has gone on to make 127 appearances for the Toffees across all competitions.

In the process, he’s scored six goals and provided 20 assists along the way, showing how much of an attacking asset he could be for Steven Gerrard’s side if he does make the move to Villa Park this month.

This season, despite not managing to score a goal or provide an assist in the league for Rafa Benitez’s side, his performances in the 13 appearances he’s made have earned him an overall rating of 6.8/10, making him Everton’s fifth-highest rated player to have played in more than four league games according to WhoScored, which would only leave four current Villa players with a higher rating, showing he has the quality to be a standout figure for the Villans.

As a consequence, fans would surely be buzzing knowing that a reliable top-flight performer would be joining their ranks.

Putting aside his quality on the pitch, with reports of an apparent behind-the-scenes falling out with Benitez last month which has presumably been why he has been linked with a move away from Goodison Park, perhaps his attitude may have to be something that Villa take into account when discussing a potential deal for him and make sure the same doesn’t happen with Gerrard.

With all of that said, if Villa can secure Digne’s signature in the coming days and get him to deliver for them on the pitch, this would be another excellent piece of transfer business from the Midlands club and show that they are serious about improving their squad and progressing under Gerrard.

Having already signed Coutinho, this is an incredibly exciting time to be a Villan.

In other news: Aston Villa interested in highly-rated midfielder

Aston Villa will be changing kit supplier next season, according to a report from Footy Headlines.

The three-year deal they signed with Kappa is due to expire at the end of the current campaign, and they will take the opportunity to switch to Castore from the start of the 2022/23 season.

It’s not yet known how long Villa’s contract with the Liverpool-based manufacturer will last, or indeed how much income it will net for the Midlands club.

Castore’s reputation pre-Villa

Castore already have agreements with two Premier League clubs – Newcastle United and Villa’s Midlands rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers. They also manufacture the kits of Steven Gerrard’s former club Rangers and are believed to have struck a deal with Champions League outfit Sevilla.

A number of Newcastle fans were critical of the designs for their 2021/22 strips, while Rangers’ away kit received a ‘largely negative reaction’ from many of the Ibrox faithful.

Fan feed Villa Report relayed the news, and here’s what some supporters had to say about the potentially “dreadful” switch to Castore.

These Villa fans fume over Castore news

“Look at the state of this year’s Toon kit , they’ve messed the lines up which should be simple. Nah man”

Credit: @sean_verdi1

“How do we expect to take ourselves seriously with low tier kit designer brands like Castore? And after the cheap tat Kappa have thrown together for three years. Can’t see myself buying next season’s kit.”

Credit: @_porsalin

“Look, this isn’t good news for Villa fans. Their strips are bang average. Why can’t we have a decent strip maker.”

Credit: @NickA53898967

“We must be losing the plot !! They make AWFUL kits and charge at extortionate prices !! This is a dreadful decision if true”

Credit: @craigy_hilton

“This is trash, everyone should just not buy a kit so they have to sign with New Balance, Nike, Puma or Adidas”

Credit: @wooskman

“Just one good manufacturer for once I beg please”

Credit: @euanavfc

In other news, lots of Villa fans raved over this latest update regarding Gerrard’s appointment

A big Rangers transfer claim has been made regarding Ross Wilson and Gio van Bronckhorst’s efforts to improve the Ibrox playing squad…

What’s the talk?

Transfer insider Dean Jones has revealed that the Glasgow giants are working hard to plot their moves heading into the summer window.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “From what I’m told, Rangers are actually getting quite far ahead in terms of deciding the exact positions and the personnel they want to fill certain roles.

“So, I think it’s going to be really interesting what happens over the next few months.”

Delight at Ibrox

This will surely leave everyone at Ibrox delighted for multiple reasons.

Firstly, it shows that the club are being proactive rather than reactive. They are not waiting for other clubs to force them into making decisions on players they may sign or sell and are looking to plot out a roadmap for their business over the coming months.

Supporters will be buzzing with this, as it shows that Wilson will likely have a clear plan of action over what he wants to do, which suggests that he will not be scrambling around at the end of August to strike crucial deals. Having targets in place as quickly as possible means that they can start working on reaching agreements with clubs and players sooner than they otherwise would, which gives them more time to secure the best possible deal.

Fans will also be delighted because the squad seemingly needs improving based on the performances on the pitch this season. The Gers have lost their last two Premiership matches to Celtic and are currently six points behind the Hoops in the table, as Van Bronckhorst looks set to miss out on the title in his first campaign in charge.

This suggests that the Rangers squad is in need of reinforcements to win back control of the Scottish top flight next season, assuming there is not a stunning turnaround in the final weeks of the current campaign. Therefore, Wilson being hard at work at plotting deals for signings will please supporters who want the club to overtake the Hoops and establish themselves as the best team in Scotland.

Of course, it will now be down to the sporting director and Van Bronckhorst to ensure that they bring in the right players to develop the squad and raise the standards within the starting XI.

AND in other news, Insider drops worrying behind-the-scenes Ibrox claim, it’s very bad news for Rangers…

Ryan Jack and Leon Balogun are ‘likely’ to start for Rangers against Hearts on Sunday afternoon, The Scotsman’s Stephen Halliday writes. 

The lowdown

Jack and Balogun were half-time substitutes in the 3-0 defeat against Celtic in midweek, replacing Glen Kamara and Borna Barisic respectively.

The Scotsman, who earns £12,000 per week, hasn’t started a game for Rangers since last February, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst intent on managing his minutes.

Balogun (£14,000-p/w), meanwhile, missed nearly all of November and December, having started 18 of The Gers’ first 21 Premiership matches.

The latest

Halliday expects Jack and Balogun to feature in Van Bronckhorst’s XI after they ‘improved Rangers’ performance level’ against The Hoops.

Elsewhere, Aaron Ramsey is set to make his debut following his Deadline Day move from Juventus, and Alfredo Morelos is available again after missing the Old Firm because of international commitments.

So, there could be four changes to Gio’s selection from Wednesday, with both Ramsey and Jack making their full season debuts in the middle of the park.

The verdict

A starting place would be just reward for the duo, who were arguably Rangers’ best players in midweek despite only playing the second 45.

Indeed, only Ryan Kent could match their SofaScore ratings of 7.1/10.

Balogun won three of his four duels, came up with two interceptions and picked out three accurate long balls from four attempts.

The £3.15million-rated Jack, meanwhile, struck the woodwork and created two chances, the joint-most in the team.

Journalist Josh Bunting said he was one of few players who could ‘leave the pitch with pride’ and called for him to be given a chance from the off.

In other news, Rangers have been gifted a contract boost.