All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Whilst Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City was a blow to Leicester City, they were also dealt gutting news on the fitness of Caglar Soyuncu following the game.

Having seen his defender leave for international duty with Turkey during the break, Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers revealed that the 24-year-old had tested positive for coronavirus.

The news will of course be concerning in regard to his health but will also be bad news for Rodgers’ squad as they aim to navigate a few key fixtures on two fronts.

With those testing positive instructed to self-isolate for a minimum of ten days, this would keep Soyuncu out of next weekend’s vital meeting with West Ham United – a game that could see Leicester strengthen their hold on a top-four position.

Meanwhile, the Foxes then have an FA Cup semi-final meeting with Southampton to consider and depending on how Soyuncu recovers, should he be showing symptoms, he may also miss that game too.

Whilst Leicester have a solid defensive partnership in Wesley Fofana and Jonny Evans to call upon, with Daniel Amartey being a reserve, Soyuncu’s influence on Leicester cannot be understated.

It comes as another devastating blow as the central defensive colossus missed nearly two months of the campaign with an abductor problem back in October.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-leicester-city-news%2c-transfer-rumours-and-more” title=”Latest Leicester City news, transfer rumours and more…”]

With the Turk in the side, Leicester have managed to accumulate an impressive 62% win percentage this season. However, in matches where he has been unavailable throughout what has been a frustrating personal campaign on the injury front, that drops to just 50%.

He had played every minute in each of the Foxes’ last eight league games, sustaining just one defeat in that time – a 3-1 reverse at the hands of Arsenal.

This impact alone then could potentially see Leicester’s claim for a top-four position come the end of the campaign falter once again.

Hailed as “fantastic” by Rodgers for his performances since he arrived at the club, the Northern Irishman will certainly be feeling the blow of Soyuncu being ruled out for at least the next few weeks.

AND in more news, remind yourself of the sale of Ahmed Musa – a transfer that saw Leicester hit the jackpot…

Danny Mills has dropped a quite big relegation claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.

Speaking to Football Insider, the former Leeds United and Manchester City defender thinks that any potential deal between Mike Ashley and the KSA consortium would “without a shadow of a doubt” rely on the St. James’ Park faithful staying in the Premier League:

“I would say so, yes. Without a shadow of a doubt.

“It’s a completely different proposition buying a club in the Championship than it is in the Premier League.

“The whole money situation changes beyond belief. Literally at the blow of a whistle. When that final whistle goes at the end of the season, if Newcastle go down it changes everything, absolutely everything for potential investors.”

Newcastle survival is paramount

Steve Bruce’s team must prioritise avoiding being relegated from the top flight down to the EFL Championship before any sort of takeover talk can even be considered at the end of the 2020/21 term.

If the worst were to happen in the North East, then it is very unlikely that the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would still be interested in a takeover, simply because of the money involved as Mills suggests.

Ashley would also be able to demand nowhere near the kind of money that he would have originally hoped for if the Tyneside club were to find themselves relegated, meaning that the chief executive of Sports Direct may suddenly be reluctant to sell.

Nonetheless, everything is all speculation at the moment until the fate of the Magpies is sealed come the end of the season, and then the picture will surely become a lot clearer.

In other news, find out what takeover claim from consortium sources has been dropped by Mark Douglas here!

Former Leeds United star Jon Newsome has told The Transfer Tavern that Jack Harrison will almost certainly become a Leeds United player this summer.

The winger is currently in his third season-long loan spell at the club from Manchester City.

He has never played for City, and has gone on to make 123 appearances for the Whites.

This season, he has scored seven goals and registered six assists in 31 Premier League games.

And Newsome says that Leeds did want to sign Harrison permanently last summer, but were forced to settle for a loan after bringing in a number of new arrivals in the transfer window.

He says that various onlookers already think that Harrison is contracted permanently to Leeds, and he believes that the confusion will be rectified this summer.

Speaking exclusively to TT, he said: “Yeah, it’s a strange one, isn’t it? Because I was speaking about him in the week, actually, to a couple of guys, and they could not believe that he was a Man City player. They were like ‘what?’ I said ‘Yeah, he’s in his third season long loan at Leeds United from Manchester City.’ And they were astounded. They just thought he was a Leeds United player.

“So I mean, I don’t know the ins and outs of the clauses in the contracts, that kind of thing. But I was led to believe that they wanted to purchase him in the summer, last summer.

“That because they brought in a number of other players, they agreed to another season-long loan. And I would be immensely surprised if Jack Harrison didn’t become a Leeds United footballer in the near future.”

Harrison is valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt and City are unlikely to stand in his way, because he has yet to step foot on a pitch in the club’s colours.

Manchester City’s quadruple hopes are still alive and kicking after Pep Guardiola’s side secured a spot at Wembley with a 2-0 win against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.

Ilkay Gundogan finally broke the home side’s resistance with 86 minutes on the clock as he headed home the rebound after Aymeric Laporte’s shot came off the bar, before Kevin De Bruyne added a late second after running through and smashing a left-footed shot past Joao Virginia in the Everton goal.

Although there were plenty of impressive performances from City as they dominated proceedings against Carlo Ancelotti’s side, the standout performer was arguably Fernandinho in central midfield.

The 35-year-old is still going strong in Guardiola’s side and has shown himself to be a more than reliable cover for Rodri in recent months, which is ironic as the Spaniard was brought in as his long-term replacement.

As per SofaScore, the former Shakhtar Donetsk man would earn an impressive 7.6 rating for his display, with only Oleksandr Zinchenko rated higher from both sides, with the Ukrainian rated a 7.7/10 for his performance.

During the game, the experienced midfielder completed 63 of his 73 passes, which was the most of any City midfielder, whilst both of his long ball attempts also found a City shirt, per SofaScore.

Fernandinho, who reportedly earns £150,000 per week at City, was regularly the winner when in duels with Everton players, as he impressively won 13 of the 20 duels he contested during the game, which again was far more than City’s other midfielders Gundogan and Bernardo Silva combined, per SofaScore.

However, the most impressive and perhaps surprising part of the Brazilian’s performance were his driving runs from midfield, as he completed all four of his dribbles during his time on the pitch, one of which led to City’s best chance before the opening goal as he cut back to Raheem Sterling in the area after a lung-busting run into the area.

Considering he has averaged 0.4 dribbles per game in the Premier League this season, it was almost unprecedented how willing he was to run with the ball against Everton, which emphasises just how good he was.

Therefore, you could definitely argue that the Brazilian was the star for City in the FA Cup and he once again showed just how good he can be when selected by Guardiola.

And, in other news… Txiki can repeat Gundogan masterclass with City swoop for £7.65m-rated beast

After sweeping aside Southampton last time out in the Premier League, Leeds United will be looking to make it back-to-back wins when Aston Villa visit Elland Road on late Saturday afternoon.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side are still very much in the mix for a surprise European place for next season, and while the Whites boss will be reluctant to make sweeping changes to a team that just won 3-0, he should seriously consider making one key decision: dropping Jack Harrison.

The £8.1m-rated star has enjoyed an impressive season overall for Leeds, netting six times and providing a further four assists in 24 Premier League games.

However, the last three games in particular have just seen him go off the boil, so much so that Bielsa has resorted to hooking him at half-time in two of those matches.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Villa, Bielsa looked to offer Harrison a bit of support after the recent decisions to take him off early.

He said: “Harrison is a very strong player mentally. He’s a very dedicated professional and on occasions, as with all the players, I maintain a dialogue with him when I see fit.”

While the Leeds boss understandably was quick to throw his backing behind the winger, the time has come for him to be dropped from the starting line-up in place of Helder Costa.

The latter has shown real sparks of life since being introduced as a half-time substitute for Harrison in the game against Arsenal, with the Portuguese ace’s well-taken finish really setting the cat among the pigeons at the Emirates.

And then, he followed that up with another impressive second-half display against Southampton. After once again coming on for Harrison at the break, Costa picked up the assist for Stuart Dallas’ strike as the Whites went from going in at half-time at 0-0, to beating the Saints 3-0 by the end.

As well as Costa seemingly picking up his form, Harrison himself has just looked a little off the pace, with his 6.6 match rating as per Sofascore the lowest of any attacker on the pitch for the Whites.

He lost the ball a whopping 13 times in just 45 minutes of action, which is startling given that his season average for an entire game is only slightly more than that at 17.3 per match.

He also failed to provide a single key passes and attempted no shots on goal whatsoever, and there may well be an element of just fatigue creeping into his game – he has after all played in every single Premier League game this season bar one.

Clearly, Bielsa’s had enough of Harrison’s below par displays in recent games, and while it would be a ruthless call to drop him from the starting line-up compeltely, it does seem as though his time might be up for right now, especially with Costa knocking heavily on the door.

Celtic can sit back this weekend and breathe a huge sigh of relief that they don’t have a game to play. After all, they will need all the preparation time they can get ahead of the Old Firm in seven days time.

The SPFL title is gone, however, and no longer are they the dominant force in Scottish football.

On the chalkboard

This already feels like the beginning of a new era for the Hoops. Neil Lennon has resigned and Peter Lawwell is set to retire in a few months time.

They is also the risk of a mass exodus of the playing staff. Kristoffer Ajer and Odsonne Edouard continue to be linked with exits, while some others will be out of contract.

One such player is midfield stalwart Scott Brown. The skipper has made countless appearances for the Bhoys but this could be his final season as a player.

The 35-year-old has put in some tired displays this term and has been linked with coaching vacancies across the country; namely at Aberdeen.

Ismaila Soro might well be the natural heir to his Celtic throne, certainly from an internal point of view. Though, the Glaswegians would be wise to bring another face to Paradise to replace Brown.

Brown’s successor

Celtic have been linked with a few midfielders in recent times. During the January transfer window, it was thought that they may make a move for former Stoke general Giannelli Imbula.

However, another name that’s been consistently linked with a move to Parkhead is Crystal Palace’s James McCarthy.

He was first touted with a switch to Glasgow last summer but rumours re-emerged back in January. The Irishman is out of contract in a few months time and thus, would represent a cut-price way of replacing Brown.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-celtic-transfer-news-onuachu-edouard-dembele-turnbull” title=”The latest Celtic news and views!”]

James McFadden recently discussed that fact, saying: “To come in, with the experience he has got, I think he’d be a really good signing for Celtic. You have to get that balance. Bringing in young players to the team to add value to them is great, but you need the experienced ones in there to help them as well.”

The former Scotland international also discussed how McCarthy could come in and replace Brown.

Indeed, by looking at their positions on the pitch and their statistics, it’s hard to argue against that claim.

The Palace midfielder may lack a bit of the bite and aggression that Brown possesses but he’s assured in possession of the ball and can do the dirty work astutely.

In the Premier League last season, McCarthy made a colossal 2.5 successful tackles per game on the way to earning himself nine yellow cards. For context, Celtic’s captain has managed just 1.4 challenges a match in 2020/21.

If you consider the £50k-per-week midfielder is only 30, and the fact he’s stronger in the tackle, Celtic may well land themselves an upgrade here.

That can only be good news in their quest to rediscover their dominance of Scottish football.

AND in other news, Forget Klimala: Celtic must unleash rarely-seen 19 y/o Rodgers dubbed “very talented”…

Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has weighed in on the Trezeguet-El Ghazi debate in an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, suggesting that the Dutch winger should be getting the nod at present.

It was Trezeguet who started in the recent 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, and the 26-year-old has since come in for criticism for putting in a subpar performance.

Ex-Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor was highly critical of his display and overall attacking contribution this season, stating Anwar El Ghazi should be in the team ahead of him, a sentiment shared by former team-mate Hendrie.

Speaking exclusively to FFC about the two attackers, Hendrie said:

“I agree with Gabby about that. El Ghazi’s more of a direct player and he’s got a bit more versatility than Trezeguet. He can go down the line or he can cut inside and he’s scored goals this season, so I totally agree.

“I feel that because they’re not scoring goals, you need something of that dimension to try and bring into the side. If I had to choose one, El Ghazi would be my first choice.”

This season, El Ghazi has managed to score six goals in the Premier League, a tally only top scorer Ollie Watkins can beat. Meanwhile, Trezeguet has failed to register at all, so it is not hard to see why some feel that El Ghazi should be getting the nod over the Egypt international.

2021 has been the very definition of hot and cold for Leeds United. They have tasted defeat in four games now, but their two wins in the Premier League have been impressive.

They started the New Year in dismal fashion with three consecutive defeats – one of which came against League Two Crawley in the FA Cup. Though, in beating Newcastle and then demoralising Leicester, they bounced back tremendously.

The football Marcelo Bielsa’s men played last weekend at the King Power Stadium was relentless. Their pressing was perfect and Patrick Bamford was a constant thorn in the opposition defence.

He helped himself to a goal and two assists on Sunday but despite registering another assist in midweek, Leeds fell to a 2-1 loss at the hands of Everton.

It was a disappointing result given the performance only a few days ago but it summed up their current top-flight campaign. One minute they’re unrelenting in their play and the next, they’re being sliced open.

No player in Leeds’ squad epitomises their inconsistency quite like Jack Harrison.

The loanee is now in his third loan spell at Elland Road but each season, he has constantly put in indifferent performances. On his day, he has the first touch of a superstar, like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, on others, he has the end product of Jimmy Kebe.

At times this season, Harrison has looked unstoppable. Coming into their clash with the Toffees, the winger had scored in consecutive games.

Though old habits die hard and that was typified on Wednesday evening. The 24-year-old struggled to get into the game and although it was his pressing that led to the turnover for Leeds’ goal, he struggled throughout.

In fact, both of Bielsa’s troops on the left-hand side were particularly abject. We’ve already picked bones with Gjanni Alioski’s performances this term but in committing four fouls and winning just three duels on the ground, he particularly struggled with the way Everton played.

Yet, Harrison was worse, winning just two of the seven duels he competed in. That being said, it was his attacking play that disappointed the most.

The forward lost possession of the ball on 19 occasions, a tally higher than every Leeds player on the pitch besides Luke Ayling and Raphinha. Of course, Harrison was keen to get balls into the area but only 50% of his deliveries were accurate.

Just a solitary key pass told the story of an abject day creatively. This should hardly be surprising judging by some of the form he showed last season. After all, following the opening eight games of 2019/20, he’d managed only one accurate cross from 31 attempted.

Judging by the fact Harrison has four Premier League assists this season, it shows he has improved. However, until he begins to capitalise on promising situations more often, Bielsa won’t be able to take him to the next level.

On this occasion, it was a night where the flanker let his manager down again. He needs to discover more consistency.

AND in other news, Forget QSI: £50m Leeds update could be completely game-changing for Bielsa and Radz…

Leeds United have been handed a major boost in their chase for Michael Olise, after Reading manager Velko Paunovic admitted the midfielder could leave the club in the January transfer window.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that the likes of Marcelo Bielsa’s side and fellow Premier League outfit Crystal Palace are eyeing up a move for the 19-year-old starlet, and when speaking about him having a £8m release clause in his contract, the Reading boss opened up on his player’s future.

Speaking to The Reading Chronicle, Paunovic said: “I’m not aware of it. The most important thing for Michael is that he has found a place where he is being protected, supported, playing games more than ever and is being given opportunities.  I am confident. But, I’m also confident to tell you that you never know.

“Every single player is exposed to the market and to the teams that have needs so somebody may pull the trigger. Are we going to be affected by that? It is possible, but I am confident and I am working with him long-term.”

Orta must pounce

With a supposed £8m release clause, and now his own manager admitting that he could be on the move in the January window, it’s surely the perfect time for Victor Orta to pounce.

Olise has been a revelation for the Royals this season especially, playing in a variety of positions all across midfield, and adding a real end product to his game too.

In just 20 games in the Championship, he’s bagged four goals and provided an impressive seven assists, and it’s no surprise that he’s already receiving plenty of rave reviews for his performances.

Described as being “super talented” by his manager, teammate Sam Baldock added: “Michael is a real talent, he’ll get on the ball in any situation. He’s fearless, if you ask him today I’ll guarantee that he had no nerves. He’s a lively character and one who I’ve noticed a real change in the last couple of months.

“He’s knuckled down and realised that he’ll have to win the respect of his teammates by working hard. We saw both sides of his game today.”

If Leeds are looking for an absolute bargain to come in and add a different dimension to Bielsa’s side for the second-half of the season, then Olise can be that man.

Liverpool are being linked with a move for Wolves’ Adama Traore and if he were to join, it could add a completely different dynamic to Jurgen Klopp’s side.

According to Spanish news outlet Sport earlier this week, Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds are all interested in signing the 24-year-old this month, despite him struggling for game time in Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.

It also suggests that the Old Gold would not be willing to let him leave for less than €40 million (£35.6 million), as his contract their is not set to expire until 2023.

Looking at the impact he could potentially make at Anfield, there is no doubt that Traore would offer something different in this Liverpool side. His searing pace caused Premier League sides all sorts of problems last season, with Andrew Robertson on the end of a difficult game against the winger when the Reds won 2-1 at Molineux.

After that game, Klopp was full of praise for Traore, saying:

“[Traore] is unplayable in moments, it’s unbelievable. What a player – it’s not only him but he’s so good.”

Therefore, the German manager is clearly a big fan of the former Barcelona academy prospect and would perhaps love to see Michael Edwards bring him to Anfield during the current transfer window.

The Wolves man’s form last season was spectacular at times, as he contributed four goals and nine assists in 37 top-flight appearances, resulting in a superb 7.47 average rating.

However, he has struggled for game time and goals this season, starting just 11 games in the top-flight and failing to make a single goal contribution, although his solid average rating of 6.97 suggests he is still performing well.

If he were to join Liverpool this month, he would not only potentially add incredible pace and power into Liverpool’s attack but could be utilised as a right-back for the Reds.

During his time with Wolves, Traore has featured as a right-wing back on a number of occasions and he could even potentially challenge the out-of-form Trent Alexander-Arnold for a spot in Klopp’s first-team.

Liverpool’s full-backs are often given the freedom to attack, as we have seen with Andrew Robertson and Alexander-Arnold providing so many assists in recent seasons, although Traore would add a different dynamic to Alexander-Arnold, as he could use his pace and physicality to beat defenders before crossing from the byeline, rather from deep.

Therefore, if Traore was unleashed as a right-back in Klopp’s side, he could push forward and get crosses into the box, in a similar vein to the 22-year-old defender, who has struggled for form so far this season, averaging a disappointing 6.71 rating for his performances in the top-flight.

So, if Liverpool can sign Traore, it could lead to Alexander-Arnold’s performances improving due to the added competition but if that doesn’t happen, then he could be worried that his spot in the first-team would be under real threat.

And, in other news… Klopp can sign LFC’s next Coutinho in £30m beast who “lacks absolutely nothing”