Tag Futebol

Manchester United are believed to be ‘heavily scouting’ New England Revolution and Serbia goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, according to journalist Tom Bogert.

The Lowdown: Pertrovic impressing in MLS

The 23-year-old is making a name for himself in the MLS currently, producing consistently strong performances for Revolution and becoming an undisputed key man.

Petrovic has now made a total of 23 appearances for the American outfit, keeping seven clean sheets in that time, having joined from Cukaricki in his homeland last year.

A new update suggests that the young ‘keeper could now potentially be set for a high-profile move to United, having kept 40 clean sheets in his young career so far.

The Latest: United eyeing up move

Taking to Twitter, Bogert claimed that United are strongly monitoring Petrovic currently, ahead of a potential move for him:

“Sources: Manchester United heavily scouting New England Revolution and Serbia int’l goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic. No official contact between clubs yet. Petrovic, 23, quickly recognised among best GKs in MLS. Two caps with Serbia. Finalist for MLS GK of the Year last season.”

The Verdict: Strong backup option

Petrovic could be an ideal option to come in as David De Gea’s deputy at United in the summer transfer window, given his long-term potential.

The two-cap Serbia international could be more content with a squad role than Dean Henderson, allowing the latter to seal a permanent move away from Old Trafford.

Petrovic’s teammate, DeJuan Jones, has hailed him as ‘absolutely incredible’, and at 23, he is still only at the beginning of his career, especially for a goalkeeper.

Eventually, De Gea will need to be replaced – his contract actually expires this summer – and it could be that United see Petrovic as the man who could take on the mantle from one of the club’s greatest-ever ‘keepers.

Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a deal to bring Jude Soonsup-Bell to north London in the January transfer window.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to a report by the Evening Standard, who revealed that Fabio Paratici has now agreed a deal for the Chelsea centre-forward – who is expected to be officially announced by Spurs upon completion of a medical and the 19-year-old putting pen to paper on a contract at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The report goes on to suggest that Manchester City were also interested in a move for the England U18 international this month, with Pep Guardiola’s side also making an offer for the striker, however, despite the interest of the reigning Premier League champions, Soonsup-Bell now appears to be on his way to Tottenham.

“Top goalscorer”

Considering just how exciting a prospect Soonsup-Bell very much looks to be, the fact that Paratici has managed to beat off City in the race to land the 19-year-old this month undoubtedly represents a fantastic coup for Antonio Conte and his side.

Indeed, the £350k-rated talent first caught the eye during his time with Chelsea’s U18 side, scoring an astonishing 23 goals and providing a further two assists over his 25 appearances for the youth outfit – averaging a direct goal involvement every 76 minutes of football played for the U18s.

The youngster has continued his fine goalscoring form while working up the Blues’ age groups, bagging one goal and registering three assists over 12 outings for the U19s, as well as netting five goals and notching two assists over 40 fixtures for the U21s.

Rather unsurprisingly, these returns have seen the teenager already earn his first-team debut for Chelsea, a fact that could see him walk into senior team training at Hotspur Way too.

The youngster has earned a considerable amount of praise for his displays, with Chelsea U18 manager Ed Brand stating of the centre-forward following his winner in the U18 Premier League Cup against Fulham last season:

“Jude is a top goalscorer. He showed great composure to get the ball out of his feet and finish well when he got his chance. He is a fantastic player at this level and he should be really proud.”

However, it has not only been at club level that Soonsup-Bell has been catching the eye, with the striker having also racked up ten goals over 18 caps for England U15s, U16s, U17s and U18s.

As such, it would indeed appear as if the Chelsea wonderkid has an exceptionally bright future in the professional game, with Spurs’ capture of the Chippenham-born talent very much appearing to be a fantastic coup for Paratici and Tottenham, with the club’s transfer team enjoying the rare feat of beating the league champions to a new signing.

Liverpool are reportedly eyeing up a potential swap deal involving Naby Keita and Inter Milan central midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.

The Lowdown: Keita misery

Keita is a talented player who has suffered from constant injury problems ever since he moved to Anfield, as he has only been able to make 17 different injuries or illnesses affecting him during his time on Merseyside.

He is out of contract in the summer, so the Reds have a decision to make over whether to renew it, or potentially let him go as a free agent.

The Latest: Brozovic interest

As per Italian news outlet Calciomercatoweb, Jurgen Klopp is a long-term ‘admirer’ of Brozovic, and could offer Keita in a swap deal for his signature this month, rather than lose the Guinea star for free in the summer.

The Croatia international is valued at around €30-35m (£26.3m-30.7m), but adding Keita to any deal could bring those numbers down.

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The Verdict: Smart move?

Given Keita is out of contract in the summer, on top of his injury history, the Merseyside club need to think about cutting their losses and letting him go in January.

Brozovic would be a welcome addition in exchange, given that the 30-year-old has a wealth of experience of playing at the highest level for both club and country, winning the Serie A title with Inter in the 2020/21 season, among other notable accolades.

Hailed as a ‘top of the top’ midfielder and a ‘fantastic player’ by legendary manager Jose Mourinho, Brozovic should have little problems settling into midfield at Liverpool, and so this could be an astute deal if they can pull it off.

Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur board are doing all they can do back Antonio Conte this winter.

What’s the word?

With the January transfer market now upon us, Spurs are widely tipped to be in the market for some new signings although no deals have been completed yet.

For instance, Sporting Lisbon duo Pedro Porro and Marcus Edwards have both been linked with a move but nothing seems close at this moment in time.

No doubt, manager Conte will be anxious to get a few deals done soon enough and it sounds as though the club fully intend to back him with a new wingback and a forward.

Indeed, when speaking on the Transfer Talk Podcast, Sheth explained: (43:48): “I think Tottenham’s board are doing everything they can to back Antonio Conte and I think they want to be busy in this transfer window.

“I think they want to bring in a couple of players. I think they want to bring in a forward and I think they want to bring in a wingback as well.

“I think Antonio Conte wants to strengthen all over the pitch, but I think in those two particular areas, he sees those two areas as not good enough for them to be able to compete for the top four.”

Patience required?

Spurs are currently just outside the top four – sitting one place and two points behind Manchester United in fourth despite having played one more game – and so it’s easy to see why Conte feels as though a few signings could help bridge the gap.

As mentioned before, Porro and Edwards are two names linked with a possible winter move and they both certainly fit the bill as a wingback and an attacker, which Sheth claims the board are targeting.

For those two players, there are buy-out clauses which can be triggered to get the deals done. And so, if Spurs really are serious about backing their manager, they may have to just bite the bullet and pay the cost.

Of course, though, Daniel Levy and co will be carefully surveying the scene in an attempt to try and scout out the best deal possible this winter and so Conte may well have to be patient.

Manchester City are reportedly keen on signing AC Milan winger Rafael Leao and the 23-year-old could be the man to finally replace Raheem Sterling in Pep Guardiola’s side.

According to German journalist Florian Plettenberg last month, the Portugal international doesn’t want to extend his contract at the San Siro beyond 2024, which has alerted City, Chelsea and Real Madrid to his availability after his sensational performances with the Rossoneri.

This season alone has seen the former Lille man contribute an impressive six goals and four assists in 14 Serie A appearances, with WhoScored awarding him a strong 7.12 average rating for his performances in Italy’s top flight.

He also caught the eye with two goals at the World Cup in Qatar, despite only playing 83 minutes for A Seleção as they crashed out in the quarter-finals against Morocco.

Should Leao arrive at the Etihad this year, he would provide the sort of pace, dribbling and finishing ability that Guardiola has arguably lacked since the departure of Sterling in the summer.

While there is no doubt that the England international was guilty of missing a lot of chances during his spell with the Citizens, his goalscoring record cannot be questioned, as he crashed in 131 goals and 95 assists in seven years with the club.

His exit left Guardiola with the main wide options of Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden, none of whom possess the electric pace and goalscoring nous of someone like Sterling.

While Foden has certainly improved his performances in front of goal this season – bagging eight times – Grealish and Mahrez have just two goals and three assists between them in the Premier League, which suggests that another goalscoring wide player is needed in order to take the pressure off Erling Haaland in Guardiola’s side.

Only Kevin de Bruyne scored more in the Premier League for City than Sterling last term, which emphasises that he was a very important part of Guardiola’s squad and is arguably yet to be replaced.

Leao’s finishing ability is impressive because of his previous performances as a central striker and with City arguably lacking Sterling’s goals in this season’s title race, signing the young Portuguese forward could be the difference between Guardiola’s side and Arsenal.

The Milan star’s previous coach Tiago Fernandes was full of praise for Leao when he made the move to Italy in 2019.

He said: “I’d say that he reminds me of ‘Fenomeno’ Ronaldo for his pace, technique and the quality of his finishing.

“Perhaps he still has to improve in the air, but I want to tell the Rossoneri fans that Leao is a champion who can decide a game by himself.

“He certainly has the talent to play for Real Madrid, Barcelona and all the best clubs in Europe.

“He’s good enough for any team in the world and he has a glorious career ahead of him.”

Therefore, if City want to ease the pressure on Haaland this season they should look to sign a dangerous winger in the mould of Leao, in the hope that he can propel Guardiola’s side back above the Gunners in the next few months.

Liverpool have joined the race to sign Birmingham City midfielder George Hall. 

The Lowdown: Hall’s career so far

The 18-year-old has made 22 appearances for the Blues across their under-18 and under-21 teams, scoring six goals and delivering three assists along the way.

Hall has now made 20 senior appearances for the Championship club, which shows just how highly he is regarded at the club – so much so that the teenager has three Premier League suitors chasing him ahead of the upcoming January transfer window.

The Latest: Liverpool join Hall transfer race

According to a recent report from Football Insider, Liverpool and their Merseyside rivals Everton have both joined the race to sign Hall alongside fellow top-flight outfit Leeds United, who have already had an offer rejected for the teenager.

The report adds that the Reds are ‘plotting a move for Hall as they look to bring in a rising star midfielder capable of graduating into their first team.’

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The Verdict: A ‘dynamic’ target

With Liverpool eyeing a move for another teenage midfield prodigy who has worked his way through Birmingham’s youth ranks in the shape of Jude Bellingham, this further enhances the belief that the Reds are keen to add some young players to their squad.

In terms of what Kopites could expect from Hall, the Blues’ under-18s lead coach Martyn Olorenshaw said about him last year: “He is explosive, dynamic and has the prowess to influence games. He is a really exciting player that has the ceiling to achieve whatever he wants to achieve. He has received international recognition recently which is a huge achievement, a testament to all his hard work and a reflection of his character.”

Taking all of that into account, if Liverpool’s scouting network believe that Hall would be a suitable addition to Jurgen Klopp’s squad and is capable of becoming a regular first-team figure, the Reds should do all that they can to get him to move to Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp must finally ditch Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after the player has featured just four times this season due to injury.

What’s the news?

According to Fabrizio Romano, the 29-year-old looks set to leave Anfield next summer, with the Italian transfer insider revealing in a recent post on Twitter:

“Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, expected to leave Liverpool in 2023 as a free agent. There are no talks to extend his contract as things stand. New midfielders will be the priority for Liverpool on the market next year.”

It looks like a double boost for the Anfield faithful, moving the Englishman on while also prioritising some new midfield arrivals.

Klopp must bin Oxlade-Chamberlain

Oxlade-Chamberlain arrived at Liverpool in the summer of 2017 for a fee of £35m. Although an expensive purchase, his reputation as one of most talented English midfielders at the time was enough for Klopp to splash the cash.

He had won three FA Cups at Arsenal while registering 52 goal contributions in 198 matches for the North London side.

Despite winning a raft of honours on Merseyside, including a Champions League title and Premier League crown, the 29-year-old hasn’t quite lived up to expectations.

The £125k-per-week midfielder has played over 30 league matches just twice in five full seasons at the club, with injuries disrupting his chances of gaining any sort of consistency.

Indeed, since joining in 2017, he has missed a staggering 90 matches due to a range of injuries and with his contract expiring next year, it’s time both parties moved on.

Atul Kasbekar dubbed the midfielder as “woeful” at the start of the year and with the player costing Liverpool a whopping £73m over the previous five years (£35m transfer fee plus £38m in total wages), it represents a colossal waste of money.

Aston Villa were linked with him during the summer transfer window and Klopp might be able to entice new manager Unai Emery into revisiting a move in January.

It would be shrewd business by the German if he manages to get any fee for Oxlade-Chamberlain, and this can free up wages for some new midfield additions the club urgently needs.

Glasgow Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst is reportedly closing in on the end of his time as manager of the Scottish giants.

Football Insider recently reported that it is ‘increasingly likely’ that the Gers boss will be dismissed during the break for the 2022 World Cup after a disappointing first half of the campaign.

The Light Blues board have already held crisis talks and could now wield their axe and task Ross Wilson with finding a replacement for the Dutchman.

Charlie Nicholas claimed that former Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl could be one of the “serious contenders”, alongside Sean Dyche, to replace van Bronckhorst in the dugout.

Rangers’ current manager recently came under fire from Brian Laudrup as the retired midfielder criticised the head coach’s body language on the touchline.

Speaking in the Daily Mail, via Football Scotland, former Gers man said: “With the World Cup break looming next week, it’s time for the Rangers board to think seriously about the direction of the club and the manager’s part within it.”

He added: “Van Bronckhorst has tried a lot of different things with his team and is still trying to find answers. I also look at his body language at times. Hands folded. Looking down. He doesn’t look like a manager who is certain he can turn things around. It looks almost like he has given up a little bit.

“I’m not sure if he always knows his best line-up or the best approach to games. A dressing-room can feel that. Players become insecure.”

Hasenhuttl, meanwhile, has been compared to Jurgen Klopp in the way that he behaves on the touchline as he is prone to a wild celebration, seemingly not afraid of showing his emotions in front of the crowd.

Current Southampton boss Nathan Jones praised the Austrian’s “aggressive” style and that translated into his antics on the side of the pitch, which could endear him to the Ibrox faithful in a way that they have not been able to feel towards van Bronckhorst’s downbeat demeanour.

Klopp claimed that the 55-year-old did an “exceptional” job with the Saints, as he kept them in the Premier League in each of his four seasons at the club prior to the current campaign.

The head coach had enjoyed a successful spell in Germany before moving to England. Hasenhuttl led Ingolstadt to the second division title before finishing 11th in their first season in the Bundesliga, before earning himself a move to RB Leipzig where he finished second and sixth in the table.

This shows that he is adaptable as a manager as he has proven that he can manage in two major European leagues and that he can achieve relative success at the top and the bottom of the table, which is why he could be able to adapt to managing the expectations at Rangers.

Therefore, his managerial ability and the engagement he could get from supporters who have been seeing a reserved van Bronckhorst could make him an excellent alternative to the Dutchman, which is why Wilson must look at a reunion with the tactician he worked with at St. Mary’s.

Leicester City have now set their sights on Morocco international winger Zakaria Aboukhlal, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Foxes flying again…

The Foxes, in a huge sigh of relief for manager Brendan Rodgers, have started to pick up real momentum over this last month after a torrid start to the 2022/2023 Premier League season.

Leicester have now lost just once in their last five top flight matches whilst picking crucial victories against fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Wolves.

In that time, the King Power Stadium side have scored an impressive 11 goals and it’s clear they have rediscovered some real attacking flair.

Rodgers has also managed to shore up what has been a leaky defence so far with the Northern Irishman’s team keeping four clean sheets in their last five – conceding just twice.

The Latest: Rodgers set for Leicester backing?

Now, as per a report in the last 48 hours, it appears Leicester chiefs could be willing to back their boss once again in the transfer market.

A lot of talk has been centred around Rodgers’ future in the dug out, but Football Insider now claim Leicester’s attention has returned to the transfer market.

Indeed, it is believed the club have ‘set sights’ on Toulouse star Aboukhlal amid his impressive season in Ligue 1 with the Foxes ‘tracking’ him ahead of a potential move.

It’s added the 22-year-old has ‘impressed’ Leicester officials who have been sent to run the rule over him this season.

The Verdict: Make a move?

Lauded as a ‘versatile’ ace who can play ‘everywhere’ by reporter Said Amdaa, it’s clear by his WhoScored stats that Aboukhlal may well be one to watch.

The attacker has already made six goal contributions in 11 starts for Toulouse over 22/23 whilst attempting more shots at goal per 90 than anyone in the French top flight side.

Still very young, Leicester supporters will also have a chance to see their new transfer target at next month’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Journalist Gregg Evans bemoaned Aston Villa’s injury problems during their match away to Leeds United this afternoon following a setback for Ludwig Augustinsson.

The Lowdown: Villa draw at Leeds

Steven Gerrard’s side headed to Elland Road for a key Premier League clash on Sunday, in what felt like a must-not-lose game for the manager.

A dour contest saw Villa and Leeds go in goalless at the break but Luis Sinisterra’s red card just after the interval appeared to present the visitors with the ideal scenario to put their one-man advantage to good use. Instead, the game petered out to a 0-0 draw.

Away from the result, Augustinsson had to be replaced by Villa debutant Jan Bednarek before half-time, as the Villains’ injury woes continue to rack up, with midfielder Boubacar Kamara and defenders Matty Cash, Diego Carlos and Lucas Digne already absent.

The Latest: Evans bemoans Villa injury problems

Taking to Twitter during the match, Evans couldn’t hide his frustration at the current injury situation for Villa.

In light of Augustinsson’s club debut being cut short prematurely, the reporter lamented:

“Defensive problems are getting worse. Now Augustinsson (on his debut) has pulled up with a hamstring problem. That’s three injuries to full-backs.”

The Verdict: Big concern for Gerrard

After a difficult start to the season in terms of results, Gerrard will be desperate for some good luck in the injury department – instead, the opposite seems to be happening.

Augustinsson’s hamstring issue seems likely to keep him out for a number of weeks, and with three full-backs all now injured, it places a lot of importance on 37-year-old Ashley Young to stay fit and play well.

That is far from an ideal position for Gerrard and Villa, especially with five more league matches to come in October, including the visit of Chelsea, during a hectic month.