Arne Slot suggested referee John Brooks wanted to prove he wouldn't be intimidated by the Anfield crowd in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Chelsea.
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Glasgow Rangers have made some inroads into the transfer market already as Philippe Clement has made two signings for the Light Blues.
Brazilian left-back Jefte was announced at the end of May, while exciting young winger Oscar Cortes will remain in Glasgow for a season-long loan deal with an obligation to buy next summer.
The Colombian forward spent the second half of last season at the Gers, yet he made just seven appearances before injury curtailed his season.
These are two signings which fit Clement’s transfer strategy. Might a third arrival arrive sooner rather than later? As an update has arrived regarding a player Rangers have shown interest in…
It is no secret that Clement is after plenty of attacking reinforcements this summer in order to bolster his frontline.
One name which has sprung up is that of Bayern Munich gem Yusuf Kabadayi and reputable German journalist Florian Plettenberg has given an update on his current situation ahead of the transfer window opening, stating that the Gers are among the "concrete suitors".
Again, it appears as though Clement is targeting players who are young and showing plenty of potential, with Kabadayi certainly fitting the bill.
There could be several options with regard to how best to secure a deal for the winger. His contract at Bayern expires next summer which could perhaps suggest they would be willing to sell him directly if an offer was to be made by the Ibrox side.
Last season, the Gers were plagued by injuries to a plethora of their wingers. At one point, Abdallah Sima, Cortes, Rabbi Matondo and Scott Wright were all unavailable, resulting in Clement having to rejig his starting XI on a regular basis.
Sima was excellent during his loan spell, scoring 16 goals across all competitions, but he will return to Brighton and Hove Albion with his future unclear.
One player who did improve from his dismal debut campaign – which featured zero goals and just five assists – was Matondo. The Welshman did make his mark last term, but does his future lie at Ibrox under Clement?
Straight away, It's safe to say Matondo improved vastly last season when considering his goal contributions. He only played three more games compared to his first season at Ibrox, yet he registered double the number of goal involvements – six goals and four assists – which included a stunning last-minute effort against Celtic to salvage a 3-3 back in April.
Six of these goals and assists came from the bench, indicating that perhaps he is a better impact option rather than someone who can dominate games from the very first whistle and this may give Clement something to think about.
|
Rabbi Matondo's domestic stats since joining Rangers |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Metric |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
|
Goals |
0 |
5 |
|
Assists |
4 |
3 |
|
Key passes per game |
0.8 |
0.6 |
|
Shots per game |
0.9 |
1.7 |
|
Successful dribbles per game |
1.3 |
1.2 |
|
Via Sofascore |
||
With Cortes already signed, the interest in Kabadayi suggests there may be some movement out of the door in the summer. Can the young German be an upgrade on Matondo ahead of next season?
The 20-year-old may have played just 24 senior matches during the embryonic stages of his career thus far, but his ceiling is high.
Kabadayi has made 78 appearances for several of the youth sides at Bayern, scoring 29 goals while adding a further 11 assists, meaning that he registered a goal contribution every 1.9 matches, which is a stunning ratio.
Kabadayi spent the 2023/24 campaign on loan at Schalke in the 2. Bundesliga in what was his first-ever taste of senior football.
He didn’t do badly at all, scoring five goals in just 26 matches for the second tier outfit, gaining vital experience at the top level while showcasing his talents, and he has clearly impressed a few teams in the process.
Profiling him for the Rangers Journal, Kai Watson stated that Kabadayi is a winger who is “strong, quick and good on the ball” which are all qualities which Clement looks for in his wide players.
Among his teammates at Schalke, the youngster ranked fourth for goals (four) in the German second tier, while also ranking third for shots per game (1.6) and fourth for successful dribbles per game (1.1). These statistics indicate that not only is the winger a solid threat in front of goal, but he also loves bursting down the left flank and taking on opposition defenders with ease.
In comparison, Matondo ranked fifth for goals in the Premiership among his teammates (five), along with finishing the season ranked eighth for shots per game (1.7) and fourth for successful dribbles per game (1.2), showing plenty of improvement from the season before.
While the stats are fairly similar between the two left-wingers, Kabadayi could have the edge, especially with Matondo’s injury history. The former Manchester City starlet has missed a staggering 39 matches for the Light Blues since arriving in the summer of 2022, resulting in him showing the supporters glimpses of his talents.
It is clear that Clement needs to sign players who are not injury prone and can be available for virtually every match. Kabadayi is still only 20 and appears to be in fine physical shape, which could suggest he would be an upgrade on Matondo should the Belgian coach step up his initial interest in the winger over the next week or two.
Matondo would still be an excellent option to utilise from the bench next term, especially if the Gers are struggling to break down a team, as his pace and brute strength were often showcased last season.
If Clement could sign Kabadayi, however, it would represent yet another solid piece of transfer business conducted in what could turn out to be a summer of transformation.
Clement could sign his own Aaron Ramsey in early Rangers swoop
The Light Blues have been linked with an interest in the England international.
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Jun 4, 2024
English top-flight clubs have been left annoyed after receiving an email from Manchester City over their ongoing legal battle with the Premier League.
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New West Ham United boss Julen Lopetegui's appointment is now official, following the club's announcement on Thursday, and he's said to have already given the green-light for a new signing this summer.
David Moyes' second tenure with the Irons is now over, after four successful years, with the Scotsman even guiding the club to a Europa Conference League title in Prague last year and ending the club's four-decade-long wait for a trophy.
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The Lopetegui era has now begun, though, with the Hammers electing not to hand Moyes an extension given a mixed end to his tenure at the London Stadium. His successor, a former Spain and Real Madrid manager, comes with an illustrious CV and Premier League experience at ex-club Wolves.
He appears to tick many boxes for chairman David Sullivan and technical director Tim Steidten, with their next task being the acquisition of summer signings to upgrade Lopetegui's squad and ensure West Ham keep growing after Moyes' departure.
“I feel very happy, first of all, to be able to be part of the future of this big Club,” said Lopetegui on joining West Ham.
|
Julen Lopetegui's managerial stats |
The numbers (via Transfermarkt) |
|---|---|
|
Career wins |
233 |
|
Career draws |
85 |
|
Career losses |
79 |
|
Points averaged per game |
1.97 |
|
Major trophies won |
Europa League (Sevilla) |
“We will try to put our stamp on the Club. I feel that we have a fantastic platform. I think the last few years have been very good years to have this base, of course, but my ambition as a coach is always to be better and better, to achieve more and bigger aims and to encourage and improve the players, the team, and to compete because football is about this – to compete. We are very ambitious about this.
“I am where I want to be. I am here because I want to be here and for us it was a fantastic day when we closed our agreement here because our commitment is 100 per cent to be here. We had other opportunities but I am very happy that West Ham chose me because I chose West Ham too, so we are really happy about this."
Lopetegui is already thought to be on the verge of signing Arsenal youngster Luis Brown for the Hammers academy, but according to The Boot Room and other media sources, he's also now about to benefit from his first senior arrival.
According to TBR, Lopetegui has personally approved West Ham signing Fabricio Bruno – with the Brazil international defender close to joining.
It is believed a deal, which could rise to £15 million with add-ons, is close to being agreed with Flamengo and the 28-year-old is ready to put pen to paper on a long-term London Stadium move. Bruno, who TBR highlight for his top pass completion and progressive passes record, as per FBref, made his Brazil debut earlier this year and could be the ideal man to reinforce Lopetegui's ageing defence.
Ten of the 12 Club World Cup stadiums are on the East Coast of the U.S., FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced Saturday
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Celtic have had a steady start to their latest summer transfer window in terms of the deals they’ve managed to complete.
With permanent deals secured for Jota, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Daizen Maeda, the Hoops have also brought in Alexandro Bernabei and Benjamin Siegrist.
Should Ange Postecoglou look to add a new attacking figure to his ranks before the season starts and the window closes, one rather recognisable name that has been linked with a move to Parkhead recently that would cost the club a penny to sign is Jordan Larsson.
After recently seeing his contract at Spartak Moscow expire, the son of former Celtic legend Henrik Larsson, is now available to sign as a free agent.
In 83 appearances for the Russian club, the striker found the net 27 times and delivered nine assists in the process, highlighting the clear attacking talent the £7.2m-rated 25-year-old has.
Labelled as a “versatile” player by ex-Sweden international Marcus Allback, the player would certainly be a useful addition to Postecoglou’s squad.
In fact, to further expand on the sort of player he is and what sort of figure he could become for the Hoops should he make a move to Parkhead this summer, the Swedish attacker has been compared to former Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery, who is included on a list of similar players to Larsson according to Football Transfers.
With 627 club appearances under his belt, the Frenchman, who is still playing at the age of 39, has scored 150 goals and provided 220 assists throughout his illustrious career.
Taking this into account, the prospect of having their own version of Ribery in the shape of Larsson would be a mouth-watering one for the Bhoys, especially if he can go on to have a similar sort of career that the former Bayern star has had.
In terms of a potential move to Celtic Park this summer that would see him follow in his father’s footsteps, it seems as though this move would go down rather well with a significant number of Hoops fans, as 74% of them voted in a recent poll ran by Football FanCast that they would like to see the former Spartak star in Postecoglou’s squad.
Moving forward, with the striker now a free agent, bringing him to Parkhead this summer is a move that could benefit all parties from a financial and a footballing point of view.
AND in other news: Imagine him & Gia: Ange can form “wonderful” Celtic duo by signing “massive” £2m gem
Everton journalist Chris Smith has revealed that Kevin Thelwell is now ‘in contact’ over the potential signing of Jesse Lingard this summer.
After the capture of James Tarkowski and the sale of Richarlison to Tottenham Hotspur, it seems as if the Goodison Park outfit are in for a busy July.
Thelwell was appointed as their Director of Football in February, and this is the first transfer window where he is taking the strategic lead for recruitment, so the 48 year-old will want to leave his mark and impress both Frank Lampard and the supporters.
Taking to Twitter, Smith, Blues correspondent for 90min, has revealed that Thelwell and the Merseyside club are now ‘in contact’ over Lingard, but he is one of ‘many’ targets:
“Everton are in contact with Jesse Lingard, but he’s one of many targets. The club would ideally like to have Richarlison replaced before they head to America.”
Given that Lingard is out of contract, and is currently rated at £16.2m on the market, signing him on a free is surely a no-brainer for the Toffees.
Hailed as a ‘special’ player by David de Gea before leaving Manchester United, Lingard accumulated over 200 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 35 goals and making a further 21 assists (Transfermarkt).
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He caught the eye in his loan spell at West Ham United in the 2020/21 season, where he managed a total of nine goals and five assists in just 16 Premier League games (Transfermarkt).
If he can rekindle that kind of form for the Blues, then the Englishman would no doubt be a shrewd pickup on a Bosman deal, saving the Richarlison cash for other investments.
Everton have been linked with a move for Christian Eriksen in recent weeks, and now a new update has emerged on the club’s progress in their pursuit of the player this summer.
According to The Times, Everton have now submitted an official offer to sign the out-of-contract attacking midfielder.
As per the report, Eriksen has a whole host of offers from a number of Premier League clubs, with Newcastle United, Everton, Leicester City and current club Brentford all named.
Fabrizio Romano also tweeted on Sunday afternoon that the midfielder will make a decision on his future in the coming days and hours: “Christian Eriksen’s decision on future club now finally getting closer. He’s gonna communicate with his agent in the next hours/days to make a final decision.”
If the powers at Goodison Park could pull off the signing of Eriksen this summer, it would be a major coup for the Toffees as the Danish midfielder has proven several times that he is a top-quality player and demonstrated that yet again during his six-month contract at Brentford.
The Bees had just one win in eleven games before Eriksen was brought into the team, before the £24k-per-week maestro played his first full 90-minute Premier League game against Norwich City and Thomas Frank’s side then went on to win the next five games on the bounce when the midfielder played.
In fact, Brentford only lost twice in the 10 games in which the former Spurs star featured from the off, and lost once again when he wasn’t in the squad, proving that he really was the key difference in their team, scoring one goal and delivering four assists in total.
The 30-year-old has been the recipient of high praise, as Jamie Redknapp hailed the Denmark international “exceptional” whilst appearing as a pundit on Sky Sports during Brentford’s draw with Spurs:
“He was exceptional again. Since he came to Brentford, he’s been magnificent in that area. Spurs gave him so much space, there was almost too much respect for him. He was just picking passes out, he’s a magician.”
Everton are desperate to identify players that can make an instant impact to get off to a good start next season following a disastrous relegation scrap in their last Premier League campaign, and Lampard could have his very own Kevin De Bruyne on his hands if they can sign the £18m-rated Eriksen this summer.
According to FBref, the Man City star is the second most comparable player to the Brentford star and, despite Eriksen playing 19 fewer league games, there are some close comparisons to be drawn.
De Bruyne had a 75.5% pass completion rate, whilst Eriksen had 74.4%, although the latter had a better pass completion on both long (60.9%) and medium (81.8%) passes.
Again, the pair were close in their goal-creating actions last season too, with Eriksen just leading the Belgian midfielder’s 0.57 to 0.67 GCA per 90 minutes.
With that being said, Farhad Moshiri must do everything he can to tempt the midfielder with a move to Merseyside this summer, as he would be a major asset to the Toffees if he can emulate the impact he has had on Brentford.
AND in other news: Lampard must seal Everton swoop for “cold” £75k-p/w dynamo, won’t cost Moshiri a penny
Nottingham Forest are interested in Ajax full-back Nicolas Tagliafico, according to The Daily Mail.
Signed from Independiente in 2018, Tagliafico has been nothing short of sensational for the Dutch Eredivisie champions since making the switch from South America.
The marauding 29-year-old full-back has directly contributed to 36 goals in 167 outings, lifting five major honours during his time in Holland.
Having previously been unsettled amidst speculation linking him with a move to Barcelona, Forest could now be set to land the Argentina international…
As per The Daily Mail, Forest have ‘registered an interest’ in signing Tagliafico this summer as they look for more deals after Taiwo Awoniyi.
It’s claimed that the 40-cap ace is ‘set to leave’ Ajax in the transfer window despite still having two years remaining on a deal with the Dutch giants (Transfermarkt).
The report states that Steve Cooper is looking for ‘other reinforcements’ in defence and views the man dubbed a ‘superb player’ by football talent scout Jakek Kulig as a potential candidate.
Adding a player of Tagliafico’s calibre to the Forest ranks would be an exceptional capture for the Forest hierarchy, especially after turning their attentions elsewhere following the £5million price tag being placed on the head of Max Lowe by Sheffield United.
The refusal to push to bring Lowe back to the Midlands and the imminent release of Gaetan Bong leaves only Jack Colback as a senior candidate to operate at left wing-back, a position Cooper’s system relied heavily upon during promotion last term.
Last season, Tagliafico scored three times and provided a further three assists in 29 appearances across all competitions, and also boasts elite top-level experience having made 25 UEFA Champions League outings to date.
Valued at £9.9million and fast approaching the final year of a contract in Holland (Transfermarkt), signing Tagliafico would be an affordable venture in terms of asking price and could potentially come down to salary as the board decide whether to match or exceed the Argentine’s current £44,000-a-week deal – a sum considerably higher than Forest’s current top earner Lewis Grabban.
Manchester United have reportedly submitted a contract offer to Christian Eriksen and the Danish midfielder could potentially form a superb partnership with Frenkie de Jong in Erik ten Hag’s side next season.
According to The Athletic, United have made an offer to the 30-year-old, who is available on a free transfer as his contract with Brentford is set to expire at the end of this month.
The former Tottenham Hotspur man returned to action with the Bees last season after signing a six-month contract in January and helped Thomas Frank’s side to a 13th-placed finish with one goal and four assists in 11 appearances, but it appears as if he is targeting a side playing European football next season.
Eriksen said: “I have different offers and options, which we are considering, and then we make a decision.
“I would love to play Champions League football again. I know how much fun it is, but it isn’t essential for me.”
Although United can’t offer Champions League football after finishing sixth last season, they still have impressive pulling power and new boss Ten Hag would surely appreciate a player of Eriksen’s obvious quality in midfield.
The Athletic suggest that De Jong is still the Old Trafford outfit’s top midfield priority this summer, with the Red Devils hoping to take advantage of Barcelona’s dire financial straits in order to bring him to England.
If they were to convince De Jong and the “world-class” Eriksen to join ahead of next season, then Ten Hag would have two of the best passers in world football at his disposal.
Last season saw the Dutch midfielder average a 91.3% pass accuracy in La Liga, which was the seventh-best of any player in Spain’s top flight, while Eriksen’s 2.7 key passes per game average in the Premier League was only bettered by Kevin De Bruyne and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Goalscoring was a real issue at times for United last season, as they managed just 57 in the Premier League, and if Ten Hag could add Eriksen and De Jong’s creativity alongside Bruno Fernandes’ obvious qualities in attack, they would surely be much more potent going forward.
Therefore, United fans will be hoping that Eriksen accepts the club’s offer and forms a superb partnership alongside fellow former Ajax man De Jong in Ten Hag’s midfield next season.