All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Nuno Espirito Santo cannot be ruled out of the running for Tottenham Hotspur’s managerial vacancy, according to Alasdair Gold…

What’s the word?

The reliable football.london reporter delivered a fresh update in a recent Q&A with supporters, in which he was asked about the former Wolves boss.

He wrote: “I keep getting told, and again today, from those in Italy that know Paratici, that he likes Nuno Espirito Santo and not to rule out that he could become one of the candidates.

“I don’t think a move for him would go down particularly well among the fans.

“He would be more popular than some and he knows the Premier League, but his brand of football would not be the “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining” kind Levy promised the fans in his end of season message about the incoming new head coach.”

Not the right fit

A move for Nuno would’ve made sense over a year ago but perhaps not now.

The 47-year-old left Molineux by mutual consent at the end of the season, seemingly taking the Midlands outfit as far as he could – that being promotion to the Premier League and qualification to the Europa League in his very first season.

As The Telegraph’s John Percy outlined recently, there were concerns at Wolves over Nuno’s style of football and their performances during his final season in charge. His replacement Bruno Lage has been brought in to provide a more attack-minded focus.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-on-spurs-manager-search-transfer-rumours-gossip-enic-levy-paratici” title= “Read the latest from Spurs’ manager search, transfer rumours, gossip, injury updates and more!”]

Wolves were the lowest scorers above 16th place in the top flight last season (36 goals), just one ahead of relegated West Brom, with his successor coming in on the back of a 103-goal campaign at Benfica.

That only bolsters the view from Gold, who suggests that he isn’t the right fit for the club, particularly from a tactical standpoint.

This would go against one of Levy’s key criteria and ultimately this is bad news for fans, especially as the journalist believes he would not go down particularly well with the Lilywhites faithful. Indeed, that appears to be the case.

As relayed by This is Futbol, plenty of Spurs fans are against the move. One claimed that he was “sick of this club now” and another wrote “Paratici out” despite the Italian not even officially starting until July 1st.

A further supporter claimed it was “really really bad”, with an additional fan believing their managerial search had gone from “bad to worse.” This may be a small sample size but it does highlight the general feeling in north London right now.

After being dealt blow after blow, missing out on everyone ranging from Julian Nagelsmann to Antonio Conte, this fresh update from Gold comes as bad news for supporters as the wait for their next manager rumbles on.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano drops exciting claim on Spurs’ manager search, fans should be buzzing…

A fresh twist has emerged in Tottenham Hotspur’s bid to bring Mauricio Pochettino back to the club…

What’s the word?

As first revealed by The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke, Spurs have held discussions with their former manager about a potential return to the north London side, and it is also thought that the Argentine would be open to leaving Paris Saint-Germain for his old club.

However, a new claim has surfaced suggesting that the 49-year-old is also a target for another European heavyweight.

According to Goal, La Liga giants Real Madrid have made Pochettino their top choice to replace Zinedine Zidane after it was confirmed that the Frenchman would walk away from his contract 12 months early.

Massimiliano Allegri was an early contender for the Bernabeu job but, with his return to Juventus on the cards, the club’s hierarchy have quickly shifted their attention to the ex-Spurs favourite.

Worrying blow

This is potentially a crushing blow to many Spurs fans’ hopes and dreams as the chances of a reunion with Pochettino could appear to be slim.

Indeed, Pitt-Brooke has since rated their chances of sealing him at “less than 50%” when speaking to ‘The Totally Football Shaw’ podcast earlier this week.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-managerial-updates-transfer-news-rumours-gossip-and-more-levy-kane-enic” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, managerial gossip, transfer rumours and more!”]

Furthermore, it is no secret that Pochettino would love to manage Real Madrid, having made some intriguing claims back in 2018 after being approached by the Spanish outfit.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever coach Madrid, but of course it’s my dream,” he said (via The Mirror). “If it’s not the best it’s one of the best clubs in the world. I’m no different, everyone has it on their dream list.”

He has since reinforced his desire to one day talk the helm at Madrid as, following his appointment at PSG, he said: “It was always my objective to one day be able to play for Real Madrid and when you don’t realize a dream, you say, ‘Well, look, one day I’d like to coach Real Madrid – after Espanyol’.”

Pochettino has even had to deny that there is a Madrid release clause within his contract at the Parc des Princes.

If he has to pick between his dream club, who will be competing in the Champions League next season, and a Tottenham team staring at a place in the Conference League, then there is surely only one winner.

All in all, the chances of the Argentine returning to Spurs appear rather slim, and that won’t please many in north London, with numerous fans desperate to see Pochettino back at the club.

AND in other news, Forget Martinez: Levy can seal dream Spurs boss in “exciting” 51 y/o with 74% win rate…

Manchester United are set to initiate contract talks with key midfielder Paul Pogba as they look to build a title-winning side.

What’s the story?

According to ESPN, the Red Devils will begin negotiations with the 28-year-old amidst fears that he could leave on a free transfer next summer.

Pogba has just 12 months left to run on his current deal with United, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is desperate to retain the World Cup winner’s services.

Fans will be buzzing

The upcoming transfer window will be the last opportunity for the Old Trafford outfit to receive a substantial fee for their record signing.

However, the report claims no solid contact has been made regarding the French international’s services from any interested party.

It goes on to state that Paris Saint-Germain would be interested if Pogba was available for free in a year, with foreign clubs able to negotiate a pre-contract agreement from January.

His controversial super-agent, Mino Raiola, has previously declared that his client will not put pen to paper on a fresh deal at Old Trafford, although it’s believed that United have not given up hope over extending the former academy graduate’s stay.

After an inconsistent spell with the 20-time English champions, Pogba enjoyed one of his most successful seasons in 2020/21.

A string of impressive performances saw the former Juventus man score six goals and provide nine assists for his teammates in 42 appearances, achieving a highly respectable WhoScored rating of 7.06 in the process.

He played a crucial part in United’s second-place finish in the Premier League but was unable to lift his second Europa League crown with his boyhood club as Villarreal came away victorious following a dramatic penalty shootout win.

Pogba’s growing importance to Solskjaer’s side has been clear for all to see, and the news that the Red Devils’ hierarchy are attempting to tie him down to a new contract will surely have the supporters buzzing as he is, on his day, a truly elite footballer.

Upon his return to the national team at the end of last year, Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris praised his compatriot’s array of qualities.

“Very present, he wanted the ball. He put on his voice. He is a leader, and we felt it,” revealed Lloris.

At a time when United are attempting to reel in their local rivals and return to the summit of English football, keeping hold of their star players and key leaders is essential.

Losing Pogba, especially for free, would be a huge setback to the progress made under Solskjaer and could leave United further away from a league title than they’ve ever been under the Norwegian’s reign.

And, in other news…Man United dealt major transfer blow over £8.1m-rated prodigy, it’ll leave Ole gutted 

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Leicester City striker Brian Deane has dismissed the idea of Brendan Rodgers leaving the King Power for Tottenham this summer.

Tottenham are without a manager following the sacking of Jose Mourinho and have been heavily linked with Rodgers.

However, the FA Cup-winning coach made it clear to reporters that he has no intention of succeeding the 58-year-old, who has since gone on to become AS Roma boss.

Deane acknowledges that Spurs are a big club. However, with a lot of fires to put out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium right now, including Harry Kane’s burning desire to leave the Premier League outfit, the ex-Leicester man cannot see why Rodgers would want to go there.

He told FFC in an exclusive interview:

“He goes to somewhere like Tottenham, then straight away you’re fighting different types of battles. Yes, people say it’s a bigger club, but they’ve got bigger problems and they’ve got a rebuild job coming on. So why would you swap?

“[At Leicester] you’re in control of all the recruitment. You can build a club in your own style. Why would you change and go to somewhere like Tottenham where they’re in danger of losing the likes of Harry Kane and other players? Stay put.”

When you look at where Tottenham are right now compared to Leicester, who have just won the FA Cup and have had a great league campaign, it really is hard to see why Rodgers would want to leave the Foxes for the Lilywhites.

Mark Douglas has dropped some insight on potential Newcastle United takeover investors which he claims is problematic for Mike Ashley.

The Lowdown: Newcastle valuation drops

As per Sportico (via The Chronicle), the valuation of the St. James’ Park faithful has dropped steeply since the global pandemic, with a new value of £190m being reported.

That is the 11th highest in the Premier League, citing that the ongoing threat of relegation hugely depresses the valuation.

There was a point in the season where Steve Bruce’s team were seriously under threat of dropping down to the EFL Championship, and so this has seen the valuation of the North East club plummet.

The Latest: Insight on potential takeover investors

Writing in his latest piece for The Chronicle, Douglas has shared that it is understood that rival investors to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group would value the Tyneside club under the original £350m agreement.

Douglas adds that this is problematic for Ashley, as he wants the value that he has put on the Magpies to be consistent.

If the KSA consortium were to pull out of the deal altogether, then other potential investors may not want to buy at the price that he has set.

The Verdict: KSA consortium deal key

It is key that if there is a takeover of the Toon, then it is by the KSA consortium, to satisfy all parties involved.

For Ashley, he would then be able to sell at the valuation that he has put on NUFC, and the consortium would then be able to take over as per their aim.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/newcastle-updates-3/” title=”Newcastle updates! (3)” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

There would certainly be question marks over whether the chief executive of Sports Direct would consider selling to anyone else if the consortium pulled out altogether, especially if nobody is willing to meet his original valuation.

Nonetheless, with Newcastle’s value depreciating, Ashley will want to get the deal done as soon as possible in order to get his money’s worth.

In other news, find out which ‘magnificent’ ace Newcastle are keen on signing here!

Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has told The Transfer Tavern in an exclusive interview that he expects his old side to get £100m for Jack Grealish if they do decide to sell him in the summer.

Grealish has really excelled for Villa this season, with 16 goal contributions in the Premier League.

He is now being linked with a move to Manchester City, who have reportedly made the attacking midfielder their top target.

Getting him out of Villa Park, however, will not be easy, with the Midlands club managing to tie him down to a five-year contract at the start of the campaign.

In fact, Hendrie believes it could cost Manchester City or any other club that is interested in Grealish as much as £100m to acquire his signature.

Speaking exclusively to TT on the player’s future, the ex-Villa star said:

“Jack’s possibly going to go for, if he does go, he’s going to go for probably around £100m. That’s the sort of bar the top players are sitting at, if not more.”

Transfermarkt currently value Grealish at £54m but, given the England international’s importance to Dean Smith’s side, it would not be a surprise to see Aston Villa demand a fee closer to £100m.

Norwich City will have to sell players in order to strengthen their squad this summer, according to Daniel Farke.

What’s the word?

Speaking recently to the Eastern Daily Press, the Norwich City boss claimed that he would like to “keep all the best players” at the club, however, he went on to reveal that he couldn’t confirm that all of City’s players “will stay” in Norfolk this summer.

The 44-year-old then suggested that, in order to “add some quality” to his side, “there will be also some outgoings”, before adding that he feels it is “important to keep the core of the team” together ahead of their Premier League campaign.

Indispensable trio

Norwich City fans will undoubtedly be hoping that the core of indispensable players Farke refers to includes the likes of Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendia – all three of whom are believed to be attracting significant interest ahead of the summer transfer window.

Indeed, it would seem as if these three players, in particular, are crucial to the Canaries’ chances of retaining their top-flight status next term.

So far this season, Buendia has proven a remarkable attacking force in the Championship, bagging 14 goals and registering 16 assists over his 37 appearances, with the Argentine averaging an astonishing SofaScore match rating of 7.68 – ranking him as the club’s best performer in the second tier.

Meanwhile, Cantwell has scored six goals and provided four assists over his 31 league fixtures, earning himself an average SofaScore match rating of 7.16, while Aarons has helped his side to keep a whopping 17 Championship clean sheets, as well as personally averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.98.

As such, it would appear essential that Norwich keep hold of all three of the aforementioned stars this summer, or else risk losing either a significant amount of goals, creativity or defensive security – something that would not bode well whatsoever for their chances of top-flight survival.

In other news: Forget Zimmermann: Webber must land “outstanding” £12m ace ahead of NCFC’s PL campaign – opinion

Many Glasgow Rangers fans are delighted after it was revealed that Calvin Bassey, Nathan Patterson and Bongani Zungu will all be free to play in the Scottish Cup fourth round after their ban for breaching lockdown regulations was appealed.

The aforementioned trio – along with Brian Kinnear and Dapo Mebude, who are currently away from Ibrox on loan – were found earlier this year to have broken lockdown laws to attend a small house gathering. They have since been hit with six-game bans as punishment.

However, the Gers have moved to appeal the sanctions. While there is no guarantee that the bans will be overturned, it does now mean that Zungu, Bassey and Patterson will be able to play in the Scottish Cup fourth round against Celtic as they wait for the outcome of their case (Sky Sports).

The news was shared on Twitter by @ibroxrocks, and it delighted many Gers supporters. These fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts, with one describing it as a “masterstroke” by the club.

Let’s see what the Rangers fans had to say below

“Meltdown incoming”

Credit: @Glasgowsredwhi1

“Great decision by the champs!”

Credit: @Wom8le

“Wonderful”

Credit: @King_Kamara18

“Got to love that system”

Credit: @anton_foster

“This will get them going”

Credit: @woofly32

“Just in time for Tav to return to match fitness, hopefully. Masterstroke.”

Credit: @jordanrmckay_

In other news, many Rangers fans slam this broadcaster’s comments.

When Lee Johnson announced last Friday that Bailey Wright had returned to training, the Sunderland manager had a beaming smile on his face.

Little did he know, however, that his Australian stalwart was going to be thrown in at the deep end after their first defeat in 14 matches.

The Mackems have been brilliant in recent months but their 2-1 loss at the hands of Charlton last weekend dealt an almighty blow to their hopes of earning automatic promotion.

Though, those hopes were dealt another potentially catastrophic blow when they lost to Wigan Athletic on Tuesday evening. This was arguably one of the worst performances under Johnson as the Black Cats were made to rue a number of defensive errors.

This was a display that was completely out of character with how their defence have shaped up since February. With Luke O’Nien and Dion Sanderson a centre-back pairing, Sunderland had kept seven clean sheets in 12 games.

That being said, things have fallen by the wayside in the last few weeks; Johnson’s men now haven’t kept a shutout in four matches.

As they fell to a dismal 2-1 defeat on Tuesday, it was their defence who came under scrutiny. Wright was welcomed back into the starting XI after a late injury to Conor McLaughlin which meant that O’Nien had to shuffle across to right back with the Aussie coming in at centre-half.

Unfortunately, both players were left exposed. O’Nien could have done more for both goals as a pair of defensive calamities led to strikes being conceded from two set-pieces.

Wright has usually been so reliable for Sunderland and until his calf injury in February, had only missed one league game.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-sunderland-transfer-rumours-and-news-grigg-denayer-louis-dreyfus-sanderson-melamed” title=”Latest Sunderland transfer news and views!”]

Though, on this display, he could be missing a few more between now and the end of the season. The defender tried to play long balls forward on a regular basis and that led to him conceding possession of the ball on a whopping 19 occasions.

For context, no Mackems played lost it more. That also led to a measly pass success rate of just 69%. Of those to start the game from an outfield perspective, only Charlie Wyke and Denver Hume registered a worse percentage.

Wright did prevail in eight aerial duels but ultimately, he looked off the pace and unfit. That’s hardly surprising given his lack of action but considering how adept he’s been in the past, he appeared to be a shadow of his former self.

At full-time, Johnson claimed that he felt “a little bit let down” by the performance of some of his players.

That was certainly the case with Wright. The boss should revert back to a centre-back partnership of O’Nien and Sanderson next time out.

AND in other news, Sunderland graduate saw value rise by £15.5m after leaving, he’s a “manager’s dream” …

Given how the Premier League season has gone for Aston Villa, you would be forgiven for completely forgetting about Neil Taylor.

The 43-cap Wales international has barely been seen at Villa Park this campaign, with Dean Smith clearly favouring Matt Targett as his first-choice left-back.

The only first-team action that Taylor has seen thus far, has been three 90 minutes in the early stages of the Carabao Cup, and then a measly 15 minute outing in the Premier League clash against Manchester City back in mid-January.

Other than that, the Welshman has been forced to either sit on the bench as an unused substitute, or even just miss out on the match-day squad completely.

Taylor earns a reported £45k-a-week at Villa Park, which is still a decent chunk of money for a side who are only a year or so removed from coming up to the Premier League.

The left-back was a key part of Villa’s promotion from the Championship, playing 34 times in the competition, including playing all three games in the play-offs.

But given how things have panned out since then and how Targett is by far and away Smith’s first-choice in his position, Taylor just seems to be stealing a living at the moment.

Villa’s co-owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens will surely be fuming at the fact that a member of Smith’s first-team squad is picking up a sizeable wage packet for doing absolutely nothing so the club simply must wave goodbye to Taylor when his contract expires this summer.

Meanwhile, Villa should target this “fabulous” player who Lee Hendrie adores…