After finally getting their man earlier in the summer, Leeds United have opted to take the patient approach with Cody Drameh.
The 19-year-old arrived from Championship side Fulham, and has spent his time in Yorkshire with the U23s, where he’s only missed one game at Premier League 2 level.
He’s yet to be seen with the senior side however, and that’s something Marcelo Bielsa may look to change heading into 2020.
According to The Athletic’s Phil Hay, when Leeds scouted Drameh whilst he was at Craven Cottage, they saw shades of Luke Ayling in him. It was also suggested that the teenager saw a “clearer” route to the senior set-up at Elland Road than he did at Fulham.
Hay wrote: “Leeds are understood to have paid in the region of £300,000 for Drameh, a fee which could rise to £1 million with add-ons, last week.
“Fulham are fresh from promotion themselves and will play in the Premier League with Leeds this season but sources close to Drameh say the England Under-18 international saw a clearer first-team pathway in West Yorkshire than in west London. The deal was done despite Fulham’s reluctance to sell and after Manchester City showed some late interest.”
Drameh’s potential is there for all to see, with Eredivisie scout Xander Wilkinson going on record to hail his abilities. He said: “Defensively so impressive! His mind works quicker than most right backs I’ve seen in a naturally defensive mindset. Tactically very aware of what is being asked of him, times his engagements well, needs to add a little more unpredictability going forward.”
The starlet may not be ready to start in the Premier League right now, but he could learn a lot by potentially being given opportunities in the FA Cup and then some minutes here and there in the top-flight.
Exposing him to first-team football will be the real test of whether Drameh will sink or swim, and the young right-back could surprise everybody and take to it like a duck to water. Only time will tell.
Nir Bitton’s display against Hamilton a few weeks ago was impressive. It was safe, resolute and most importantly, there was no drama or fuss.
Considering Celtic have been so disastrous defensively this season, it was a welcome change.
The Hoops have shipped 19 goals in the Europa League and they have also conceded ten more goals than Rangers in the league, despite playing on three fewer occasions.
We issued claims that Bitton had begun to solve some of Neil Lennon’s issues but in the Old Firm derby, he was undoubtedly the biggest letdown.
The Israel international was sent off and consequently, the Bhoys tasted defeat against their bitter rivals.
If there was ever a timely reminder of the problems Lennon has, it was there for all to see last weekend. Thus, in January the club simply have to find a new centre-back.
If they don’t, it must be their main focus in the summer window.
Fortunately, someone capable of fixing their defensive struggles has presented themselves. That happens to be Motherwell colossus Declan Gallagher.
A source close to Gallagher told The Daily Record this week: “He is desperate to play for Celtic and in the current climate, he would be a brilliant signing.”
Gallagher is out of contract at the end of the season and thus, could either be available for a cut-price fee or on a free transfer in several months time. Celtic are now supposedly monitoring his situation alongside Blackburn, Hibernian and Aberdeen.
If the move did go through, it would be a humongous upgrade on the player that was shown a red card against the Gers.
Bitton has proven himself to be an inconsistent figure at Parkhead and in Gallagher, they’d have one of the best players aerially in the entire division.
He has won a mammoth 83 aerial duels this term – the 16th highest in the SPFL – which means he is above Bitton. The Celtic defender has only won 3.7 aerial duels per game compared to Gallagher’s 4.2.
Furthermore, he wins more tackles a match – 1.5 compared to Bitton’s 0.8.
Standing at 6 foot 6, there aren’t many taller players in the league. Dubbed a “complete player” by former Motherwell boss Steve Robinson, he would be an astute acquisition from Nick Hammond.
Celtic must tie things up for the seven cap Scotland international as quickly as possible.
AND in other news, Forget Laxalt: Celtic must swoop for 21 y/o who makes defenders do “very silly things”…
Celtic were outfought and outplayed on their own patch by their arch-rivals on Saturday afternoon, leaving Neil Lennon with everything to do if his side is to secure a record-breaking tenth successive Scottish Premiership title.
It was the second match in as many seasons that Rangers have come to Parkhead and been the better side but only this time, the defending champions failed to find the net nor did they manage to have a single shot on target.
Although once again, they were undone by a Light Blues centre-back with Conor Goldson surprisingly finding himself on the scoresheet with a match-winning brace.
You could pick many holes in Lennon’s side, right across the pitch, as the Hoops were without a plethora of usual first-team starters ranging from Ryan Christie in attacking midfield to leading talisman Odsonne Edouard upfront.
But that does not excuse the shocking display by some who were trusted enough to start instead, none more so than fringe star Olivier Ntcham, who had been linked with an exit to the Premier League throughout the summer. Celtic reportedly valued their man at £12m.
SofaScore graded the 24-year-old as the worst player on the pitch with a miserable 5.9 rating – he lost possession 13 times, failed to win a single duel from six attempts, was dribbled past twice and made a pathetic 69% of his 16 passes.
GlasgowLive gave Ntcham a 4/10 and claimed he has been “absolutely lost this season” whilst the Daily Record were equally scathing in giving him one notch better, claiming he was “unable to get to grips with the likes of [Glen] Kamara and [Steven] Davis.”
Not only was he lightweight, but he was largely anonymous too with fellow midfielders Callum McGregor and Scott Brown making at least 37 passes themselves.
It’s no wonder that the young Frenchman was pulled before the 70th minute and he ought to be wary with Christie set to return in due course whilst summer arrival David Turnbull and forgotten man Tom Rogic featured off the bench, so his place is by no means safe and secure.
Ntcham’s sixth start of the season in the SPFL could well be his last for quite some time going by that showing – with an enormous tie with AC Milan on Thursday before a trip to fourth-placed Aberdeen, Lennon will surely look to other options.
AND in other news, Controversial treble winner has thrived since leaving Celtic on a FREE…
Tottenham Hotspur head into the international break in a pretty solid position, undoubtedly bolstered by their activity in the transfer window.
Jose Mourinho’s side find themselves sixth in the Premier League following a 6-1 drubbing of Manchester United at the weekend as well as easily breezing into the Europa League group stages.
The likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Matt Doherty and Sergio Reguillon have all made an instant impact since signing on the dotted line in north London but there’s so much more to come after the break.
And it could spell trouble for one of Spurs’ longest-serving players, Erik Lamela.
Gareth Bale made a sensational return to the club this summer and is yet to feature due to injury, though according to reports, he’s set to be fit after these international matches.
A massive boost for Mourinho but a likely nightmare for the 28-year-old winger.
Throughout the window, Lamela’s future at Spurs was thrown into doubt – Football Insider claimed back in February that Mourinho would listen to offers for the Argentinian this summer whilst the Daily Star suggested that he was free to leave for £20m in May.
His career in north London has forever been blighted by injury, playing only 228 times in seven seasons – that’s a little over 30 appearances per year.
It’s hard to make a case for him starting over Bale let alone the likes of Lucas Moura, Heung-min Son and Steven Bergwijn.
Several members of the current first-team staff have lauded Lamela in recent times, including Mourinho, who said the winger was an “amazing guy” and a “fantastic player” whilst Ledley King labelled him the “star of the show” at one stage last season.
“I like him a lot, since the moment when he was training just for two days and he told me he would help the team as best as he could before the Brighton game. I felt that the boy was really up to it, quality plus attitude. I knew that he was very important for us.”
Mourinho on Lamela
But when you’re sitting on £80k-per-week and not playing, it’s hard to justify a place at the club, especially when it puts Lamela among the top-earners – Giovani Lo Celso, Davinson Sanchez and Harry Winks are all on less and are some of the first names on the teamsheet.
The writing may well be on the wall for Lamela and that much will start to become clearer after the international break.
It’s Bale season.
AND in other news, Spurs could sign Jose Mourinho his next John Terry for just £18m…
كشف الحكم الدولي إبراهيم نور الدين، أنه تعرض لظروف غريبة أثرت عليه بالسلب في مشواره التحكيمي وقيل له إنه “مسحور”.
وقال نور الدين في تصريحات تلفزيونية بفضائية “الشمس” عبر برنامج “البلدوزر”: “تعرضت لفترة صعبة ومرهقة تقربت فيها إلى الله بشكل أكبر، واستعنت به في كل قراراتي للخروج من هذه الظروف السيئة”.
إبراهيم نور الدين: طلبت إبعادي عن تحكيم مباريات الأهلي وهؤلاء اللاعبين أسعد بأخلاقهم في الملعب
وأضاف: “أذكر أن أعضاء اتحاد الكرة وقتها، وعلى رأسهم هاني أبو ريدة وأحمد شوبير ومجدي عبد الغني وأعضاء لجنة الحكام، قالوا لى كن مع الله”.
وأردف: “أنا لم أقم برش المياه قبل المباريات لفك السحر، ومقطع الفيديو الذي تم تسريبه مغرض وليس له أساس من الصحة”.
وتابع متحدثًا عن اختياره لتمثيل التحكيم المصري في بطولة كأس العرب بقطر: “يعتبر رد اعتبار بالنسبة لي”.
واستكمل: “هناك بعض الأشخاص الذين يحاربونني ولا يريدون لي النجاح، ولن أفصح عنهم لأنهم لا يملكون أن يضروني إلا بإذن الله”.
واستطرد: “انا ضد مقولة إن الحكام يكرهون بعضهم، ولكن هناك منافسة شرسة بيننا، لأنها مهنة المنافسة الفردية أمام ملايين المشاهدين”.
وأتم: “أنا الحكم الوحيد الذي أدار مباريات في الدوري الممتاز وأنا أحكم درجة ثالثة، وأدرت مباراة القمة بين الأهلي والزمالك بدون سماعات وبدون تقنية فار عام 2014، والجميع أشاد بمستواي في اللقاء”.
يُذكر أن قائمة الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم لحكام كأس العرب بقطر 2022، قد شهدت وجود نور الدين ضمن حكام الفار، ضمن 3 حكام عرب فقط.
Now that they are back in the Premier League, Marcelo Bielsa will undoubtedly work even harder to make Leeds United even more competitive than ever before. Of course, despite already having quite a roster at his disposal, this means bringing in more reinforcements in the ongoing summer transfer window.
According to the latest reports from HLN, the Whites have been offered the services of Michy Batshuay by Chelsea. The out of favour striker still has a year left on his contract and is now valued at around €26m (£22.6m).
Now, it’s up to Bielsa to decide whether he’s ready to invest that much into a player who’s largely been unsuccessful at Stamford Bridge and is turning 27 soon. We know the Argentine coach prefers to work with young and hungry players and the Belgian has hardly warranted a hefty price tag with his performances anyway.
The other problem are his wages. Currently, Batshuayi is earning more than £100,000 a week too and matching that might prove quite difficult for the Whites, especially since they have already finalised a couple of deals this summer.
Of course, getting promoted from the Championship does come with a financial boost as well but Bielsa is mulling over whether Frank Lampard’s outcast is the right player to invest into right now.
The Blues, on the other hand, are getting quite desperate and want to offload the player as soon as possible.
Verdict
Batshuayi has had quite a rollercoaster of a career at Chelsea. Of course, the stint at Stamford Bridge itself was never really a success but he’s had his moments in various loan spells away from the English top-flight.
This does indicate there is quality in there somewhere but is he really what Leeds need to compete with the Premier League’s finest? This could be a deal to avoid for Bielsa.
Liverpool failed to win at Anfield for the first time this season on Saturday, and the frustration of being unable to break Burnley down was evident across the fanbase on social media.
Jurgen Klopp’s side weren’t at their best on Saturday afternoon, but to be fair to them it wasn’t full strength XI.
Indeed, the gaffer rotated his side a little bit, and in doing so he gave 19-year-old Neco Williams a chance to start his second Premier League game.
Unfortunately, things didn’t exactly go to plan for Williams, he didn’t fill the large boots left behind by Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back, delivering just one accurate cross and one key pass throughout the game.
Watch Liverpool Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below
Despite this only being his fifth senior league appearance, some of the Anfield faithful were unwilling to cut him any slack, taking to social media to criticise the young Welshman.
Others weren’t as harsh on the 19-year-old, and while they didn’t praise the youngster, they did attempt to give him some constructive criticism.
One of the main things fans were unhappy about was his wastefulness, and you have to say that they’ve got a point.
The youngster had three shots while playing at right-back, and not a single one of them were on target.
Another thing Liverpool fans weren’t best pleased with were Williams’ corners, as numerous supporters made a point about his deliveries not being effective.
All in all, it wasn’t an impressive performance from the teenager, but at his age, you can’t put too much credence into a pretty meaningless game against Burnley where the title is already wrapped up for Liverpool.
Hopefully, things only get better from here for the right-back.
O ex-volante Fabinho está de volta ao Corinthians. O jogador, que passou pelo Timão entre 2001–2004 e depois entre 2008 e 2009, realiza estágio nas categorias de base do clube. Ele pretende ser técnico de futebol no futuro e participará de um curso voltado para a formação de jogadores oferecido pela Universidade do Futebol em parceria com UNICEF e Fundação Barcelona.
continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasBizz BORRARCorinthians fecha acordo para ter rede de fast-foodBizz BORRAR08/10/2015CorinthiansFagner já faz atividade com bola, e Uendel é poupado em treino do TimãoCorinthians08/10/2015CorinthiansPerto de marca no Timão, Cássio se vê como melhor goleiro do BR-15Corinthians08/10/2015
Pelo clube do Parque São Jorge, Fabinho conquistou cinco títulos: a Copa do Brasil e o Rio São Paulo em 2002, o Paulistão em 2003 e 2009, e a Série B, em 2008.
– Estar de volta a esse time é muito bom, principalmente pelo carinho que recebo de todos os funcionários. Também não posso deixar de citar a importância do Osmar (Loss, técnico do Sub-20) em meu aprendizado, pois é um treinador muito inteligente e com quem aprendo novas coisas todos os dias, sem contar o Marcio Zanardi (treinador do Sub-17), profissional inteligente, humilde e campeão, que está me dando uma atenção fora do normal – comentou.
continua após a publicidade
Com o objetivo de seguir carreira como técnico, o ex-volante tem participado de diversas iniciativas voltadas ao seu aperfeiçoamento profissional, no Brasil e no exterior.
– Procuro retirar o máximo de cada curso que participo, pois sempre existe algo novo para aprender – comentou o ex-atleta, que passou também por São Caetano, Cerezo Osaka (JAP), Santos, Cruzeiro, Yokohama FC (JAP) e Bahia.
Manchester United have seen just five permanent managers since the formation of the Premier League in 1992 but plenty of players have come and gone.
It’s those that we’re going to be focussing on in this list as we whittle the many down to the few and look at the Red Devils’ 20 worst signings of the Premier League era.
Sir Alex Ferguson may have been a managerial genius and oversaw the gold era of Manchester United’s history, but he still made many mistakes in the transfer window. While Fergie’s successors have not exactly been successful on the pitch, they’ve made very similar mistakes in the recruitment department.
So let’s have a look at the 20 biggest Man United flops of the Premier League era…
Morgan Schneiderlin
First up is a midfielder who you may have forgotten even plied his trade at Old Trafford – current Everton and ex-France man Morgan Schneiderlin.
United tried to follow in the footsteps of their rivals Liverpool by poaching some talent from Southampton when they paid an eye-watering £25m for Schneiderlin in the Louis van Gaal era, but unlike the Sadio Mane’s and Virgil van Dijk’s, this Saints star was to flop at a much bigger side.
William Prunier
How could we leave Willian Prunier off this list?
When he was on the field Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils would have been no worse off with an actual statue in central defence.
The former France international, somehow, is widely regarded as one of the worst players to ever ply his trade at “The Theatre of Dreams” and he’s now managing in France’s fifth tier.
Gabriel Obertan
Football – Manchester United v Crawley Town FA Cup Fifth Round – Old Trafford – 10/11 – 19/2/11 Manchester United’s Gabriel Obertan and Kyle McFadzean (R) of Crawley Town in action Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Jason Cairnduff Livepic
Signing Gabriel Obertan for his all-star Old Trafford team and spending actual money on him, too, was hardly one of the Fergie’s masterstrokes – and it’s not the first time you will see the legend get his recruitment woefully wrong in this list.
The hapless winger made just 27 appearances in his four-year United career, scoring a mere one goal and only registering four assists, he did get a Premier League winners’ medal though.
Radamel Falcao
Radamel Falcao was hardly the first player to come to England with a huge reputation in European football and prove he’s not even near English top-flight standard, and he surely won’t be the last either.
Having scored bags of goals on the continent for the likes of Porto, Atletico Madrid and a resurgent Monaco team, the Colombian was given his big chance to shine in the Premier League on loan in Manchester for the 2014/2015 season.
Needless to say that he didn’t take it, with the striker finding the back of the net on four occasions and he even got another opportunity with Chelsea the campaign after, to show everyone once again how below-par he is in England.
Zoran Tosic
The picture above rather sums up Zoran Tosic’s time in west Manchester – the Serbian was surrounded by some wonderful players such as Michael Owen, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand and more – and he was somewhat the odd one out.
This was because, like so many in this list, Tosic simply never had the ability to be a star at the world’s biggest club and that’s why he lasted only one term after joining from Partizan Belgrade in 2009.
Wilfried Zaha
Manchester United may well now regret letting go of Wilfried Zaha for well under £10m just four years go, however, this doesn’t take away from the fact that he wasn’t good enough for them.
£10.58m plus add-ons was a lot of money back in January 2013 and that’s exactly what David Moyes paid to capture him from Crystal Palace, only for the Ivory Coast international to appear on four unmemorable occasions – now Zaha is once again knocking on the door of a move to a “Big Six” side having come on leaps and bounds since then.
Memphis Depay
Louis van Gaal should have been more cautious knowing how many attackers purchased from his native Netherlands have struggled to adapt in England after thriving over there.
Look up Dutch Premier League flops in the dictionary and Depay’s name will appear.
Massimo Taibi
Southampton’s Latvian striker Marian Pahars (L) scores past Manchester United’s Italian goalkeeper Massimo Taibi (R) as Dutch Manchester United team mate Jaap Stam (2L) looks on during their English premier league match at Old Trafford September 25.AS
Few members of this list have an iconic moment in a Man United shirt to their name, although we must confess Massimo Taibi’s is seminal for the wrong reasons.
Having impressed on his debut against Liverpool after replacing Peter Schmeichel in the summer of 1999, the Italian let Matt Le Tissier score with one of the tamest efforts in Premier League history against Southampton a game later, and barely featured again.
Angel Di Maria
It’s hard to overlook our next United failure when it comes to the title of the biggest club-record signing dud in world football ever – Angel Di Maria.
To be fair to the Argentian, though, he’s since shown his true quality at Paris Saint-Germain.
However, under the weight of a £59.7m transfer from Real Madrid ahead of the 2014/2015 term, the Argentina star failed to make himself worthy of the famous Red Devils number seven shirt, providing little more than an eye-catching lob away at Leicester City.
Diego Forlan
Football – Stock 03/04 , 28/2/04 Diego Forlan – Manchester United Mandatory Credit:Action Images / Andrew Couldridge
A case of De Ja Vu here with Di Maria’s fellow South American Diego Forlan, a player that seemed to do extremely well at pretty much every club in his career apart from Man United.
Forlan was so bad at Old Trafford that it was laughable, as he somehow managed to rack up close to a century of matches under Fergie, who probably didn’t want to lose face after splashing out £6.9m on him, which was a large sum of money in 2002 football.
What proved to certainly be a fruitful move for Kyle Walker has turned out to be problematic for Tottenham Hotspur across their backline.
The right-back departed the club back in 2017 for a sum of £45million after Mauricio Pochettino decided to cash in, and the Englishman has certainly reaped the rewards of the transfer. Since his arrival at the Etihad, Walker has enjoyed tremendous achievements, including two Premier League titles and an FA Cup win.
However, it hasn’t been rosy for both parties. Since the 29-year-old left London, Spurs have increasingly let in more goals as they struggle to plug the defensive leak. In Walker’s final season with the club, Tottenham finished second in the Premier League and conceded just 26 goals, less than champions Chelsea and the lowest amount in the entire league.
But following his departure, defensive issues presented themselves and each campaign since Walker’s absence has seen Spurs let in more and more goals. The 2017/18 season – the first without their right-back – saw Spurs concede 36 goals, followed by 39 goals in 2018/19 and their worst yet this campaign having already let in 40 goals.
Despite veteran internationals Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, as well as replacement right-back Serge Aurier, Spurs can’t seem to stop leaking goals. Meanwhile, Walker has contributed to Man City’s extremely low tally of conceded goals since he joined, including their +72 goal difference last season after conceding just 23 times.
Spot the fact from the fib: Are these Premier League records true or false?
In fact, City’s No.2 has registered an average pass rate of 88.9% which is much higher than his usurper Aurier (78.3%). Walker also averages more passes per match (67.5) than the Ivorian (37.7) – (via WhoScored).
Although Tottenham made a tidy £39m profit on the Sheffield-born ace, the repercussions have been costly with the London side struggling to get near the second-place finish they managed in 2017. They are currently having a torrid season, sitting eighth in the league table, just two points ahead of Burnley and Crystal Palace.