All posts by z3u9t.icu

Marcus Bent thinks that David Moyes is the right man to take Everton to the next level and believes the Scot deserves another shot at managing the club.

Moyes spent 11 years at Goodison Park from 2002 to 2013, making the Toffees European regulars, and only left to replace Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

As we all know, his time at Old Trafford was disastrous, and with United miles behind leaders Manchester City, he was sacked before the end of his first campaign.

But the 58-year-old has been around the block since his departure, managing the likes of Real Sociedad and Sunderland before finding a permanent home at West Ham at the second time of asking.

And having got his managerial career firmly back on track by leading the Hammers into the Europa League group stages for the first time ever, Moyes is now being touted as a potential replacement for Carlo Ancelotti after he left for Real Madrid earlier this week.

Former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has reportedly already held talks with Everton, but Bent exclusively told Football FanCast that Moyes is also in the running:

“I spoke to people behind the scenes – David Moyes is now being targeted again by the chairman and the club.

“He’s done so well at West Ham; he’s done so well. Me personally, I wouldn’t appoint him, but he deserves it, he would be good for the club, the players, the team and take them onto the next level with the new stadium.”

Glasgow Rangers have reportedly now told Josh McPake that he can leave in the summer.

The Lowdown: Loan after loan

McPake has been sent out on loan no fewer than five times by the Teddy Bears in his career so far, most recently to Tranmere Rovers back in the January transfer window.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/rangers-news-3/” title=”Rangers news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

He has only managed to make one senior appearance for the club, and so his long-term future under Giovanni van Bronckhorst is uncertain after a nomadic stint in Glasgow.

The Latest: McPake update

Speaking to Football Insider, an Ibrox source has revealed that the Light Blues have now given the ‘green light’ for McPake to leave on a permanent deal, as he is ‘surplus to requirements’.

The Gers have personally ‘told’ McPake that he can go after his loan spell at Tranmere ends.

The Verdict: Shame

It is certainly a shame that McPake’s career at RFC has not quite worked out, especially coming through their youth ranks.

Described as ‘excellent’ and a ‘great talent’ by Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver, another team that he has gone out on loan to, the 20-year-old signed a new deal at Rangers just last year, a testament to how highly-rated he is.

However, the summer seems the best time for both McPake and the club to part ways, as the Scottish winger looks to seek more regular first-team football and the Light Blues bank a potentially decent profit.

In other news, find out who has been ‘non-existent’ for Gers here!

Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Graham Roberts does not expect Danny Rose to have any way back into the first-team even with Jose Mourinho’s sacking, telling Football FanCast that the developments have “gone too far”.

Rose was not included in the Premier League squad at the start of the season and was not given a squad number.

This season, he has made a total of two appearances in the Premier League 2 for the U23s.

Reports claimed that he actually appeared at Spurs’ training ground on the day of Mourinho’s sacking, jumping out the back of a van and asking journalists why they had shown up to the Enfield complex.

Ryan Mason has been placed in charge of the team on an interim basis until the end of the season and it remains to be seen if an olive branch will be extended to the former England left-back.

Roberts, though, believes that such a development is unlikely after the way that he has conducted himself in recent years.

Indeed, he believes that the argument arose from the player’s desire to leave on a free transfer when his contract expires, despite being offered a number of routes out of the club, as laid bare in the Amazon Spurs documentary.

He told FFC: “I’m not sure about Danny Rose, I think that one’s gone too far. That wasn’t Mourinho, that was to do with the club, his contract’s up, he’s said he wants to leave when his contract’s up, on a free.

“I think that one’s gone too far.”

West Ham United are reportedly interested in acquiring the services of Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrick Schick this month, with the Hammers looking to add depth to their squad given their participation in three competitions.

What’s the story?

According to Italian outlet Calcio Mercato, the East London club are looking to sign the Leverkusen forward this window, having not signed a striker since Sebastien Haller’s departure for Ajax last year.

The £36m-rated striker has been in exceptional form this term, having netted 18 goals in 16 Bundesliga appearances.

Schick joined Leverkusen in September 2020 from Italian outfit AS Roma, having spent the previous season on loan at their Bundesliga rivals RB Leipzig, where the Czech Republic international scored ten goals in 28 appearances.

Since his move, the striker labelled a “genius” by his national team coach Jaroslav Silhavy, has scored 31 times in 56 appearances, an astounding tally.

However, the 25-year-old could seek a new challenge and make the move to the Premier League by joining David Moyes’ side.

West Ham fans will love him

It is no secret that the East Londoners could do with a new striker with winger Jarrod Bowen being their main goal output of late.

Michail Antonio started the season excellently, scoring five goals in his first six Premier League games of the campaign. However, the Jamaica international has only scored three league goals since September.

With Moyes’ side still juggling three competitions and possessing genuine ambition of securing Champions League football by May, the Hammers will need a recognised goal scorer that they can rely on.

West Ham have managed to find goals from all over the pitch, scoring 41 in their 20 league games thus far. However, that may not prove sustainable and the Irons could do with adding a recognised goalscorer up front to help secure a top-four finish and progress in the Europa League and FA Cup.

Schick has had an immense start to the season, scoring more goals than games played. Should West Ham be able to find a fee suitable to bring the Czech from Germany to England, they could be a serious force during the second half of the season.

Moreover, the Irons have already had two Czech stars succeed at the London Stadium with Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal being key contributors. Thus, fans would surely warm the forward pretty instantly should he make the move.

AND in other news, West Ham flop who lost the ball every 2 touches v Leeds may be costing Moyes top-four…

Former West Brom midfielder Carlton Palmer cannot see Celta Vigo’s Okay Yokuslu returning to The Hawthorns amid Premier League interest.

Yokuslu spent the second half of last season on loan at West Brom and impressed despite the Midlands club’s relegation to the Championship.

The 27-year-old added some real steel to Big Sam’s midfield, recording an average of 2.4 tackles and 2.2 interceptions per game in the Premier League (via WhoScored). When it came to the latter, no West Brom player had a higher average.

Understandably, Yokuslu is now being linked with a return to the Baggies. However, according to AS, Watford are also trying to sign the Turkey international, a claim backed up by a recent report from The Athletic.

Bearing that in mind, Palmer is finding a second spell at his old side hard to imagine. On Yokuslu, the retired England international told FFC:

“I doubt he’ll go to West Brom. You know, you want to play in the Premier League, that’s what it’s all about. That’s the level you want to play if you can.

“I think it’d be very unlikely that West Brom could afford his salary in the Championship anyhow, but obviously from the player’s point of view, he’ll want to play in the highest league that he can.”

Based on what he showed in the previous campaign, Yokuslu would be a great signing for West Brom.

But with a Premier League side like Watford showing interest, it is going to be hard for them to secure his services once again.

Sheffield Wednesday are hoping to have their transfer embargo lifted this summer.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to the Yorkshire Live journalist Dom Howson, who claimed in a post on Twitter that the Owls are looking to have their embargo lifted prior to the summer transfer window opening on June 9th.

Howson also revealed in a recent Q&A session on Yorkshire Live that Darren Moore’s side are “quietly confident” of being successful with the application for the removal of their ban.

Positive news

After what has been an extremely disappointing campaign that fans of Sheffield Wednesday have had to endure, with their side finishing rock bottom of the Championship table, the news that the club believes they will be able to sign players in the summer transfer window is a positive update indeed.

With Dejphon Chansiri confirming that Darren Moore will be the man in charge of the Owls next season, the 47-year-old being able to actively recruit his targets in order to give Wednesday the best possible chance of promotion from League One is undoubtedly a good thing.

And, with no less than 18 contracted Wednesday players who have deals expiring this summer, many of whom are on extremely costly wages, Moore looks set to have something of a blank canvas at Hillsborough this summer, allowing him to mould the squad into one in his own image.

So, while the recent disappointment of relegation will no doubt still be hanging over the Owls fanbase, Howson’s claim that the club looks likely to be able to bring in fresh faces in the upcoming transfer window is something that will surely leave them buzzing – as this is very much the first step in getting their club back on track ahead of their campaign in the third tier of English football.

In other news: Sheffield Wednesday ace reveals “massive boost” that will surely delight Owls fans – opinion

Peterborough United Director of Football Barry Fry insists that Everton have a huge amount of money to spend this summer, regardless of who their manager is going to be.

The Toffees have yet to appoint a permanent replacement for Carlo Ancelotti, who left to join Real Madrid earlier this summer.

They have been linked with a number of managers, but Rafael Benitez appears to be at the head of the queue despite a fan backlash.

Fry, though, insists that the Toffees will spend big in the next transfer window such is the ambition of owner Farhad Moshiri and Bill Kenwright.

Indeed, Everton backed former boss Carlo Ancelotti to the hilt in the summer transfer window, as they brought in the likes of James Rodriguez, Allan, Ben Godfrey and Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Fry said: “They have got big money to spend, they’re very, very ambitious, Bill Kenwright and the owner, they want to make Everton a top-four club, let alone a top six club or a top half club, they want to make them challenging for all the honours imaginable.

“So they have got to get it right in the managerial role otherwise come Christmas, if they start off badly, the whole thing will be out of the window and they’ll be disgruntled to say the least, the Everton fans.”

Everton ultimately finished 10th in the Premier League last season, eight points behind the top four.

Celtic’s Giorgos Giakoumakis has persistently struggled for fitness during his career, The Athletic’s Kieran Devlin has revealed. 

The lowdown

Having led the Eredivisie scoring charts last season, Giakoumakis joined Celtic on the final day of the summer transfer window for a fee of up to £2.5m.

He was brought in as a replacement for Odsonne Edouard, who left to join Crystal Palace, but as we pass mid-October, the Greece international has only played 33 minutes of football for the Hoops.

Giakoumakis has apparently looked ‘rusty to put it mildly’ in Ange Postecoglou’s training sessions and suffered a calf injury in the warm-up for the Premier Sports Cup tie against Raith Rovers last month.

The latest

In a Q&A for The Athletic following the weekend win over Motherwell, Devlin was asked by a Celtic supporter to shed some light on ‘why it has taken so long for [Giakoumakis] to be fit’.

In reply, he said ‘that fitness issue is an ongoing thing’ for the 26-year-old.

‘Speaking to people who have known him before’, Devlin was left with the impression that Giakoumakis’ largely healthy 2020/21 season – he started 30 of VVV Venlo’s 34 Eredivisie games – was ‘an anomaly with his form and fitness’.

The verdict

This is very worrying to hear for Celtic fans. It suggests that the club may struggle to get their replacement for Edouard, who scored 86 goals in 179 appearances at Parkhead, fit and firing.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if Giakoumakis’ prolific 2020/21 season did prove to be an ‘anomaly’ in terms of his form, either, as he only netted three goals in 48 outings for his previous club AEK Athens.

Could this prove to be a costly recruitment mistake from Celtic? Let’s hope the Greek striker doesn’t end up being too injury-prone to get a proper chance to prove himself in Glasgow.

In other news, the stats show these were Celtic’s poorest performers at the weekend

An update has emerged on Leeds target Matheus Pereira, regarding interest from UAE side Sharjah… 

What’s the talk?

According to Emirati journalist Wael Jabir, as transcribed by Inside Futbol, UAE Pro League outfit Sharjah FC are heavily pursuing a deal for Leeds United target Matheus Pereira.

The report claims that they are in talks with West Brom over a potential swoop for the Brazilian playmaker, although it remains to be seen if they are willing to meet the Championship side’s valuation. Leeds have been linked with a swoop for the former Sporting man, alongside Leicester and West Ham.

Upgrade on Harrison

Leeds must now act quickly to strike a deal for Pereira this summer. Sharjah are showing that they are serious about a swoop for the midfielder by entering into negotiations with West Brom and that puts the Lillywhites on the backfoot.

Therefore, Victor Orta must pounce now to avoid missing out on the Brazilian, as Sharjah could have a clean run to his signature unless Leeds act swiftly.

If the Whites chief could get a move over the line for Pereira, it could be an incredible piece of business for the club ahead of next season. He would be an upgrade on Jack Harrison out wide and provide some added firepower and creativity to Bielsa’s side in the wide areas. That is not to say Harrison should be shipped out or instantly dropped out of the XI, but Pereira could eventually get into the team and be the regular starter with the ex-Man City man providing quality back-up.

Ex-Leeds forward Noel Whelan recently said that Pereira would be a brilliant addition to Bielsa’s squad as he lavished praise on the “fantastic” attacker.

He told Football Insider:

“It is a mouth-watering prospect. We missed out on certain players last season, and this is a player that excites everybody. I would definitely take him all day long.

“He’s a fantastic player, he’s great on the ball, he can turn people inside out. Pereira’s another option we can use right across that front three and maybe in a number 10 role as well. He’s the right age and he’s the sort of player we should be looking at. Imagine, if you put him alongside Raphinha, Rodrigo, Harrison etc, that’s pretty formidable.”

The £39k-per-week gem provided 11 goals and six assists in 30 starts for West Brom as they were relegated back down to the Championship. Harrison meanwhile, contributed with eight goals and eight assists for Leeds in the Premier League.

On paper, this appears to suggest the Baggies man is marginally better than Harrison, but when you factor in that Leeds racked up 33 more points than West Brom last season, it paints a different picture.

Imagine what Pereira could do when playing in a team on the front foot and attacking teams, rather than losing week-in-week-out and scraping for draws.

He could flourish in a team playing with confidence and improve upon what Harrison has been able to give the side.

Leeds need to get a move on and get this deal done.

AND in other news, Time to go: Bielsa must ruthlessly axe Leeds flop who doesn’t work “hard enough”…

Transfer deadline day was about as far from seamless as you can get for Everton and Rafa Benitez.

The Toffees were unable to shift high-earner James Rodriguez and therefore, didn’t sign attacking target Luis Diaz.

They also failed to bring in a right-back with Salomon Rondon remaining their final acquisition.

What’s the word?

That being said, you can’t say that Everton didn’t try in the final hours of the market.

According to reports in the Netherlands, they tried to sign Manchester United’s Donny van de Beek who has been extremely limited for game time at Old Trafford. That move didn’t go through but news has emerged that they also tried their luck on a Premier League full-back.

Via The Telegraph’s Mike McGrath, the Merseyside outfit lodged an enquiry with Southampton to sign Kyle Walker-Peters in the final days of the window.

Sadly, the Saints were unwilling to entertain any sort of deal.

Rafa gutted

Considering Walker-Peters was nominated for the Fans’ Player of the Year at St Mary’s last season, it’s hardly unsurprising that Southampton battered away their interest in swift fashion.

However, that eye-catching fact is precisely why Benitez should be gutted to miss out on his services.

With Seamus Coleman’s contract due to expire next summer, the Toffees are in desperate need of finding a younger individual to take his place in under a year’s time.

Everton were interested in a number of right-back’s including Royal Antwerp’s Aurelio Buta and at one stage, it looked as though he would become part of the furniture at Goodison Park.

They missed out on him and also failed to complete a move for Denzel Dumfries who ended up going to Inter Milan for just €12.5m (£10.7m). He was deemed too expensive in a window where Benitez and Marcel Brands were clearly limited financially.

Although Dumfries topped the tree in terms of their options this summer, Walker-Peters would have been an extremely viable alternative.

Throughout last season, the 24-year-old caught the eye with some powerful defensive displays. The English full-back was immense in the tackle, winning 2.8 challenges per game according to WhoScored.

If we head down those at Everton last term, it’s a statistic that would have ranked him second in the squad, only behind the diminutive Allan.

On top of that, he was exciting in forward areas, registering 1.5 dribbles per match. Again, that ranks him second in the Toffees squad. On this occasion, only Richarlison betters him in that area.

With those factors in mind, Benitez will be sad to miss out on him.

AND in other news, “Our information is” – Sky journo makes late Everton claim, Benitez will be gutted…