All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

According to a report by Football Insider, West Ham United and GSB have made contact over potentially signing Dinamo Zagreb forward Mislav Orsic in the summer – with plenty of Irons erupting as this ‘mad’ news emerges.

Orsic, who has bagged an impressive 19 goals in all competitions this season (Transfermarkt), is also attracting interest from Arsenal as FI claim that West Ham could enter a transfer battle over the player.

An Irons source told the outlet that GSB have already made an enquiry for the 28-year-old, coming after he dismantled Tottenham Hotspur in a memorable Europa League tie.

Indeed, the 28-year-old bagged a hat-trick to knock Jose Mourinho’s men out of Europe – with supporters now wowed as links emerge to his possible signing.

One Hammers fan even called the story ‘mad’, and given their interest has only recently came to light following his noteworthy Europa League outing, it could be considered a surprising development.

Find all of their verdicts on the news down below.

West Ham fans erupt over Orsic news

“Madddd”

Credit: @MorganMcginley4

“Do not MESS WITH ME LIKE THIS”

Credit: @NStampar

“GET HIM IN”

Credit: @whuraffa

“Omggggggg”

Credit: @joelitt78828048

“ya beauty”

Credit: @JackkWHU

“Buy buy buy”

Credit: @FrencHammer

“He’d be a superb signing”

Credit: @HoskingsHammers

“bring this man in”

Credit: @SumCalled

In other news: West Ham are also apparently weighing up this £18m-rated ace who Moyes nearly signed, find out more here.

With Celtic’s season essentially done and dusted, they can begin preparing for the next campaign.

It will be a crucial campaign too with the Hoops no doubt aiming to usurp Rangers again. That being said, who will be part of the squad attempting to do just that?

What’s the word?

Jonjoe Kenny is Celtic’s current option at right-back but it looks as though they have other plans to fill that spot in 2021/22.

The Englishman signed on loan in January to replace Jeremie Frimpong but Celtic are now reportedly eyeing a move for a different full-back on a permanent basis.

That happens to be ADO Den Haag defender Milan van Ewijk. Dutch outlet VI reported the news suggesting that the Hoops were one of a number of sides vying for his signature.

German outfits Schalke, Hamburg, and SV Darmstadt are all in the race to land the 20-year-old, as are Gent.

Promising player

Losing Frimpong to Bayer Leverkusen in the January transfer window wasn’t an ideal situation for the Bhoys. The Dutchman was a vibrant young prodigy, one described by Neil Lennon as being the best youngster he’s ever coached.

Though, they could replace him in some style with a move for Van Ewijk. Like Frimpong, he loves to get forward but importantly, he’s significantly more adept defensively than the former Celtic man.

Speaking about his own game, Van Ewijk once said: “I am a fierce right back who can attack well, but also defend and I have a good condition. I can certainly also be found in the front. Last season I also gave a number of assists. I’ll show the rest during the matches.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-celtic-manager-hunt-stories-wagner-marsch-martinez-lennon-news” title=”The last stories on Celtic’s hunt for a new manager!”]

Indeed, we’ve seen as much this term. The young defender has played 24 times for Den Haag, contributing to three goals in the process. His defensive statistics are phenomenal; producing 3.3 successful tackles a match on average. That’s the fifth-highest success rate of anyone in the Dutch top-flight.

His 80 tackles this season are also more than any other player in the Eredivisie. In one instance this term, Van Ewijk made as many as nine clean challenges in a solitary game. It’s a remarkable number, one that reminds us of Ismaila Soro.

The Ivorian is Celtic’s chief operator in that area of the field. Soro has won two tackles per outing in the SPFL, while he possesses a tally of 3.7 challenges a match in the Europa League.

When it comes to breaking up the play, there are few better in the Celtic squad. Thus, just imagine the brute force they could play with if they fielded Soro and Van Ewijk in the same starting XI.

Neither would shy away from a tackle and judging by some of the performances we’ve seen from the Bhoys this term, that can be no bad thing.

AND in other news, Desmond may sway Edouard’s Celtic future by hiring 43 y/o with “a science to football”…

Kiko Casilla’s Leeds United career will come to an end in the near future, according to The Athletic’s Phil Hay.

The 34-year-old made the move to Elland Road back in January 2019, joining from Real Madrid after winning three Champions League crowns with the La Liga giants.

Casilla was a key man during last season’s glorious Championship triumph, starting 36 of Leeds’ 46 league games as the Whites made it back into the Premier League.

The veteran goalkeeper has been far more of a peripheral figure in 2020/21, however, starting only once in the league and playing second fiddle to Illan Meslier.

Hay claims Casilla’s time at Leeds is up

This lack of playing time has raised question marks over Casilla’s long-term future and the reliable Hay believes his time at Elland Road is almost up.

Speaking on the The Phil Hay Show podcast [via MOT Leeds News], the journalist revealed that Leeds will look to replace him in the summer:

“He [Bielsa] was clear on Monday there was no injury to Casilla and that it was a tactical move for want of a better move.

“What it meant is that you had a goalkeeper in Meslier starting who is 21 and you had a keeper on the bench, Elia Caprile, who isn’t even 20 yet. That combination is very rare to see two keepers with such little experience.

“I think it’s been over for Casilla here in real terms since the FA charge and the suspension. My understanding is that he is a player they are thinking of trying to move on this summer. He is a player they would like to replace.

“Casilla was on a very high Championship wage and he would have got an uplift with promotion. It’s not a straightforward move.

“I have never got the impression that Casilla has enjoyed the last year and has found it very difficult, he’s found the tension and the criticism of him hard to handle.”

Transfer Tavern take

It makes perfect sense for Casilla to move on to pastures new this summer, considering Meslier and now even arguably Elia Caprile are ahead of him in the goalkeeping pecking order, after they were named as the ‘keepers in the matchday squad to face West Ham.

He is still at an age where he could be a regular elsewhere, but it seems clear that Marcelo Bielsa is preparing for life without the Spaniard.

In other news, Noel Whelan has slammed one Leeds player’s performance against West Ham. Read about it here.

Many Wolves fans were raging with the performance of striker Fabio Silva after his side’s 1-0 win against Chorley on Friday night.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side advanced to the next round of the FA Cup, but in rather unspectacular fashion, having only managed to record one shot on target against a team five leagues below the Black Country club.

More specifically, it was in the attacking department where scrutiny was deservedly aimed. Fabio Silva was one of those targeted following his £35.6m summer move from FC Porto.

Per Sofascore, Silva failed to register a shot on target, lost all of his aerial duels and did not even attempt a single dribble.

Because of the calibre of opposition, supporters were incensed with the lack of attacking prowess from the Portuguese striker and admitted they had run out of excuses for the new boy.

Fans fume at Silva

“What’s the excuse for Fabio Silva tonight then? Couldn’t trap wind. #wwfc”

Credit: @darbayit

“Silva looks like he belongs in my under 8s team no way is he strong enough for these games. Ducking out of challenges and scared to death. #wwfc”

Credit: @carlmills29

“I’m sorry that’s 2-0 Chorley. Utter garbage. Cutrone and Silva, the worst forward line of all time #wwfc #wolves”

Credit: @davidrcporter

“That performance from Wolves was shocking Fabio Silva needs a loan move ASAP #wwfc”

Credit: @liam93b

“Don’t know what to say about that. Silva awful. Ruddy MOM. Suppose we won. Saints or Arsenal be tough #wwfc”

Credit: @Sandhurstwolf

“Fabio Silva couldn’t trap a bag of cement! #wwfc #CHOWOL”

Credit: @Hayden_Millsy

In other news, 53-goal striker compared to Luis Suarez rejected Wolves before making latest move.

Joe Willock was Steve Bruce’s real hero as the Arsenal loanee made his Newcastle United debut with a goal in victory over Southampton on Saturday afternoon.

The 21-year-old got his time in black and white off to the perfect start by opening the scoring after just 16 minutes, side-footing home Allan Saint-Maximin’s delivery on the Frenchman’s return to the opening line-up.

Miguel Almiron later doubled the Magpies’ lead by drilling the ball goal-bound and in off a Jan Bednarek. But there could be no doubt over his second in first-half stoppage-time, by pouncing on Alex McCarthy’s misdirected pass and slotting the ball into the Saints net.

But, after a sending off for Jeff Hendrick and an unfortunate injury for Fabian Schar, Newcastle were forced to dig in deep and batten down the hatches in order to see out the game with a 3-2 lead and claim only a second win in 13 matches across all competitions.

Willock had featured infrequently in north London this season before joining Newcastle on loan for the remainder of the term, earning the last of his two top-flight starts in November.

Isaac Hayden had urged Willock to now step out of his comfort zone to thrive at St. James’ Park after the Arsenal product sealed his Deadline Day move to Tyneside, having enjoyed the same schooling in the Gunners academy during the midfielder’s youth.

“He is going to add energy and drive to [the] midfield and he is something different to what we have already got in the squad,” Hayden told NUFC TV, via quotes by Chronicle Live. “He can move with the ball well from a deeper position and he has got an eye for a goal as well, so that will certainly be a good addition for us.

“I think he has played 70-odd games for Arsenal’s first-team and you don’t play that many times for Arsenal unless you are a decent player. It is up to him now to step out of his comfort zone and to prove why he wants to play for Arsenal in the future.”

Willock more than made an instant impact under Bruce against Southampton on Saturday, with the £20,000-per-week youngster getting his Newcastle career off the best start possible with a goal and a resolute showing at the other end of the field.

Bruce had searched throughout the mid-season transfer window for a new box-to-box midfielder and certainly seems to have found his answer in United’s Deadline Day addition, who could see his six-month loan lead to a season-long deal next term if he impresses.

Even before Hendrick was shown a second yellow card early in the second half, the Toon were struggling to stay in control of possession and ended Saturday’s win with a mere 25.9% share of the ball, per WhoScored.

Southampton being able to dictate the flow of the game meant Newcastle had to stand up defensively, but Willock accepted that challenge as willing and as comfortably as he scored his goal by running in late to meet Saint-Maximin’s delivery.

The £14.5m-rated youngster made a team-high five attempted tackles against Ralph Hasenhuttl’s visiting side – only Oriol Romeu (6) attempted more for the Saints but, unlike the Spaniard, Willock was successful with 100% of his efforts while his opposing number lost five of his duels.

Willock further made a joint team-high two interceptions to help the Magpies break up Southampton’s game plus two clearances, with defensive trio Hayden (6), Paul Dummett (7) and Emil Krafth (6) the only Toon men to keep things simple in protecting Karl Darlow’s net on more occasions.

Bruce would have also been pleased to see Willock never shy away from taking possession with the England U21 international recording 35 touches – more than £70k-p/w Jonjo Shelvey (28), Hayden (32) and just one shy of Almiron (36). And with the ball at his feet, Willock registered two of Newcastle’s four key passes – creating the same number of chances as Saint-Maximin, who ended the day with a pair of assists.

A debut win could not have gone much better for Willock and while it took Bruce all month to land a new midfielder, he certainly would seem to have struck gold in the Arsenal product.

AND in other news, Steve Bruce should make Joe Willock wait for his Newcastle debut and unleash a “bright spark” on Southampton…

Roy Hodgson has confirmed Crystal Palace will be without Gary Cahill as they play host to Premier League strugglers Sheffield United at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon.

What’s the news?

Speaking ahead of this afternoon’s game, he told reporters, via football.london: “Gary Cahill is still suffering from the slight hamstring problem he picked up 10 days or so ago, but apart from that there’s nothing else to report other than long term injuries which have been well documented by now.”

Cahill has not featured since he suffered a knock during the 7-0 drubbing at the hands of champions Liverpool. This isn’t the first time the former Chelsea defender has had to face adversity, as he has battled his fair share of injury problems over the past couple of years and was forced to miss the start of this season due to injury.

Likely impact?

As the 35-year-old centre-back has started all five of his appearances in the Premier League this season – including the 5-1 win away at West Brom – the timing couldn’t be worse for the Eagles manager with games coming thick and fast over the next few weeks and months.

Cahill’s absence plays havoc with Hodgson’s already depleted selection options, as he joins a growing list of casualties that also includes new summer recruit Nathan Ferguson, Connor Wickham, Martin Kelly and Wayne Hennessey.

Hodgson’s side have so far failed to keep a clean sheet since the 1-0 win over Southampton at the start of the season and the Palace boss will be expected to take the opportunity to rotate his squad as he seeks to stop the rot from spreading further.

It seems the centre-back pairing is certainly up for grabs as Hodgson has switched between Cahill, Cheikhou Kouyate, Scott Dann, James Tomkins and to some extent Mamadou Sakho this season so far.

Ever the consummate professional, Cahill has established himself as an integral part of Hodgson’s side during his time at Selhurst Park, making over 30 appearances for Palace across all competitions so far, via Transfermarkt. When he’s fully fit and firing on all cylinders, he should slot into place alongside any one of the aforementioned quartet at the heart of the defence.

After all, the seasoned veteran has seen it all before in the beautiful game, having experienced the highs of the Champions League with Chelsea to the lows of the Football League.

Once hailed as a “fantastic” beast by the Palace boss, in 25 top-flight appearances last season, Cahill averaged a staggering 4.4 clearances per game, via WhoScored.

Therefore, there’s no doubt it’s a bitter blow for Hodgson not to be able to call upon the services of the vice-captain as Palace prepare to take on Chris Wilder’s side this afternoon.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace can sign their next Wilfried Zaha in Rabbi Matondo…

Many Everton fans have slammed Roy Keane after a video involving the pundit emerged on social media.

Football Daily recently relayed a video involving Roy Keane, who was talking about Everton’s chances of competing for the title on Super Sunday. The former Man Utd midfielder said that teams would need around 80 points to win the league, but he said that fans should ‘forget’ about Everton challenging for the title. He made it clear that he wouldn’t include Everton in the debate for potentially winning the league.

The Toffees are currently at sixth in the Premier League table. They have 32 points in the bag and they find themselves only five points behind league leaders Manchester United. In their previous game, they beat Wolves 2-1 and they’ve won five out of their last six outings in the league (as per Whoscored).

Carlo Ancelotti’s men have generated a non-penalty xG of 1.18 in the Premier League this season and that is the ninth-best tally in the division. Their non-penalty Expected Goals against metric stands at 1.16, which is the ninth-worst in the Premier League (as per FBRef).

The video involving Keane was relayed on Twitter by All Together Now Everton podcast. Many Toffees fans talked about the former midfielder.

What did Everton fans make of this video about Keane?

“Clearly still hasn’t got over Everton turning him down when he was booted out of Old Trafford.”

Credit: @NikolasHeyes

“He speaks about football as if it’s the same as when he played, which a lot of the time is edgy and funny but sometimes it’s just plain embarrassing.”

Credit: @Dan_EFC1878

“Good keep on discounting us we’ll be the ones laughing when we finish in the top four.”

Credit: @Hugodrax0077

“There is a reason why Keane is sitting in the studio & not in the dugout. It’s laughable that he bigs up Brendan Rodgers who has won nothing of note & dismisses Ancelotti who has won everything.”

Credit: @ChrisPerez75

“What would Roy know, he is a failed football manager to be fair.”

Credit: @PaulClews2

“Didn’t Little Everton beat Leicester recently.”

Credit: @jasontgoodall

In other news, Everton reportedly like a Premier League defender – read more about it here.

The Premier League have been put under big pressure amid the takeover dispute with the Newcastle Consortium Supporters Ltd (NCSL).

According to a recent tweet from the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST), chair of the NUST, Greg Tomlinson, spoke with Keith Patterson from the NCSL over the phone, adding that 97% of members of the NUST want the takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium to go ahead.

The NUST added that ‘we will continue to push’ the English top-flight for transparency through the avenues that are available, and also wished the NCSL all the best in terms of their legal dispute with England’s highest division.

What is the next step in the Newcastle takeover?

Indeed, the next step in the ongoing takeover dispute may be that the battle will be taken to a court case involving the EPL and Mike Ashley, as the current owner of the club looks to get approval to sell the club to the KSA-based consortium.

Any sort of time scale as to whether this could occur would not yet been made clear at this moment in time, especially as the country is still trying to fight off the global pandemic, but it looks like the dispute will have to be settled in front of a judge in the near future.

In other news, find out the promising view that a legal expert has given on the takeover here!

According to The Sun, Paul Pogba seems destined for the Manchester United exit after Mino Raiola’s latest outburst.

What’s the word?

Rarely a day goes by without Pogba facing questions about his future at Old Trafford amid links abroad. Pogba’s agent has now added fuel to the fire after claiming his client’s career with the club is over on the eve of United’s crucial Champions League clash with RB Leipzig on Tuesday night.

The outspoken Raiola declared that the Frenchman is unhappy at United and that it would be best for all parties involved if he is allowed to leave as soon as possible.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has a strained relationship with Raiola, dismissed the agent’s fresh dig after the Red Devils were dumped out of the Champions League.

However, it’s claimed that the club’s hierarchy are ready to cut ties with Pogba once and for all, as they are prepared to accept a low asking price to find a buyer for the French World Cup winner.

Keep Pogba at all costs

Solskjaer favours the 4-2-3-1 formation, which utilises two holding midfielders, and if you take the 27-year-old out of the equation, then that system has shown signs of collapsing at any moment.

It’s no secret United have struggled at the back, as they have failed to keep a clean sheet since the turgid 1-0 win over West Brom at Old Trafford.

Pogba starred as the Red Devils fought back to beat West Ham, where they only conceded one goal, but came off the bench for the last 29′ minutes during the defeat to RB Leipzig, so it’s not a coincidence that Solskjaer’s side look more solid with the French international in the team.

His attacking contributions cannot go unnoticed, either, as he has scored one goal in his past two games in all competitions, whilst he tried in vain to alter the game against Julian Nagelsmann’s side earlier this week.

Besides Pogba, the only other options in Donny van de Beek, Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay have their critics, whilst Fred was suspended after he was shown a second yellow card against Paris Saint-Germain, and Bruno Fernandes is more suited to the advanced playmaker position.

Once described as an “outstanding talent” by Roy Keane, in 178 appearances for United, the £72m-rated Frenchman has scored 34 goals and supplied 35 assists, via Transfermarkt.

Ed Woodward simply cannot afford to cave into Raiola’s demands, as it’s unlikely anyone will be able to afford his colossal wages, given the current climate, and the board should do everything within their power to keep hold of the 6 ft 2 in colossus as he is one of the most important players in the squad, as it’s fair to say that they look awful when he’s absent.

Pogba certainly isn’t playing like he doesn’t want to be there, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Manchester United must sanction swoop for Kieran Trippier in the summer…

Glasgow Rangers will look to continue their winning start to the Europa League group stages when they welcome Lech Poznan to Ibrox. Steven Gerrard’s side cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win over Standard Liege last week, with Kemar Roofe scoring one of the best goals in the club’s history.

However, the Light Blues suffered a blow as left-back Borna Barisic limped off the pitch, whilst he was left on the bench for the 2-0 win over Livingston, so it’s unlikely he will be risked on Thursday night.

The Croatia international has arguably been one of the club’s best players ever since he joined the Ibrox outfit back in 2018, having made 10 appearances in the Scottish Premiership this season, scoring one goal and supplying four assists so far, via Transfermarkt.

Whilst Barisic isn’t exactly a player who we would consider to be injury prone, he has picked up his fair share of knocks so far, which has seen him ruled out for several games, and this has given Calvin Bassey the perfect opportunity to stake his claim in the starting line-up.

The Scotsman’s David Oliver claims the 20-year-old “has been shining just fine whenever he’s stepped into the limelight and replaced his Croatian team-mate”, whilst Gerrard heaped praise on his “outstanding” performance against Standard Liege last Thursday.

Gerrard told GlasgowLive: “I thought he was outstanding. For someone who has very little experience. To come into a game of that level and perform like he did. I’m really proud of his performance.”

This season, Bassey has averaged 1.5 tackles per game in the Scottish Premiership so far, whilst Barisic himself is only managing 0.8 tackles per game in the Scottish top flight, via SofaScore.

Another member of the Rangers hierarchy believes that Bassey is a “refreshing change” from Barisic, with assistant manager Gary McAllister giving the Leicester City academy graduate a glowing review for his most recent performance against Livingston.

“It’s about players being competitive. It’s a competitive squad with two players for every position. And when you get an opportunity to grab the jersey that’s what you do – and Calvin Bassey has been really refreshing”, McAllister told Rangers TV, via The Daily Record.

“We’re at home on Thursday and we need to have a strong performance but we just need to trust what we do. We’ve done all our due diligence on them already so we know what they’re about.”

For a reported fee of £230,000, what an absolute bargain the youngster is turning out to be! If he can continue to impress like this, it may not be too long before he is ousting Barisic from the matchday squad.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must return for Sheffield United ace John Lundstram…