All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Queens Park Rangers’ loanee midfielder Stefan Johansen has opened up on his future ahead of the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

Speaking in a recent interview with the QPR website, the Fulham midfielder revealed just how much he has enjoyed his loan spell at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, before claiming that he is unsure what his future holds at present with just one year left remaining on his contract with Scott Parker’s side.

He said: “It’s been brilliant, from day one I have felt so welcome. It’s been such an easy group to come into, they are a great bunch of lads and I have really enjoyed my time here.

“Personally, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have one more year on my contract at Fulham, but, without doubt, I can say how much I enjoyed my time here.”

Warburton must seal deal

Having only linked up with Mark Warburton’s side in the January transfer window, the impact Johansen has had on the Hoops has been quite sensational.

Over the 30-year-old’s 21 Championship appearances for QPR, the £1.8 million-rated man scored four goals, provided two assists and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 0.8 interceptions, 1.1 tackles and 1.6 key passes per game, culminating in a highly impressive average SofaScore match rating of 7.00 – ranking him as the Rs’ sixth-best performer in the second tier this season.

The arrival of the £8,000-per-week Norway international also coincided with a remarkable upturn in form at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, with Warburton’s side winning 12, drawing two and losing seven of the 21 games in which Johansen featured for the club – results which left QPR sitting in fourth place in the league standings over this specific time frame.

As such, a deal to bring the midfielder – whom Ronny Deila dubbed an “outstanding” player – back to the club this summer should very much be a priority for Warburton, as it would seem as if Johansen could well play a major role in QPR’s potential push to secure a play-off place next season.

Indeed, many of the R’s faithful appear to be desperate for their side to make a permanent move for the 30-year-old this summer, with one claiming that Johansen should be the club’s “number one target” in the upcoming transfer window, while another seemed to speak on behalf of the fanbase by stating: “We want you to stay!”

QPR should listen to these fans and do all they can to keep Johansen at the club for next season.

In other news: Bhatia must not cash in on £7.1k-p/w QPR gem this summer, he’s crucial to Warburton – opinion

Leeds United duo Luke Ayling and Patrick Bamford have made ‘really encouraging’ returns from injury, according to journalist Phil Hay.

The Lowdown: Key Leeds pair return to action

The Whites have had make do without the influential pair since the middle of September, with injuries striking both of them down.

Both Ayling and Bamford made hugely pleasing returns to action on Monday evening, though, playing for Leeds’ under-23s in their 3-2 defeat to Manchester City.

The right-back came off at half-time and the striker played the full match, with both looking set to play a big part in the first team’s busy December schedule.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375277″]

The Latest: Hay in positive spirits

Taking to Twitter after Monday’s game, Hay admitted that it was “really encouraging to see” the duo back on the pitch, his tweet accompanied by an article for The Athletic which outlined ‘how Ayling can help to revive one of Leeds’ core strengths and why Bamford is inevitably missed’.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side host Crystal Palace in the Premier League tonight, and while that match will surely come too soon for the returning pair, they could hopefully feature at home to Brentford on Sunday.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-25/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=“none”]

The Verdict: Major boost for Whites

Put simply, Leeds aren’t the same team without Ayling and Bamford around, with both proving to be pivotal figures in recent campaigns.

The former provides constant energy from right-back, not to mention leadership having captained the Whites in the past, while the latter’s goals have been missed hugely. He netted 17 in the top flight last season; Leeds have managed just seven in the eight matches he has missed since getting injured at Newcastle in mid-September.

Bamford also has the ability to bring the best out in others, dropping deep to link up with team-mates and creating space in behind for the wingers.

Leeds need to get their season going after a slow start, and the impending returns of Ayling and Bamford could be exactly the spark for a winter revival.

In other news, Danny Mills has been critical of one Leeds player’s impact. Find out who it is here.

Many West Ham United fans were critical of the “non-existent” Said Benrahma during their Premier League clash with Burnley on Sunday afternoon. 

The Irons were looking to move three points clear of Manchester United in the race for the top four by following up their 3-2 victory over Chelsea with another win today.

David Moyes made two changes from the side which beat the title-chasing Blues, with two injured players dropping out. Ben Johnson gave way to Arthur Masuaku, scorer of the winning goal last weekend, and Kurt Zouma was replaced by Benrahma as Moyes moved away from a 3-4-2-1 and to a 4-2-3-1.

The Algerian had started every league game in 2021/22 before being benched against Chelsea after a four game run without a goal or assist (via Transfermarkt).

The numbers behind Benrahma’s struggles

Benrahma’s SofaScore rating of 6.3/10 was among the lowest in the West Ham ranks. He lost four of his seven duels, completed only one of his four dribbles and was also guilty of missing a ‘big chance’.

Indeed, Sky Sports’ live commentary on the match pointed out how he got into some fantastic positions in the final third against the Clarets but let himself down with some wayward finishing before being substituted for Nikola Vlasic in the 70th minute with the teams still tied at 0-0.

These West Ham fans rip into Benrahma

“Benrahma has been so poor yet again”

Credit: @TheHammers_

“Antonio and Benrahma are embarrassing themselves tonight”

Credit: @_danieluker

“Benrahma has been pants recently, doesn’t seem to want to beat anyone”

Credit: @danwestham1

“Benrahma makes me sick”

Credit: @poshboyh

“Benrahma loves to take an extra 16 touches before trying to play a pass”

Credit: @DanJames9121

“Benrahma been non-existent”

Credit: @Irons_Stuff

In other news, West Ham are willing to meet the asking price for this transfer target

2021 has been a frustrating year for Sunderland as they ended another League One campaign without promotion back to the second tier.

Lee Johnson’s side were unable to fight their way back to the Championship and are currently battling through the 2021/22 season in hope of finally achieving their goal.

They currently sit third in the table after 22 games and have put themselves in an excellent position as 2021 comes to a close. Johnson’s men were also able to make it to the quarter-finals of the League Cup in 2021, losing 5-1 to Premier League side Arsenal recently as they failed to make it to the last four.

It remains to be seen what 2022 will bring for the club and its supporters, but we do know what has happened in 2021 so far.

So, take our massive, bumper, Sunderland quiz of 2021 and see if you can get 100% – only true Black Cats fans will get all of them right!

Reports by Gol Digital earlier this week claimed that Sevilla are holding out for Joan Jordan’s full release clause, but David Moyes should urge West Ham United to break the bank to sign a second Tomas Soucek-type this summer.

Jordan is one of the key pillars of Julen Lopetegui’s side in La Liga, with his ability to connect the midfield and offence unparalleled at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

But his efforts have sparked European-wide interest ahead of the summer transfer window, with the Irons one of five clubs understood to be presenting serious curiosity.

Serie A title-hopefuls AC Milan are said to be Jordan’s best option should he leave Andalusia at the end of the season, as the Rossoneri are likely to remain keen despite seeing a €30m (£25.5m) approach snubbed as they strive to build a squad ready for the Champions League.

Sevilla would be expected to reject a similar approach in the future, with the side who were eliminated from the Champions League in the Round of 16 earlier this month now intent on demanding that Jordan’s full €60m (£51.5m) release clause is triggered.

A sum in that region is expected to force only the top clubs to show a formal interest in the next transfer window, yet Inter Milan, AS Roma and the Irons are all listed as potential destinations for the 26-year-old.

Jordan has been a mainstay of Lopetegui’s plans so far this season, starting 20 of his 25 La Liga outings and featuring in a total 40 games across all competitions.

The RCD Espanyol product has offered Sevilla two goals and seven assists over his appearances to date, to register his highest single-season return of goals created in his career and help to take his goal contribution for the club to 14 in the past two seasons combined.

West Ham triggering Jordan’s release clause would see the midfielder become the London Stadium natives’ new record signing, eclipsing the £45m paid to Eintracht Frankfurt for Sebastien Haller in 2019.

But Moyes should urge David Sullivan, Karren Brady and David Gold to fund a lavish outlay to bring Jordan to West Ham, as the Sevilla star would offer him a second Soucek-type after the Czech Republic international’s successful adaptation to the Premier League.

Jordan is recognised for his ability to make late and dangerous runs in the opponent’s box to offer a forward threat, much more akin to the traditional English style of a box-to-box option that the tiki-taka template that has flourished in Spain, after growing up watching and learning from the way Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard operated.

“I remember watching quite a lot of Lampard when I was growing up, he was a top, top, top player,” Jordan told The Athletic in December. “What really sticks is how the way he arrived late into the box, that was spectacular. It is something very difficult, that he made look easy.

“I remember Steven Gerrard, too, talking about the Premier League. He and Lampard were standout players, especially when they got forward, arriving from the second line. I always looked at all the little details I could, from many different players, to become a more complete player myself.”

“I like to have plenty of space and freedom, to help in attack but I always like to defend and help my teammates,” he added. “Football is evolving, and everyone has to run, everyone has to sacrifice themselves and adapt to different functions that a coach asks for.”

Making those intelligent runs into the area and offering a box-to-box presence is just what Moyes gets from Soucek, who is West Ham’s top-scorer in the Premier League this season with eight goals.

The 26-year-old is also lauded by Jamie Carragher for being the best at what he does, as “there’s nobody better in the Premier League right now than Soucek”, but he could face competition for that honour with Jordan also in the squad.

AND in other news, West Ham in four-way Premier League battle for 13-goal striker who is “annoying to the defender”…

Plenty of Aston Villa fans have been giving their thoughts on a possible big-money move for Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham on social media.

Dean Smith and John Terry remain huge admirers of the former Villa loanee, according to the Birmingham Mail.

Abraham’s Chelsea struggles under Tuchel

Abraham has only started three league games under Thomas Tuchel, with the new Blues boss preferring Olivier Giroud to the Englishman. The 23-year-old has still managed to net 12 times in all competitions this season, though, with his current Stamford Bridge deal running until 2023.

The Birmingham Mail asked Football.London’s Chelsea reporter Adam Newson all about Abraham and the possibility of a return to the Midlands materialising.

Newson believes that any deal for Abraham would have to exceed the £28m Villa spent on Ollie Watkins last summer and would depend on Chelsea bringing in a striker of their own.

Villa fans react

@AVFC_News shared the Q&A with Newson on Twitter, asking supporters if they would like to see Abraham arrive in a club-record deal.

Here is what these Villa fans had to say in response, with one labelling Abraham as the ‘perfect’ player to feature alongside Watkins and Jack Grealish.

“Without doubt! Young, hungry, natural finisher, works hard, perfect to go up alongside Ollie and Jack!!”

Credit: @StevieHanks

“In a heartbeat!”

Credit: @AVillan55378820

“YES, absolutely”

Credit: @OTriane

“YES!”

Credit: @LasseMange

“100% – no brainer”

Credit: @GarethJDTrax

“I’d sign him up but need a few more players on top”

Credit: @Paul79822179

In other news: Villa handed potential transfer boost due to Premier League giants’ interest in £50m-valued star, find out more here. 

Celtic enjoyed a comfortable afternoon in the Premiership as they strolled to a routine 2-0 win on Sunday to send them six points clear at the top of the table.

Kyogo Furuhashsi opened the scoring in the first half and then Jota, who set up the first goal, sealed the three points with an 87th-minute strike.

The Hoops dominated the match as they ended the game with 74% of the ball and 22 efforts on goal, with Ross County fortunate that they only conceded twice.

Whilst Jota scored and assisted a goal in the match, the real star of the show for Ange Postecoglou was central defender Cameron Carter-Vickers.

It is easy to point at the attackers and praise them for scoring the goals to win the match but all of their work is built on the back of a strong platform. The solid defence allows the likes of Jota and Kyogo to go and do what they want to do without worrying about constantly needing to drop deep to win the ball back – allowing the opposition to press up on them.

Carter-Vickers was outstanding in central defence as he stood strong at the back and was reliable in possession. He played a major role in Celtic’s dominance throughout the game and the forwards should be thanking him for making their lives easier.

As per SofaScore, he won 85.7% (6/7) of his individual duels and made five clearances, one interception and one block to help his side to a clean sheet. This shows that he was superb defensively as he won the vast majority of his battles with Ross County players and did not allow himself to be beaten by the opposition – keeping them away from Joe Hart’s goal.

On the ball, he completed 85% of his passes from 62 touches and created one chance from centre-back. He is not expected to do anything special in possession from his position but Postecoglou will be delighted with his assuredness on the ball.

The £20k-per-week defender continues to impress at the heart of the defence and fans will surely be wanting to see him back at Parkhead next season on a permanent basis.

In the Premiership this season, the on-loan Tottenham man has averaged a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.36 across 29 matches. Celtic have kept 16 clean sheets in those games and the latest one came with the help of his sublime display against Ross County on Sunday.

AND in other news, Source: Celtic on course to seal “immense” summer signing, Ange will be buzzing…

West Brom could be heading for an absolutely unforgivable disaster amid reports that star man Matheus Pereira is unhappy over his current contract.

According to The Athletic’s Steve Madeley, the Brazilian playmaker has cut a frustrated figure on the training pitch since earning promotion to the top-flight with the Baggies last season.

He claims that this is down to the terms over a potential new deal.

“From his point of view, his eight goals and 16 assists in last season’s Championship made him worthy of a hefty salary increase and a contract befitting a star player,” wrote Madeley.

“From the club’s standpoint, they had taken on a player who was out of favour at Sporting, given him a chance in English football, enabled him to get to the Premier League and honoured a deal he had agreed to a year earlier.”

Indeed, this is rather a perplexing stance for Albion’s hierarchy, namely sporting and technical director Luke Dowling, to take.

Pereira is undeniably the best player at the Hawthorns in recent times and despite the step-up in quality and poor form of the Baggies, he has still proven to be more influential than anyone else.

Building on that tally of eight goals and 16 assists, the attacking midfielder, who is valued at a whopping €30m (£27m) by CIES, has already contributed towards another five goals in all competitions this term.

In the Premier League, no other West Brom regular has managed more assists and he is also managing over double the number of average key passes per game than any other player too, via WhoScored.

If you took out his two key passes per game, Sam Allardyce’s side would be completely void of ideas in attack as Matty Phillips ranks next best having averaged a mediocre 0.9 key passes per game himself.

Pereira was lauded as an “absolute steal” upon his arrival by Portuguese football journalist Tom Kundert, whilst ex-Nurnburg coach Nate Weiss dubbed him a “genius” who “who has a technical ability that I have never even seen before.”

That is exactly why Pereira’s stance over a lucrative extension is the right one, and why Dowling is completely in the wrong to hold back.

It’s only going to risk his long-term future at the club, and given they are sat second-from-bottom in the Premier League, they need their star man firing happily on all cylinders

The Telegraph believe the £9m signing is currently on around £30k-per-week, which would put him behind both Charlie Austin (£55k-per-week) and Kenneth Zohore (£50k-per-week via The Sun, 13th September, page 61), neither of which are even at the club right now.

Therefore, not giving him what he quite rightly earns is playing with fire. That could come back to bite later down the line.

AND in other news, £10.8m-rated “nightmare” at risk of becoming another Nacer Chadli…

When Kieran Tierney left Celtic two years ago it was a disappointing moment for everyone associated with the Bhoys.

The Hoops were losing one of their academy gems as the might of the English football once again came calling for one of their best players.

It’s been a recurring theme at Parkhead down the years and it could strike them down again when the window opens next month.

Odsonne Edouard is close to a move to Leicester while Kristoffer Ajer has been watched by Newcastle scouts ahead of a potential switch south of the border.

The duo could rake in pretty handsome fees but Kieran Tierney may still pocket Celtic a hefty sum as well.

That’s because of a shrewd piece of negotiating from Peter Lawwell.

It’s not often you can say that about the Celtic CEO but in selling Tierney to Arsenal for £25m, it included a 15% sell-on fee.

That means that if the Gunners ever sell him, they could receive a tidy windfall in return.

The good news for Celtic is that the Scotland international has been so impressive in Arsenal colours.

He’s become one of their most important players, proving to be a rampant force down the left-hand side with his relentless energy.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-celtic-manager-and-transfer-news-howe-favre-mcgregor-mccann-tierney” title=”Read the latest Celtic manager and transfer news!”]

The left-back is second for key passes per match at the Emirates Stadium and has contributed to four goals throughout the current campaign.

Tierney has caught the eye so much that in some circles, they’re touting him to be worth over £50m.

Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show this week, Barry Ferguson said: “What would you have to pay for a Kieran Tierney?  I’m talking £60-£70 million and I don’t care what anybody says. If somebody wants to call in and argue about it.”

He continued: “He’s Arsenal’s top player. He’s not just Scotland’s top player. He’s so important to Mikel Arteta. He was injured there for what, four or five weeks. Only trained that week and he was straight in the team. That’s how important he is.”

Therefore, if Tierney does indeed leave north London, he could fetch Celtic as much as £10.5m.

That would be a very handy boost to the transfer budget at Paradise, especially with the Bhoys needing a mass overhaul in order to achieve parity with Rangers.

As many as 12 players could depart Parkhead this summer so Celtic chiefs will need all the money they can get their hands on in order to rebuild the squad.

The idea of a big fee arriving for a player who has already departed should have the likes of Dominic McKay and Dermot Desmond grinning from ear to ear.

AND in other news, Forget Hickey: McKay can save Celtic millions by unleashing “tricky” rarely-seen 18y/o…

Everton are reportedly the main contenders to sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the summer transfer window.

The Lowdown: Kvaratskhelia catching the eye

Kvaratskhelia is certainly a player that is quickly catching the eye of many clubs around Europe – he was heavily linked with Leeds last month.

The Rubin Kazan winger is very good with the ball at his feet, so much so that his playing style has even been compared to Lionel Messi, which is certainly something that the Goodison Park faithful can be excited about.

The Latest: Everton main contenders

As per Soccer.ru, Kvaratskhelia does not want to move to Zenit St. Petersburg, and the Merseyside club are currently the main contenders to sign him, although Napoli and AC Milan could also join the race from previous interest.

Nonetheless, a top winger is something that Carlo Ancelotti will surely be looking at in the window, and Kvaratskhelia certainly fits the bill.

The Verdict: Everton must sign Kvaratskhelia

If the Toffees want to climb up the table in the Premier League for next season, then Kvaratskhelia, who is currently valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt, could well be the difference in the hunt to qualify for European qualification if they fall short this campaign.

The Georgia international has scored four goals and made a further eight assists in 23 games in total over all competitions in the 2020/21 term (Transfermarkt), which is a good return for a wide player, and at just 20 years of age, he will only get better.

Nonetheless, Kvaratskhelia is a player that the Blues should not be passing up on, with several top sides in Europe clearly impressed by his quick feet and sky-high potential.

In other news, find out what European Super League update has got EFC fans talking here!