All posts by n8rngtd.top

Celtic continue to have their hat thrown into the ring as talks of new recruits swirl around the January transfer market. One of their latest links sees them in the running for Preston North End midfielder Ben Pearson as Neil Lennon hopes to bolster his options in the middle of the park.

The Hoops have severely lacked creativity this half of the season and as a result, have been knocked off their perch atop of the Premiership table. Runaway leaders Rangers now dominate the stats and have forced a mammoth 20-point gap between them and the reigning champions.

Additionally, with the likes of Mohamed Elyounoussi only on loan from Southampton and Odsonne Edouard linked to a move away, now is the time for Nick Hammond to prioritise new creative signings.

Would Ben Pearson fit in at Celtic?

Although Pearson isn’t always directly involved in the goals Preston score, he has shown promising statistics in the engine room. According to Sofascore, the 26-year-old’s main strength is his positioning, which will help keep Celtic tight and compact in the heart of the squad.

Pearson also averaged an 88% passing accuracy in his last three appearances, more than Scott Brown’s more disappointing 72%. Indeed, the PNE man has actually been tipped as a candidate to succeed the Hoops captain, who is nearing the end of his current Celtic tenure.

Speaking to Football Insider, Noel Whelan admitted that he could be the right person to replace the ageing skipper.

“Watch this space because he [Pearson] has been linked with Celtic,” the pundit said. “If there is an imminent move on the cards it is going to happen this week or next, that is for sure.”

Pearson is currently valued at £1.4million, which wouldn’t require Peter Lawwell to break the bank in order to sign him. Neil Lennon could work his magic on the midfielder and turn him into real Celtic talisman. He has already shown he can develop players like David Turnbull and Ismaila Soro, so Pearson could be an exciting new asset for this struggling Glaswegian side.

In other news, Celtic must avoid making any further moves to sign Tom Ince…

Having scored against St Mirren, Glasgow Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos once again finds himself at the centre of attention, but that doesn’t that the board should forget about Kai Kennedy.

What’s the word?

The highly-regarded Rangers teenager has been tipped for the top by former SFA performance director Malky Mackay but his contract is set to expire at the end of the current season, which has cast doubt over his future at Ibrox.

According to The Daily Record, Light Blues boss Steven Gerrard has made it clear to Inverness Caledonian Thistle that they can keep Kennedy until the end of the season but only if he commits his future to the club.

Currently plying his trade on loan at Inverness Caley Thistle, John Robertson has claimed he would love to keep the highly-rated 18-year-old as part of his squad: “We have spoken to Rangers and they have given us the scenario they see going forward.

“His future with them, first and foremost, is the key thing that has to be discussed between Rangers and the player.

“Until that is sorted we have to wait and see, as he is a Rangers player.

“They have told us if he signs a new deal they are quite happy for him to remain here this season.

“Until he does that, it is up for grabs.

“That hasn’t been done at the moment, so we will just crack on for the next couple of games before contacting Rangers again to find out what the situation is.”

It’s also claimed Kennedy is close to reaching an agreement with his boyhood club that would extend his current deal having been embroiled in a dispute with Ibrox bosses over a purported lack of game time.

But Ross Wilson can’t afford to leave anything to chance, as Manchester City, Roma and Bayern Munich were reportedly keeping close tabs on his situation after contract talks reached an impasse in September.

Forget Morelos, Kennedy is the future

While Morelos has been linked with a move away from Rangers in recent months – reports have even suggested Lille tried to lure him away from Ibrox in the last transfer window – losing Kennedy would arguably be an even greater blow.

He has been courted by some of Europe’s biggest clubs after bursting onto the scene whilst playing for Rangers in the Alkass Cup victory in 2017.

The talented teen has long been earmarked as one to watch for the future – he’s already bagged two assists for Rangers reserves.

And now, Kennedy has played a key part in Caley Thistle’s campaign in the Championship as Robertson’s side bid to avoid relegation to the Scottish League One this season – scoring one goal in eight games so far, via Transfermarkt. He isn’t an unproven academy prospect any longer, he’s starting to show glimpses of his obvious talents.

It’s no wonder, then, that even Gerrard has been impressed by the uncapped Scotland U21 international, with the Ibrox boss describing him as an “outstanding” dynamo after a string of impressive performances.

This is precisely why Wilson can’t afford to lose Kennedy. He’s a local lad who possesses lots of untapped potential in a similar nod to his forbearers Barry Ferguson and Steven Naismith before him.

AND in other news, Steven Gerrard dealt huge blow as Rangers midfielder Scott Arfield ruled out of Old Firm clash…

West Ham United target Oleksandr Zinchenko gave David Moyes plenty of reasons to walk away from a potential deal for the Manchester City left-back, by producing a shaky display in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup semi-final win over rivals Manchester United.

Pep Guardiola kept the 24-year-old in his starting line-up for the midweek meeting at Old Trafford, having recalled Zinchenko for Sunday’s win at Chelsea after more than two months out of the Sky Blues’ Premier League side.

Reliable insider ExWHUemployee revealed last month that Zinchenko was a potential target for the London Stadium outfit in the January transfer window after Moyes lost Arthur Masuaku for the foreseeable following knee surgery, while reports claimed Guardiola is open to offers.

Man City were believed to be prepared to listen to bids for Zinchenko this month after initially falling out of favour at the Etihad Stadium, with Southampton and Leicester City also keen to monitor the former Wolverhampton Wanderers target’s situation.

Zinchenko now appears to be back in Guardiola’s good backs after two successive starts across all competitions for the first time since October, yet was far from the star of the show as the Citizens secured their place in the Carabao Cup final.

The £18m-rated left-back endured more than his fair share of shaky moments up against Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, with Zinchenko often lacking the physical presence needed to contain Manchester United’s right-sided options.

He struggled to contain Anthony Martial at set-pieces, too, but produced a bright moment in the 24th-minute to feed Phil Foden through to score, only to see the strike ruled out for offside.

All in all, Zinchenko ended the night with success in just one of his eight combined duels for a measly success rate of 12%, having lost each of his three battles on the ground and four of his five aerial contests, per SofaScore.

He additionally lost possession 12 times, failed to complete his only attempted dribble, made no successful tackles, was dribbled past twice, recorded no clearances or blocked shots and registered just one interception.

The defender was often safe in possession with 79 completed passes from 89 attempts having seen the ball frequently for 102 touches, but struggled to offer any real accuracy at range with six of his nine long balls failing to find a teammate.

Zinczenko’s performance will have offered Moyes plenty of reasons why West Ham should walk away from any interest in the Ukraine international, should the former Manchester United boss look to acquire a new left-back to replace Masuaku.

AND in other news: “Problem in the dressing room” – Exclusive: Pundit issues stark warning on £9m-rated West Ham target…

Gary Mabbutt, while speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, has claimed Eric Dier “could be the general” in Jose Mourinho’s defence at Chelsea on Sunday after Tottenham Hotspur confirmed Toby Alderweireld will be out for the next two to four weeks.

Mourinho confirmed Alderweireld faces a potential month on the sidelines after the Belgian sustained a muscular injury in the 81st-minute of Spurs’ 2-0 victory at home to Manchester City last weekend.

The Portuguese tactician was fearful of a prolonged absence for the 31-year-old he has called on to play 10 times across all competitions this term, but further assessment earlier in the week revealed the blow was not as serious as first thought.

“He has a muscular injury but not as big as we initially thought,” said Mourinho, via quotes by the Daily Mail. “He’ll have his time to be out but not like a month, which was immediately what we thought. I would say between two and four weeks.”

While Alderweireld will be a loss for Tottenham at Chelsea on Sunday, Mabbutt is confident Dier can step up in the absence of his Belgian defensive partner and offer Mourinho the experienced product he will need beside summer signing Joe Rodon.

“Having Joe alongside him will give Eric the chance to actually work with Joe to make him the player I believe he can become. So, it was great opportunity to get that defence sorted out, and Eric Dier could be the general in there. And obviously bringing in Joe would be a good opportunity,” Mabbutt told Football FanCast.

Dier has been a regular of Mourinho’s plans this term, with the England international opening all eight of his Premier League appearances and playing the full 90 minutes in September’s EFL Cup win over rivals Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Mourinho is yet to put the same faith behind Rodon, who he signed from Swansea City for an initial £11million rising to £15m this summer, with the 11-cap Wales international featuring for just nine top-flight minutes while being ineligible in Europe.

Dier has stood out in the Tottenham backline with a defensive-high eight interceptions, 44 clearances and 23 aerial duels won, while being dribbled past the least (3) and blocking the second-most shots (7) so far in the Premier League this season, per SofaScore.

The 26-year-old has struggled to record successful tackles with just three to his name – five fewer than Alderweireld and a third of Davinson Sanchez’s total – and Mourinho will need to rely on Dier performing above those levels should he hand Rodon his first career start in the Premier League against his former employer Chelsea.

Frank Lampard’s Stamford Bridge natives ranked seventh among all top-flight sides for shots taken per league game at home this season (13.3) and fourth for shots on target (5.8), per WhoScored.

AND in other news, Spurs are in the hunt for a gem who “can do everything” and might not cost Daniel Levy a penny.

Glasgow Rangers secured a top seed place in Monday’s Europa League last 32 draw after Steven Gerrard’s side beat Lech Poznan in Poland on Thursday night to win Group D.

The Light Blues need to match or better Benfica’s result against Standard Liege to finish top of the group, and they passed with flying colours as goals from Cedric Itten and Ianis Hagi gave them the deserved victory.

Itten opened the scoring before half-time and Hagi scored his first goal since August after Connor Goldson’s header hit the bar to double the lead.

The 22-year-old has copped a fair amount of stick in recent months but put in a performance to remember on Thursday night.

Per SofaScore, the Romania international received a high rating of 8 out of ten for his efforts – he took 50 touches of the ball, three shots on target, provided 25 out of 31 passes, produced two key passes, won five out of his seven duels overall, and was fouled twice.

Glasgow Live gave Hagi a grade of 7/10, claiming he ‘made sure Goldson’s header cross the line and grew in confidence as the game went’, whilst The Daily Record awarded him with a similar score, insisting he ‘has been operating on the fringes of late but given an opportunity to shine as part of a three-pronged attack and was unlucky not to score with deflected shot before nodding home the second goal.’

In 20 appearances for the Gers, the attacking midfielder has scored two goals and supplied eight assists in all competitions, via Transfermarkt, whilst he is averaging 2 shots and 1.7 key passes per game, as per WhoScored.

Hagi has arguably struggled to hit the ground running at times since making the move permanent in the summer, having started just three out of six games in the Europa League so far this season.

But it’s fair to say that this was a big step in the right direction and will have gone some way towards silencing any lingering doubts about his obvious talent, as he mustered more shots on target than any other player on the pitch.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers striker Cedric Itten was Gerrard’s hero vs Lech Poznan…

Manchester City secured their place in the Champions League knockout stages with a 1-0 win against Olympiakos on Wednesday night but Pep Guardiola may be most happy with the performance of John Stones.

The England international was handed a rare start by the Spanish manager, and although it was a game which was completely dominated by the Citizens, he performed his job admirably when called upon.

The former Everton man has started just one game in the Premier League so far this season but has been more of a regular in the Champions League, having started two and appeared as a substitute in two of their four games thus far.

After an impressive display in the reserve fixture, in which he earned a strong 7.08 rating for his display, he was rewarded with another start against Pedro Martins’ side, and helped the Citizens to another clean sheet; picking up a 7.37 rating for his display (per WhoScored).

Following his performance in the 3-0 win, Guardiola was full of praise for him in his post-match interview, saying:

“It was really good, especially Nathan for the beginning and from John. He’s back at his level with an incredible performance – almost perfect – and it is not easy when you are a long time without playing.

“I am so delighted for his mentality, he played really good.” (per Bitter and Blue)

It was an imperious display from Stones, with the Olympiakos forwards failing to trouble him and his centre-back partner Ruben Dias during the 90 minutes.

As per SofaScore, the 26-year-old picked up a strong 7.3 rating for his display, which was the joint-second best of any Manchester City player during the game.

The Englishman was extremely assured with his passing during the game, as 50/58 of his passes found their mark, resulting in a strong pass accuracy rate of 86%.

He also lost possession on just eight occasions during the game, whilst two out of four of his long balls found a Manchester City shirt.

However, we have always known that Stones has been confident on the ball, so it was perhaps the battling aspect of his display that will have pleased Guardiola the most.

Of the five duels the centre-back was involved in during the game, he won 100% of them, in what was a completely dominant display from the defender.

It would be a surprise to see him keep Aymeric Laporte out of the team for Premier League games, but Stones has certainly shown himself to be a reliable option for Guardiola when called upon so far this campaign.

AND in other news… Manchester City made a huge error in selling “very quick” centre-back in 2018

Celtic fans will have breathed a sigh of relief after finally registering a win on Sunday. The Hoops had hit a huge slump in form that stemmed from their defeat to Rangers at Celtic Park last month. Despite being held by Aberdeen in the Premiership, the holding league champions came back with a vengeance in the Scottish Cup.

Thanks to Ryan Christie and Mohamed Elyounoussi, Celtic banked the win over the Dons and they head into the final of the competition. Whilst morale will be high in camp, Neil Lennon has some tricky decisions to make moving forwards.

Neil Lennon dilemma

Star striker Odsonne Edouard has returned to the pitch but has yet to make an impact since being ruled out with coronavirus. Recent comments made by the player could suggest that his future lies elsewhere, too. This will undoubtedly be resting heavy on Lennon’s mind as he decides which players to prioritise in this tricky season.

Elyounoussi has been in superb form for the Hoops but hasn’t been a regular starter. The Southampton loanee has been benched twice in the league this season and left out completely on one occasion against St Mirren. Despite his impressive goal return of seven and an additional four assists so far, it doesn’t seem Lennon is completely convinced as he continues to rotate his squad (via Transfermarkt).

Similarly, Leigh Griffiths has made big impacts coming off the bench this term. The 30-year-old hasn’t been on the right side of the manager recently after being subject to comments on his weight and fitness. However, Griffiths has outlined that he is keen to push on and break into the club’s top 20 goal scorers.

He has been out for some of the season with a calf injury but since his return, the striker has netted two goals in three games, both in substitute appearances.

Albian Ajeti is another contender to start in Lennon’s seemingly ever-changing lineup. Despite starting against Lille and getting himself an assist, the Swiss man was benched for the Aberdeen clash. Not to mention Patryk Klimala, who has been paired up with Elyounoussi as of late, but left out for Celtic’s last three matches (via Sofascore).

With five key players fighting for a place in the squad, now isn’t the time to be experimenting. Lennon needs to decide on a reliable attack that will see the Hoops over the line this season, or too many mistakes could hand Rangers the title.

In other news, Neil Lennon must not ignore recent pledge from Leigh Griffiths…

Not that you’d know it, but Glenn Middleton may have already played his last game for Glasgow Rangers, having fallen even further down the pecking order at Ibrox after Steven Gerrard summer spending spree.

What’s the story?

According to Football Insider, Middleton has been deemed surplus to requirements having been frozen out of the first-team squad.

Sources told the outlet that Gerrard had agreed for the winger to go out again on loan this season in the summer, but a move failed to materialise.

Rangers are currently enjoying a 20-game unbeaten run, dating back to the 1-0 win away at Aberdeen at the start of the season. However, the 20-year-old hasn’t made a single appearance for the senior squad this season, despite the fact he played 28 games during Gerrard’s debut season at Ibrox, scoring five goals and supplying five assists.

End of the road

Since then, the outcast has struggled to make much of an impression, as he has been completely cast aside after the arrivals of Cedric Itten and Kemar Roofe in the summer – only for his own exit to fail to materialise.

Without wanting to sound too dramatic, it seems Middleton has hit a crossroads in his career. He can’t get anywhere near the squad at the moment, with Brandon Barker, Ryan Kent, Jordan Jones, Ianis Hagi, Itten, Roofe, Joe Aribo and even Scott Arfield all starting out wide in recent weeks.

Not for the first time, the Norwich City academy product, who has predominantly played on the left wing in the past, faces an uncertain future, having spent brief spells on loan at Bradford City and Hibernian FC.

Once hailed as a “terrific finisher” by the Ibrox boss, Middleton failed to register a single goal or assist in all competitions during his unsuccessful stints with Bradford and Hibernian respectively.

He burst onto the scene as a teenager but needs to get some minutes under his belt to continue his development as a player, which is something that Gerrard has been unable to provide. At any rate, it’s hard to imagine him starting ahead of the ever-reliable Ryan Kent on the left wing, which is his preferred position.

Scotland U21 boss Scot Gemmill has recently admitted he is frustrated by the situation , via the Daily Record. Maybe it’d be best for all parties involved if the Bears cut their losses and found a new club for the once highly-rated prodigy as he needs to be given opportunities to fulfil his obvious potential.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must give Connor Goldson a bumper new deal in Nikola Katic’s absence…

A seven-figure transfer fee, a relegation to his name and now a surprise omission from Slaven Bilic’s matchday squad.

Things aren’t going to plan for Kieran Gibbs at West Brom.

The 31-year-old was sent off against Everton last month and despite being eligible to return against Burnley on Monday night, the Albion boss instead started Conor Townsend and named Dara O’Shea on the bench.

“It was selection. With Dara, we can cover both positions as a full-back. With Kieran, of course, he is a quality player and I expect him to prove in training like every other guy in the squad and only the performance in training will get players closer to the starting XI or the bench,” said Bilic after the 0-0 draw.

The Baggies recorded their first clean sheet of the season, so the veteran left-back may find it even more difficult to break back into the lineup, so perhaps there’s more to this than meets the eye.

Gibbs cost the Midlands outfit £7m back in the summer of 2017, which took Tony Pulis’ brash spending to a total of £38m following the arrivals of Jay Rodriguez, Ahmed Hegazi and Oliver Burke.

He is thought to also be on a whopping £55k-per-week contract, though fortunately that is set to expire at the current campaign.

It means West Brom have thrown around £16m down the drain to this day and that’ll increase by the time the season draws to a close in 2021.

During his three years at the Hawthorns, Gibbs has racked up 91 appearances but could only start 14 league matches during their promotion-winning run due to injuries and not being selected.

His latest snub could well be the last straw with Townsend and O’Shea both impressing Bilic in recent times.

That move by Pulis is certainly now looking like a catastrophically bad decision. In return for that £18m, Albion have received a relegation and a plethora of injuries.

AND in other news, West Brom lightweight who LOST possession 30 TIMES badly let Bilic down…

Manchester United really, really want a right winger. Only time will tell if the board will be able to bring Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele in on a loan deal, or sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, or someone else entirely.

Edinson Cavani and Alex Telles are both signing their contracts as we speak while Donny van de Beek has already settled into life at Old Trafford.

What’s the word?

According to Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the Red Devils have reached an agreement with Atalanta for Amad Traore, although the teenager will arrive in January due to a complication with his work permit and passport.

The Ivory Coast international became the youngest player to score in his Serie A debut during Atalanta’s 7-1 win over Udinese, via ESPN.

Ed Woodward has handed out new deals left, right and centre to the likes of Brandon Williams and Dean Henderson while the club have finally found an adequate attacking midfielder for the first time since Paul Scholes left the club in January signing Bruno Fernandes.

They’ve even brought in Van de Beek to provide cover and competition for Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic.

If you were Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, you would imagine he would be quite happy with the signings so far, but they still need to strengthen the right wing, which is a bit of a problem when the transfer window closes in such a short space of time.

While Traore, 18, has made all of the headlines in Italy after breaking through the ranks into the first team, he is still largely unproven at the top levels of the game.

Daniel James 2.0?

As far as Solskjaer is concerned, Jadon Sancho remains his number one target, although The Athletic’s David Ornstein recently reported a deal is off as it stands.

The young Ivorian, who was born in 2002, is obviously one to keep an eye on for the future, but he is still vastly inexperienced and cannot be expected to shoulder the responsibilities on the right wing.

In fact, United have been in this situation before. It wasn’t all that long ago that they signed Daniel James for an initial fee of £15m from Swansea City last summer, and we all know how well that worked out, as the Welshman only managed to score three goals and supply six assists in the Premier League, via WhoScored.

And Traore won’t come cheap either, with Romano revealing he is expected to cost €30m, which roughly equates to £27m at the time of writing.

With Traore set to link up with the squad next year, United need a right winger now, not in several months time, it really is that simple. The Red Devils have run out of options on the right wing as Andreas Pereira and Juan Mata are simply not up to the standards required.

Pereira, who fell out of favour with Solskjaer, has found himself shipped out on loan to Lazio.

And United need to sign a player who can dictate play and supply a steady stream of assists for the front three this season, someone who can hit the ground running, not someone who will only be available halfway through the season.

It will leave a sour taste in the mouth if Woodward is unable to sort out a deal with Dortmund for Sancho, a player whom the club have coveted for so long.

AND in other news, Edinson Cavani’s imminent arrival at Manchester United raises more questions than answers…