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Swansea City’s automatic promotion hopes suffered another blow as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Cardiff City in the South Wales derby on Saturday evening.

Aden Flint’s early goal for the visitors was enough to settle the game at the Liberty Stadium, which ensures that the remarkable statistic of neither side having completed a league double over the other will continue for another season at least.

Watford’s comfortable win over Birmingham also means that the Swans slip further behind in the race for second place in the Championship, as they now sit six points behind the Hornets with nine games remaining.

One man who particularly disappointed in his derby performance was left wing-back Jake Bidwell.

As per SofaScore, the former QPR man picked up a 6.4 match rating for his display, which was the worst of any player from both sides to start the game.

Despite having 40 touches of the ball, the 27-year-old managed just 10 passes during the game, which was the fewest of any Swansea player on the pitch including goalkeeper Freddie Woodman (17) other than Conor Hourihane, who was substituted off injured in the opening 20 minutes. [SofaScore]

Remarkably, Bidwell also played fewer passes than substitutes Yan Dhanda (12), Jamal Lowe (14) and his replacement at left-back Ryan Manning (11), despite all three having less than 15 minutes on the pitch. [SofaScore]

This emphasises just how little influence Bidwell was able to have on the game, which will surely be a massive cause of frustration for manager Steve Cooper, as the defender has been one of Swansea’s most consistent performers this season.

The wing-back also struggled in his battles with Cardiff players, as he was able to win just three of his nine duels during the game, with Cardiff left wing-back Joe Ralls winning seven of his 11 duels by comparison.

[freshpress-quiz id=“532484″]

Despite being rarely involved, Bidwell still managed to lose possession on 15 occasions during his time on the pitch and was also unsuccessful in both of his dribble attempts, to compound what was a truly woeful display from the 27-year-old.

Farhad Moshiri must rue giving Marco Silva the green light to sign Yerry Mina in 2018, as Everton will reportedly look to sell the Colombian at a loss to fund Kalidou Koulibaly’s arrival.

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, the Toffees will listen to offers for Mina at the end of the season but expect to take a hit on the fee paid to FC Barcelona.

Mina moved to Merseyside for £27m during Silva and Director of Football Marcel Brands’ first window in charge and has made 72 appearances for the club across all competitions.

The 26-year-old has been a regular for Carlo Ancelotti this season, starting 19 of 24 available Premier League games, yet Everton are keen to cash-in on Mina to raise funds for the arrival of SSC Napoli centre-back Koulibaly.

Everton have made Koulibaly their top defensive target for the summer market, but face a €50m (£42.5m) asking price and potential competition from Bayern Munich and Manchester City, per La Repubblica via Football-Italia.

Ancelotti has targeted defensive reinforcements as he does not believe his current options have the ability to play together and while he is said to admire Mina’s physicality, privately has concerns that the 26-cap international is too erratic and error-prone.

The Toffees would only be expected to fetch up to £20m through Mina’s sale, and would use the funds to sign an alternative high-calibre option should Koulibaly prove out of reach.

Gianluca Mancini had been linked with a potential move to Goodison Park earlier in the month, although AS Roma have since declared the Italian non-transferable and are due to hold discussions over a new contract with the 24-year-old’s agent.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/the-latest-everton-news-gossip-and-views” title=”The latest Everton news and views!”]

Should Everton sell Mina?

With Ancelotti seemingly in the market for a new centre-half who can better complement his other current options of Michael Keane, Ben Godfrey and Mason Holgate, selling Mina would make a great deal of sense for Everton given the Italian’s alleged concerns.

Ancelotti’s supposed issues with Mina being error-prone and erratic also do not sit well with the 6 ft 4 enforcer being Everton’s joint-highest earner, with the injury-prone Colombian and Bernard both on £120,000-per-week deals, per Spotrac figures.

Moshiri will no doubt rue the prospect of the Toffees parting with Mina for a significant loss, however, so will likely urge Brands to take his time in finding a suitor willing to pay as close to the £27m sent to Barcelona three-years ago.

But the Blues owner will be kicking himself most of all for sanctioning Silva’s swoop to make Mina one of his first arrivals at Goodison Park, having potentially seen £24.5m go to waste.

With Everton only expected to make £20m from Mina’s sale, £7m will have gone down the drain before accounting for the £17.5m that the defender will have earned by the final game of the Premier League season away to Manchester City in May.

It will have been 145 weeks since Mina’s arrival on Merseyside when the Blues travel to the Etihad Stadium to close out the campaign, seeing that he will have earned close to what Everton paid Barcelona for Lucas Digne (£18m).

But while Digne signed a new contract last month to stay with the Blues through to 2025, Mina – who Paul Robinson claims can produce “outstanding” performances – may soon be shown the door.

AND in other news, Everton land a huge boost but face PL competition for a £26m star who’s “grown so much”…

A number of Liverpool fans want Takumi Minamino to leave the club this summer, having struggled to make his mark at Anfield.

The Japanese starlet signed for the Reds from RB Salzburg back in 2019/20 winter transfer window, after shining for the Austrian side alongside Erling Haaland.

The 26-year-old was particularly good in a Champions League clash at Anfield a few months before he arrived, scoring in an eventual 4-3 win for the Merseysiders.

That seemingly led to Jurgen Klopp acquiring his signature, but he has been a disappointment for Liverpool so far, scoring just four times in 31 appearances.

Minamino’s lack of impact saw him loaned out to Southampton in early February, but he has been limited to just six games, due to injury.

The forward has been talking about his future in an interview with Kyodo News, discussing his struggles at Liverpool and how difficult the first lockdown was, among other topics.

Liverpool fans fans Minamino to leave

Some Reds supporters provided their thoughts on Minamino’s future on Twitter, calling for him to move on at the end of the season as they simply don’t believe he is up to standard.

“He’s finished James, can’t believe Mr Laptop decided to sign him instead of Haaland”

Credit: @MQUTins

“Not good enough. Too weak and shy”

Credit: @cjeffs79

“It’s true that it was pointless to loan him out if he wasn’t going to be starting games more regularly, he might as well have stayed. Although, if he’s not impressing enough in training to get into Southampton’s team, was there any chance he’d get in ours?”

Credit: @tthegeeeez

“He deserves more. I’d sell and give him the chance to play”

Credit: @Styletix

“Feel sorry for him but just don’t think he’s good enough”

Credit: @jacksonismydog

“He will be sold this summer”

Credit: @allan_ynwa

In other news, some Liverpool fans have also been urging another Reds player to leave this summer. Find out who it is here.

Gary Mabbutt has told Football FanCast that Tottenham Hotspur can beat Dinamo Zagreb as long as Jose Mourinho unleashes the full force of his attack in the Europa League Round of 16.

Spurs have progressed to the last-16 after a series of thumping wins in the competition.

Mourinho’s side beat Wolfsberger 8-1 on aggregate in the last-16, and also beat Ludogorets 3-1 and 4-0 in the group stages, while beating LASK 3-0.

There were some poor results too; a 1-0 loss to Royal Antwerp marked perhaps the nadir of Mourinho’s reign, while a 3-3 draw with LASK was notable mainly for the lack of defensive organisation.

But Spurs have progressed to within spitting distance of the quarter final and the draw with Zagreb could be seen as favourable.

Indeed, Manchester United drew AC Milan, while the likes of Arsenal, Ajax, and Roma were all drawn elsewhere.

Mabbutt admits that the draw could have been tougher, but he thinks Zagreb are a fine team who will provide a stern test.

The Croatian outfit conceded just once in the group stages, coming through a group including Wolfsberger, Feyenoord, and CSKA Moscow.

Mabbutt told FFC: “Yes. I mean, of course, when we look at the teams who are involved in the draw, there are teams you think, oh, I’d like to avoid those. But yeah, any team to get to this stage in the Europa League, obviously, are fantastic teams. And certainly there are ones that you would prefer to avoid more than others.

“Zagreb, I think, if you look at their records in European competition, never got past the last 16 in the Europa League, so hoping the same thing happens this year.

“But yeah, in fact, last year, they actually set a European record for going nearly the whole of the group stage without conceding a goal. They conceded that going into the last 15 minutes of their sixth group stage match. So again, obviously, as a manager, you look at that, and you see that they may be quite strong defensively.”

And, as a result, Mabbutt believes Spurs need to top-load the team and bring in some of the strongest attacking players available to Mourinho in order to breach Zagreb’s defences.

Indeed, he has insisted that if Mourinho can get the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, and Gareth Bale all firing, no team in the world would want to come up against them.

He added: “Well, if I was a manager, I would make sure that I keep my defence strong and then throw everything I’ve got at them, and unleash Kane, Son, Bale. If you’ve got a team, you’ve got players like, Harry Kane, Son, Gareth Bale, Dele Alli, Lamela, Ndombele. If you’ve got all those players on top form, there’s not a team in the world would like to face those players now.”

Frank McAvennie believes that Glasgow Rangers’ move for Jack Simpson could be them pre-empting an exit of one of their senior centre-halves this summer.

Simpson move may lead to an exit

The Gers have been heavily linked with a move for 24-year-old, with some reports indicating that a pre-contract deal has already been agreed (The Daily Record).

Speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie has suggested this could mean one of the Gers’ central defenders may leave Ibrox in a few months. He said:

“A lot of clubs have got four centre-halves, and four good ones.

“If they can get the boy Simpson on a free contract, he will fancy his chances of getting into that Rangers side next season. He would come in and straight away he’d be ready to fight for the team.

“They could be pre-empting an exit. That way if they were to lose a centre-half in the summer, it would not be a big problem.”

Not impossible

Simpson, who is set to come in from Championship outfit Bournemouth, will not be moving north of the border to take up a bit-part role at Ibrox – he will no doubt want to play on a regular basis. However, adding him to Steven Gerrard’s squad would mean they would have five options in the centre-back position along with Connor Goldson, Filip Helander, Leon Balogun and Nikola Katic – and that is not even including George Edmundson, who appears to have ruined his chances of making it with the 54-time Scottish champions after breaking coronavirus regulations and picking up a seven-game ban (BBC).

This quartet are valued at £8.91m (Transfermarkt) – the Gers would not doubt be able to recover a decent fee if they were to part ways with one of them. In fact, bringing in someone for free and selling another could be a fantastic piece of business as long as the quality remains the same.

In other news, Rangers fans don’t want this man to stay at Ibrox.

According to Eurosport, Manchester United could use attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard in a swap-deal to sign Declan Rice from West Ham United.

What’s the word?

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have long been linked with a move for the Englishman but a move has not yet materialised while he last signed a long-term contract extending his stay until 2024 with West Ham having the option to extend his deal by a further year. He is currently valued at £49m via Transfermarkt.

Lingard, meanwhile, left Old Trafford for the London Stadium on an initial loan deal until the end of the season in search of more regular game time and has been one of the star performers for the Hammers this season so far.

The Red Devils are still adamant that the 28-year-old is not for sale and will not leave the club during the summer transfer window.

However, according to Eurosport, after Lingard cast a flirtatious glance in the direction of the London Stadium, the club’s hierarchy have set their sights on Rice in case a swap deal becomes an option.

Ed Woodward masterclass?

If Ed Woodward and co. can somehow pull this off, it could go down as one of the greatest transfer coups in the club’s history.

United are in the market for a defensive-minded midfielder with Nemanja Matic’s long-term future at Old Trafford more uncertain than ever due to his advancing years.

Unfortunately for Lingard, who reportedly earns around £75,000-a-week, Solskjaer has no great need to add another attacking midfielder to his ranks, hence why they sanctioned such a move in the first place.

Bruno Fernandes, the Portugal international, has starred for Solskjaer’s side since his move from Sporting Lisbon in 2020 and under the Norwegian this term he has already scored 15 goals and added a further 15 assists in 25 Premier League appearances.

Signing Rice, however, would be an upgrade on the ageing Matic, who has been at fault for some sub-par performances this season – against Aston Villa, he was rated as one of United’s worst players on the pitch by SofaScore during the Red Devils’ 2-1 victory over the Villans.

By the numbers, the English midfield dynamo’s defensive stats are far greater than the Serbian’s in almost every area this season.

Rice currently averages more clearances (0.8 pg), interceptions (2 pg) and tackles (1.6 pg) per match than the 32-year-old. Although they both commit the same number of fouls, as per WhoScored, United need their players to win the midfield battle.

They have shipped 32 league goals so far this season, which is more than the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham just over the halfway point of the campaign.

Solskjaer needs to prioritise signing a new central midfielder, that much is clear, and it’s fair to say that Rice could be the perfect fit for the Red Devils.

AND in other news, Max Aarons would be a major upgrade on Man Utd outcast Diogo Dalot…

As West Ham United fell to a 1-0 defeat at Manchester United, coming as a potential bump in the race for a Champions League qualifying spot, many Hammers fans weren’t impressed with the performance of striker Michail Antonio – with one supporter going as far as to label him a ‘donkey’.

The Englishman debatably looked isolated up front and failed to have any meaningful impact on the game going forward as some West Ham fans refused to shy away from the critiquing their usual favourite.

Craig Dawson’s own goal cemented defeat for David Moyes’ men, and despite still having a game in hand on fourth-placed Chelsea, they next host London rivals Arsenal in what could be a difficult encounter.

Antonio’s performance in particular left these supporters unimpressed, with SofaScore revealing that he lost the ball 19 times and was among the lowest rated players in the squad. Just 13 of his 25 passes found a team-mate, while his only shot all night was blocked down.

Making their feelings known on social media, here’s what these Hammers fans had to say.

West Ham fans blast Antonio

“Antonio is the worst footballer I’ve ever seen play. West ham fans who think he’s slightly good don’t know anything about football”

Credit: @Zayd_Beitar

“Antonio thinking he’s Messi dropping deep to pick the ball up and do nothing with.

Confidence of CR7 ability of a donkey”

Credit: @Aaron_Parris

“I hope Maguire lets Antonio out of his pocket to get on the bus home”

Credit: @paulf6466

“Antonio hasn’t had a good game since the Villa away game! His work rate has been non existent, his hold up play been rubbish! He just hasn’t been a threat to anyone lately”

Credit: @joegreene2

“He’s had a terrible game. Agreed.”

Credit: @goose_jz

“Michail Antonio is not a good football player”

Credit: @DavidMoyes__

“Antonio’s hold up is terrible”

Credit: @westhamtransfer

“Antonio has been poor for a while, his performances at the start of the season seem to of made him invincible”

Credit: @ParlourPD

In other news: West Ham are eyeing this 19-goal ‘phenomenon’, find out more here.

There has been a lot of speculation about the future of Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum in recent months, with the Dutch international’s contract talks with Liverpool seemingly at a standstill.

His contract with the Reds is set to expire at the end of this season, meaning foreign clubs are now free to negotiate with the former Newcastle man with the view to signing him on a Bosman transfer in the summer.

Barcelona look to be amongst the favourites to sign the 30-year-old, who has established himself as a key player in Jurgen Klopp’s side in recent seasons, having made 211 appearances for the club, contributing 21 goals and 16 assists.

Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano has recently provided an update on the midfielder’s situation at Liverpool.

Speaking to Give Me Sport, he said:

“Talking with people around Gini, I’ve been told that he has been respectful to Liverpool. Before Christmas, he spoke with the club, he received a new bid from Liverpool, like in the first week of December, to try to extend his contract and it was not an amazing bid in Gini’s idea.

“He was expecting something different but he said ‘okay, let’s take some time. I want to speak with my family. I want to decide in the next week, so give me some time to decide and I won’t talk with any other clubs’.

“If he will refuse Liverpool, for sure, Barcelona will be one of the options because as you said, like last summer, they were pushing and pushing to get him.”

Therefore, it seems as if Wijnaldum was not happy with Liverpool’s opening contract offer and unless we see an improved offer from Michael Edwards, it seems as if he could well depart the club on a free transfer this summer.

Wijnaldum will turn 31 this year and perhaps Liverpool are keen to ensure that they don’t offer too much money to a player that may soon be past his best, especially when they have young talent such as Curtis Jones coming through as his potential replacement.

However, the Dutch international has been a key player at Liverpool for so long and has appeared in all of the Reds’ Premier League fixtures so far this season, so he is clearly valued by Jurgen Klopp.

Whilst there has been reports of Mohamed Salah being offered a new deal with the club in recent times, his deal is set to expire in 2023, so Wijnaldum should be the club’s priority.

Back in 2019, the German manager was full of praise for Wijnaldum, saying:

“It is just so obvious his importance. It is both directions, small spaces, big spaces, it is hard challenges, fine football, pretty much all of that.

“Is he the perfect midfielder? From the skillset 100 per cent.”

Therefore, despite Wijnaldum’s advancing age and contract demands, Edwards must do all he can to ensure that the midfielder is still with Liverpool next season.

Click here to see the full 30 minute video of Fabrizio Romano’s interview with Give Me Sport

And, in other news, Lost possession 22x: Klopp favourite endured a bittersweet night against Aston Villa…

Jose Mourinho must axe Gareth Bale from the Tottenham Hotspur starting line-up after the Wales international offered a wasteful display at home to Ludogorets in the Europa League.

Bale was gifted his fourth start of the Group Stage on Thursday night, having fallen to the bench for Spurs’ 2-0 Premier League win over Manchester City last weekend.

The Real Madrid loanee would have hoped to impress enough against the north London side’s Bulgarian opposition to warrant consideration for this Sunday’s derby clash with rivals Chelsea, but Bale spurned his best chances before being hauled off early in the second half.

Bale had been backed by former Tottenham manager Glenn Hoddle to have a big say at Stamford Bridge this weekend, with the winger tipped to be Mourinho’s secret weapon as the Portuguese tactician continues to gradually integrate him into the first-team fold.

“I’ve got a sneaky feeling that Gareth Bale might have a big say in that game,” Hoddle said on his official podcast regarding Sunday’s top-flight battle at the Bridge. “I think Mourinho might be holding him up his sleeve. That’s the sort of game where you could just see him.

“He played 90 minutes for Wales, and you could see him turning it on in a game like that. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mourinho hasn’t got him earmarked for Chelsea.”

While Bale has opened each of Tottenham’s Europa League Group Stage ties, Mourinho has thus far only opted to name the 31-year-old in one starting line-up for a Premier League match and is yet to allow the four-time Champions League winner to play a full 90 minutes.

Bale’s start in Thursday night’s Group Stage win over Ludogorets saw Spurs’ summer signing enjoy his second-longest appearance of the campaign thus far, with his 68-minutes on the field only bettered by his 78-minute outing at West Bromwich Albion earlier this month.

But he was unable to add a second goal or assist across all competitions, having spurned his best opportunity to fire home when Plamen Iliev saved an effort Bale should have buried while striking his only shot on target, per SofaScore.

Four of Bale’s total seven shots were, in fact, off-target with a further two blocked, while failing to register a single key ball from 24 accurate passes, misplacing all five crosses and his sole attempted long ball.

The £22.5m-rated winger was a dud against Ludogorets in the duels, too, with success in just three of seven ground battles and one of three aerial contests, helping toward Bale losing possession 15 times.

Mourinho needed to see far more from Bale against Tottenham’s Bulgarian opposition to consider starting the Wales international away to his former employer Chelsea this weekend, potentially making him far more of a secret weapon than Hoddle expected.

AND in other news, a Spurs gem who isn’t “shy” has a mountain to climb if he’s to win Jose Mourinho over.

Liverpool could find a perfect partner for Virgil van Dijk in Lille starlet Sven Botman.

Michael Edwards masterclass

Since Jurgen Klopp’s arrival as manager at Anfield, the recruitment on the red half of Merseyside has been nigh-on perfect. The Reds’ big-money signings have all paid off, and their cheaper investments have also bore fruit, leading to a Champions League and Premier League title in the last two seasons.

Van Dijk has been the Reds’ undisputed number one centre-back, and Klopp has somewhat struggled to settle on his prefered partner for the Dutchman, with Joel Matip and Joe Gomez still not yet nailing down a place.

Now, Foot Mercato claim that Liverpool have been in touch with Botman’s agent, as they eye up a potential move for the 20-year-old. If they can pull it off, it would be the latest Michael Edwards masterclass.

Imagine him and Van Dijk

Standing at 6 foot 4, Botman is a physically imposing defender, much like his Dutch compatriot Van Dijk. Described as someone who is emerging as a “leader” by his boss at Lille, the centre-back has produced some superb performances this season for the French side.

He was particularly superb in a 3-0 win over Serie A giants Milan, who boasted Zlatan Ibrahimovic as their starting striker on the night. And Botman absolutely bullied the Swedish legend.

He earned rave reviews from the media for his performance, and when you look at the stats, it’s no surprise why. As per Sofascore, he made two interceptions, blocked one shot and made three clearances, whilst Ibrahimovic could manage just 14 passes in the entire game and was promptly hooked after an hour.

Getting Botman to line up alongside Van Dijk could give Liverpool the foundations of the most dominant central defensive partnership in the Premier League, and one Klopp would surely love.