Last week we discussed how Leeds United needed to do right by Jay-Roy Grot and find him a new club in January so that the 22-year-old doesn’t waste valuable time in his footballing career, but there has been something of a twist in Grot’s tale.
Indeed, the Dutchman was surprisingly included in Leeds’ 25-man Premier League squad, and while it could be argued that he’s just making up the numbers and that Leeds needed someone to fill that spot, it’s worth considering that neither Ouasim Bouy nor Conor Shaughnessy were included despite both being eligible and there being space in the squad.
Grot was included while Bouy and Shaughnessy were happily left out, so that may indicate that there’s a slight chance that he may get an opportunity in the Premier League, and it’s one he has to take.
It’s been speculated that he’d never get the chance to play under Bielsa, and while he wasn’t all that impressive during his time as a first-teamer at the club following his £1.44m move, we’ve seen this before.
Mateusz Klich was loaned out just six months after he joined Leeds, and it was speculated that his time at the club was over when he was sent out to Utrecht after just 10 games for the Whites, but here we are three years later and he’s one of United’s most important players.
Grot needs to undergo that same transformation, he was labelled as ‘lazy’ by Noel Whelan on BBC Radio Leeds (via Football Insider) during his last season with the club, and that sort of mindset and attitude simply won’t fly if he’s trying to impress Bielsa.
Either way, Grot’s inclusion in Leeds’ Premier League squad symbolises a light at the end of the tunnel that wasn’t there before, and it will be interesting to see if he gets a shot this season.
Bristol City owner Steve Landsown is ready to make Glasgow Rangers manager Steven Gerrard the best paid boss in the Championship if he were to go to Ashton Gate, according to Football Insider.
Gerrard is currently on £50,000 a week at Ibrox, which is more than any Gers player.
Lansdown, though, is ready to improve that wage and make him the highest paid boss in England’s second tier. That would be more than the current best-paid manager, Marcelo Bielsa, who is on £60,000 a week – Gerrard would therefore earn more than £3.1m annually.
Lansdown is cleary desperate to take the former Liverpool man back south of the border – there have already been reports that Gerrard has absolutely no interest in leaving the 54-time Scottish champions as it stands (talkSPORT via Bristol Live), with him still having unfinished business in Glasgow.
With all due respect to the man in the Gers’ hot-seat, he has not really done enough to warrant such a pursuit – after all, he is yet to win a trophy north of the border, and although a run to the Europa League round of 16 is a positive result, his main goal is to get his hands on some silverware.
His playing career means that there will always be a desire to give him a chance as a manager, but his pedigree in this different role is not exactly through the roof yet – he has plenty more to do before he leaves the Gers.
This article forms part of our Profit Players feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how well a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how good of a deal the club managed to achieve.
When Leicester signed 24-year-old Harry Maguire from a relegated Hull City for £17 million in 2017, it’s unlikely they thought they would be cashing in on a £63 million profit just two years later.
The Foxes had just been usurped as Premier League champions and were looking to bolster their options in defence after a disappointing follow up season to their fairy-tale title win. They slumped to a 12th place finish after earning just 44 points for the term, 37 shy of their 2015/16 finish atop the table.
However, their smart buying turned out to be a rather underwhelming asset to their squad. Maguire accomplished very little during his time at the King Power.
In his debut season for Leicester, he conceded more Premier League goals (57) than he did during his previous campaign with Hull, which ended in their relegation (49).
Maguire also struggled with his discipline, earning 14 yellow cards and one red in his two league campaigns with the Foxes (via footy stats.org).
The centre-back’s second and final season with Leicester would prove to be a shop window for interested parties. But Leicester did an incredible shop of painting the glass with rose tint.
After keeping just seven league clean sheets and failing to progress beyond the EFL Cup quarter-finals, Manchester United would come along and splurge a mammoth £80 million on Maguire, making him the most expensive defender in the world (via BBC Sport).
A world record fee for a player who has never won a piece of silverware or played on the European stage.
Leicester’s business with Man United is just short of being described as a crime. The Foxes pocketed a mouth-watering £80 million after hustling the Red Devils, knowing they were desperate to land the player, whilst Maguire would go on to lose possession an average of 9.6 times per game for United in the Premier League and be ripped to shreds weekly by his own fans.
In the mean time, it can be argued that the Midlands club are in a better place without him. Caglar Soyuncu proved to be a ready made replacement and he helped them to 12 clean sheets, whilst they shipped just 41 goals in total.
Were you glad to see Harry Maguire leave Leicester? Join the conversation in the comments below…
Tottenham are set to launch a bid for Southampton star Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, according to The Daily Star.
The Saints skipper is out of contract next year and the club are willing to let him leave if the right offer arrives.
Earlier this year, Sky Sports reported that Jose Mourinho has identified Hojbjerg at the top of his shortlist of summer targets.
However, Daniel Levy faces stiff competition from Everton for his signature.
Spurs were initially interested in signing the midfielder in January, but the Saints decided against selling him after some deliberation. Chief executive Martin Semmens has admitted that Southampton are ready to offload him in the summer.
He recently said “if there’s a club out there that can win the Champions League and they think Pierre can improve their team, if they can pay for him then, in the end, we have to let him go.”
Having moved to St Mary’s from Bayern Munich for £13.7m in 2016, Hojbjerg has played in 28 games for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side this season, creating one assist, making 2.4 tackles per game, averaging 1.5 interceptions and completing 1.7 clearances on average (WhoScored).
As it stands, a move for Hojbjerg may benefit all parties involved. Indeed, the Danish international has made it clear that he wants to win the Premier League and play in the Champions League, which matches Mourinho’s personal ambitions.
Moreover, The Daily Star recently revealed the Saints are in dire straits as Chinese owner Gao Jisheng is desperate to sell his majority stake in the club. The 24-year-old is currently valued at £10.8m via Transfermarkt, and Southampton could cover the costs by offloading valuable players when the transfer market opens.
Furthermore, it is unlikely the Hampshire club will be able to offer him European football in the near future, whereas Spurs made it to the Champions League final last season, which will no doubt appeal to the Dane.
The Lilywhites may even offer Kyle Walker-Peters as part of an exchange, which could sweeten the deal for the Saints, as Ralph Hasenhuttl admires the youngster.
Tottenham fans, do you believe the board should sign Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the summer? Let us know what you think down below!
Newcastle United must do all that they can to sign Wout Weghorst after Bild reported that they are chasing the Wolfsburg ace’s signature in the upcoming summer transfer window.
As per the German outlet, the asking price is €35m, which equates to roughly £32m, as a number of clubs from the Premier League look set to battle it out for his signature.
This could give a perfect opportunity for the Tyneside club to finally find the striker that they need, given that Joelinton has not exactly set the world on fire since his club-record £40m transfer from Hoffenheim in last summer’s window.
The 23-year old has only managed four goals and four assists in 37 games in all competitions so far in the 2019/20 season, according to Transfermarkt.
This is far from prolific for a man who cost such a large sum of money and Weghorst has outperformed him in a lot of key areas in the Bundesliga. The Dutch international had netted a much more impressive tally of 16 goals and also averaged more shots and key passes per league game (via Whoscored).
Although Weghorst has not had experience of playing in England, much like Joelinton before he made the move to St. James’ Park, the Magpies should have no worries about lightning striking twice in this regard.
At a price of £32m, the 27-year old would likely be affordable if the proposed takeover in the northeast goes through, too, and he could provide a welcome alternative to the hitherto disappointing Brazilian striker.
Geordies, would Weghorst be a good signing for Newcastle? Comment below with your views!
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have perhaps recruited better than any other Premier League team in recent years – they’ve really got it right with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and many more.
But it hasn’t always been like that at Anfield and today we’re going to be revisiting a number of occasions where they have got it woefully wrong in terms of an incoming transfer.
While in recent times Klopp has rarely got it wrong, as a result of clever, well thought out recruitment, previous managers have not been so lucky in the market and have handed some of the most obscure and sub-standard players an unwarranted opportunity to wear the famous red of Liverpool.
So here’s a look at Liverpool’s 20 worst signings of the Premier League era…
Sean Dundee
Valencia v Liverpool 3/11/98 UEFA Cup 2nd round 2nd leg Pic : Action Images / Stuart Franklin Liverpool’s Michael Owen & Sean Dundee celebrate Steve McManaman’s goal
Pictured above celebrating with Michael Owen, Sean Dundee was a true waste of money for Liverpool.
£2m may not seem like a lot of dough now at all but back in 1998 it was and all joint-managers at the time Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier would get for that lofty sum would be five appearances (all of them from the bench) and no goals from the centre-forward.
Charlie Adam
Despite that one cracking season in the Premier League for Blackpool, Charlie Adam was never good enough to represent a club like the Reds and he probably knew that as well.
That’s why the creative Scotland international lasted just the one campaign on Merseyside in what was a very strange time for Liverpool Football Club.
Christian Benteke
There are similarities between Adam and the next infamous member of this list, the man known as one of the attacking flops of all time at Anfield – Christian Benteke.
Then gaffer Brendan Rodgers splashed out an eye-watering £32.5m on the striker in the summer of 2015 and like both Adam and Dundee would last just the one term – ironically, Benteke left the North West with a record of ten goals in 42 matches, not too bad at all.
Alberto Aquilani
Mention the name Alberto Aquilani and most Kopites would offer a chuckle, this is certainly not the impression that the Italian would have wanted to leave when he arrived from Roma for £17m plus bonuses prior to the 2009/2010 season.
In truth, Xabi Alonso was always going to be a hard act to follow and that role always had the potential to be a poisoned chalice to whoever had to fulfill it, however, the woeful Aquilani made a special mess of it and it’s no small miracle that he managed to officially remain a Liverpool player for three years.
Milan Jovanovic
Famous for that hilarious video of his Reds best bits on YouTube, Milan Jovanovic turned up in the red half of Merseyside to a different manager to the one that signed him in 2010.
Roy Hodgson was hardly renowned for getting the best out of his players at Anfield and the Serbia midfielder is some example of that.
The balding winger is remembered at the Reds for the wrong reasons and 18 appearances after his signing he was shipped back to the league in which he tricked Rafa Benitez into thinking he was any good – the Belgian first division.
Christian Poulsen
Is that a picture of Dirk Kuyt?
No, if Christian Poulsen was even half as decent for Liverpool as the legendary Dutch frontman he wouldn’t be anywhere near this list.
Putting any ifs and buts aside, Roy Hodgson was probably right to identify the Dane’s quality, after all he is one of the rare few to have played in all five of Europe’s big five divisions, though by 2010 he was fast slowing down and his terrible only campaign in Anfield Road is best forgotten.
Tiago Ilori
All the big teams have done it; signing a youngster dubbed to be the next big thing in European, or even world football, only for them to flop massively.
Well, Tiago Ilori is the Reds’ anti-climactic starlet and they paid a fair amount of money for him in September 2013, a reported £7m for the then 20-year-old who would only ever represent the club three times.
Paul Konchesky
As you may have already noticed, the Reds made some stinkers of signings around the turn of the decade, but none of them quite as terrible as Paul Konchesky.
The left-back was Roy Hodgson’s main man at Fulham so he saw no reason why he couldn’t follow him to play the same role at Anfield, however, his spell was nothing short of a total disaster shrouded by his mum’s Facebook rant in which she branded Liverpool fans “scouse scum.”
Mario Balotelli
Sure Mario Balotelli’s mother never said anything bad about Kopites, but his football in Liverpool could hardly do the talking for him either.
The controversial character was alright at Manchester City and pretty impressive at the 2012 UEFA European Championships, however, Luis Suarez’s were big boots to fill at Anfield plus there was always the weight of his £15m+ price tag – he was set up to fail really and did.
Joe Cole
Liverpool’s decision to sign Joe Cole in the twilight of his career was a strange one and they got what they deserved for what was a poor bit of business.
The former England and Chelsea star may not have cost Roy Hodgson any actual money but his £130k-per-week salary was obscene for what the Reds actually got, a mere 42 matches, five goals and three assists, sub-standard for any attacking midfielder let alone Cole.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored some memorable goals during his time at Manchester United but there is one moment at the other end of the pitch that will go down in the club’s history forever.
Towards the end of the 1997/98 season, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils were in a tight race to the finish line, closely behind Premier League rivals Arsenal, managed by eventual longtime foe Arsene Wenger.
United were a point ahead of the London club when Kenny Dalglish’s Newcastle arrived at Old Trafford, although Wenger’s men still had two games in hand (Planet Football).
Newcastle striker Andreas Andersson gave the Magpies a shock early lead and, to make matters even worse, first-choice goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel picked up an injury. David Beckham equalised before the break but Ferguson’s side badly needed a win if they were to stave off the Gunners’ charge to the title.
In the closing stages of the game, the Magpies launched a counter-attack, leaving United’s defence and backup keeper Raimond Van Der Gouw badly exposed.
Rob Lee raced clear, only for Solskjaer to chase him down and make a cynical last-ditch tackle to bring the Englishman to the ground. Unsurprisingly, the Norwegian was sent off in a straightforward dismissal, although he admitted “he had to do it” after Becks walked over to console him (Bleacher Report).
While Solskjaer’s efforts sadly weren’t enough to stop Wenger from clinching the coveted trophy, it is fair to say many fans past and present will never forget his sacrifice.
Loads of supporters drooled over the “unbelievable” footage on Twitter, after @ManUnitedZone_ uploaded the iconic video, with one fan dubbing the manager as an “icon” and another adding he was one of the “best strikers ever”.
Scroll down through some of the best reactions below…
United fans, what is your favourite memory of the Baby-Faced Assassin in the Red Devils jersey? Join the discussion in the comments section!
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to Turkish-Football, Liverpool have entered the race to sign Ugurcan Cakir.
What’s the story?
Jurgen Klopp currently has two goalkeepers at his disposal. Brazil international Alisson is the number one, whilst Adrian is his back-up.
Now, it appears as though the 52-year-old is looking to add a third option to his arsenal, at least according to his agent.
Engin Kirkpinar, Cakir’s representative, told the website:
“Liverpool are one of four English sides keeping close tabs on Ugurcan. Liverpool are among the sides interested in Cakir and have been monitoring his progress. Trabzonspor value Cakir as being worth a minimum €20m (£17.1m) and will not sell him in January. An end of season move could however, be on the cards.”
Great signing
Since signing from West Ham, Adrian has done well. With former Roma goalkeeper Alisson out of action towards the start of the season, the 32-year-old has made 11 appearances in all competitions, keeping two clean sheets, whilst he was the hero in the UEFA Super Cup final against Chelsea after saving Tammy Abraham’s penalty in the shoot-out.
Having said that, Cakir’s arrival would be a boost to Klopp’s options and depth in the ‘keeper department. During this campaign, Adrian has a save percentage of 66.7%. That only puts him in 14th place on the list of all the shot-stoppers to appear in the Premier League this season.
Cakir, meanwhile, has managed 75.5% for current club Trabzonspor in the Super Lig. Not only does that put him in fourth place in the Turkish top flight, but it would also put him in the same position in the Premier League.
Also, at 23 years old, he has his whole career ahead of him, whilst Adrian is approaching the end of his. Cakir has been recognised at international level as well, having picked up two caps for Turkey. He has conceded just one goal in those two matches.
With a potential price tag of just £17.1m, this transfer would be a shrewd bit of business from Liverpool, and would show their desire to plan for the future. The supporters should hope they beat those three other clubs to his signature.
They are currently two points from safety and, although they have a game in hand, there is little about their recent performances to indicate that they will be able to haul themselves clear of the bottom three.
Even after spending over £100m on new recruits last summer, there is almost nothing to show for it – although they did reach the League Cup final.
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Should they drop down to the second tier, it would be the second time in four years in which they have been relegated – they finished bottom of Premier League during the 2015/16 season, picking up just 17 points along the way.
But how would the side that got relegated in 2016 fare against the current outfit?
Let’s take a look….
Key battles
The midfield duel would likely be an interesting one. Even during that 2015/16 campaign, Idrissa Gueye was one of the Villans’ top performers, picking up an average WhoScored rating of 7.25 along the way – he also managed 4.1 tackles and four interceptions per match.
Marvelous Nakamba, meanwhile, has failed to match those standards, amassing just 2.4 and 1.7 respectively. However, Jordan Veretout and Ashley Westwood would unlikely be able to provide as much attacking threat as John McGinn, for example – the Scotland international already has three goals this season despite missing several games through injury, whilst the former duo scored just two between them that campaign.
Elsewhere, Alan Hutton would have his work cut out keeping Jack Grealish quiet – he has seven goals and six assists in the Premier League this term, whilst the 35-year-old managed a WhoScored rating of just 6.45 four years ago. Anwar El Ghazi, too, would fancy his chances against Aly Cissokho, whilst Wesley would also be confident of getting something out of Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards – the Villans conceded 76 goals that campaign.
Star players
Nowadays, Villa’s best player leaps off the page – Grealish is undoubtedly the star man currently at Villa Park. No teammate of his has managed more goals and assists this season, and Manchester United are said to be interested. John McGinn is another who could well depart if they went down, with Sir Alex Ferguson wanting the Red Devils to make their move, whilst Tyrone Mings won his first England cap earlier on this season.
Idriss Gueye was a star at Villa and has since gone on to play for Everton and PSG – he was undoubtedly the best player in the team. There are others, too, who have gone on to better things since leaving the Midlands outfit. Veretout now plays for AS Roma, having cost €17m (£15.4m) last summer.
Scott Sinclair, meanwhile, had a successful spell at Celtic, scoring 62 goals in 167 games. Jordan Ayew was Villa’s top scorer in 2015/16, and he is for Crystal Palace this term as well, whilst Ashley Westwood is also a regular for Premier League side Burnley.
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Final result
This would unlikely be a pretty affair, but you would probably have to give the edge to Dean Smith’s side. Grealish is a talent with a huge career ahead of him, and no-one from that previous side to be relegated can match his natural ability. Whilst several of the players under Tim Sherwood, Kevin McDonald, Remi Garde and Eric Black went on to bigger and better things elsewhere, they failed miserably during their time at Villa.
Not only that, Smith’s team have already scored seven more goals in 29 matches (34 goals) than the other side managed in 38 (27 goals), and have shipped 20 less strikes. That could well be the difference in this close encounter.
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
“Wilfried Zaha’s a diver!”
“Cheat!”
“Ban him!”
You may well have heard these kind of shouts from the opposition terraces whenever the Ivorian is playing for Crystal Palace, and to get straight to the point, these accusations are lazy and can be put down to sheer conformity.
Back in January, The Guardian’s Paul Doyle declared that opposition fans willingly “pretend” to watch Zaha dive, when they know deep down that they’ve just seen him get taken out by one of their own players – even describing the Palace talisman as one of the Premier League’s most persecuted players.
“Every week supporters get their metaphorical kicks pretending they are watching Zaha acting when they know full well he is not. Usually, in fact, Zaha is receiving literal kicks, on top of verbal abuse.
“Zaha is one of the Premier League’s most persecuted players, partly because lots of people pretend he is not persecuted at all.”
It is a bandwagon that Zaha himself has pleaded with people to stop jumping on in the past, and it is also one that was put to shame by the VAR intervention in the Eagles’ 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
“I feel just everyone jumps on the bandwagon. I read stuff on Twitter, half of you lot don’t even watch me play, but you come online and say ‘he is a diver’. Actually watch me play and then you will see how often I get kicked.”
Before you could have even uttered the two syllables that make up the flamboyant winger’s surname, referee Martin Atkinson sounded his whistle to penalise Zaha for diving after a challenge from Calum Chambers in the box.
After a VAR check, however, Atkinson retracted the booking and rightly awarded the south Londoners a spot kick.
Ian Wright – who played for both Arsenal and Palace – summed it up perfectly on Match of the Day, highlighting how quickly Atkinson had made up his mind on a decision that eventually turned out to be incorrect.
How did he make up his mind so fast? One assumes that this unfair assumption towards Zaha, the perception of him being a diver, came into play.
This is the first incident in which VAR has jumped in front of the metaphorical bullet that are the largely baseless accusations aimed towards Zaha, and it was a moment that got a few thoughts flowing, chief amongst those being whether the 26-year-old would even have this ridiculous reputation if VAR had existed since his Premier League debut for Palace in August 2014.
Because it seems that, once these incidents involving Zaha are put under the microscope, the level of wrongdoing is minimal. Clearly, an unfair reputation precedes him.