All posts by h716a5.icu

According to a report by the Athletic, via West Ham Transfers, GSB and the Irons are ready to offer a new contract to defensive star Angelo Ogbonna following his performances this season – prompting excitement from many West Ham United fans.

Ogbonna, who is currently sidelined through injury, was a mainstay for manager David Moyes again in the centre of defence this season before succumbing to the knock.

Indeed, starting 23 Premier League games, he has seen the likes of Craig Dawson and Fabian Balbuena rotate alongside him while the Italian remained a fixed point in the starting eleven.

Now, as the club reportedly eye a new deal for the 32-year-old, plenty of Irons fans are overjoyed at this update – with one fan calling it ‘excellent news’ whilst others plead with GSB to get it sorted sooner rather than later.

Find all of their best verdicts on the 6 foot 3 West Ham colossus down below.

West Ham fans buzz over Ogbonna update

“Fully deserves, I’d like him to retire at West Ham.

Been massively underrated since the day he arrived, and only the last 18 months have the majority of our fans realised he’s class.

The old system with Masuaku left him covering 2 positions after we lose possession high up.”

Credit: @JameswhufcJones

“Excellent news. Get it done.”

Credit: @pmitchell1969

“Get it done”

Credit: @rustyk1971

“Needs to be done quickly, he has been a monster for us”

Credit: @Mexico20000

“Do it!”

Credit: @MarkEmms4

“Good move great player”

Credit: @SandieBarrick

“Well deserved, blokes a unit”

Credit: @RiddimSlaps

“Too right”

Credit: @callumder123

In other news: West Ham have approached this £120,000-per-week ‘outstanding player’, find out more here.

Newcastle United reportedly want to sign Nuno Tavares, according to O Jogo (via Sport Witness).

As per the news outlet, the Portugal youth international could be on his way out of Benfica in the summer transfer window, with the Liga Nos club currently valuing him at €30m (£25.9m).

However, Tavares is also wanted by both Burnley and Napoli, and Benfica could be persuaded into reducing their original asking price depending on the offers that they do get.

Newcastle must sign Tavares

The St. James’ Park faithful must try and sign Tavares to give some healthy competition to the likes of Jamal Lewis and Paul Dummett at left-back.

The 21-year-old may also be able to offer Steve Bruce’s team something a little different as he is a natural speedster, as football agent Cesar Boaventura, speaking to Radio Marte (via talkSPORT) back in January, described him as ‘one of the fastest players in the whole Portuguese league’ and claimed that ‘he can become one of the best in Europe.’

Tavares is also still relatively young and so has a lot of potential to develop into one of European football’s top players, and there is no better league for him to do that than the high demands of the Premier League.

Nonetheless, if the North East club avoid being relegated from the top flight down to the EFL Championship, than he is certainly a player that they should be keeping their eye on.

In other news, find out what big Mike Ashley claim Mark Douglas has shared on the potential takeover here!

Frank McAvennie has exclusively told Football FanCast that Declan Rice’s knee injury is a “massive blow” to West Ham’s chances of finishing in the European places.

The Hammers midfielder has been ever-present in the Premier League this term, and hasn’t missed a single minute of league action in the previous two seasons.

But Rice, whose recently taken the West Ham armband from club captain Mark Noble, will miss their trip to Wolves tonight and is expected to be sidelined for around four to six weeks following a knee problem sustained in England’s World Cup qualifier against Poland last Wednesday.

Victory for the David Moyes’ team a Molineux will be enough to see them leapfrog Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea and climb back into the fourth-place for the first time since early-March.

But the Hammers will have to do it without their leader and one of their most consistent performers – with Noble in line to make just his second Premier League start since January.

And McAvennie told Football FanCast that whilst Noble has been a great servant to West Ham over the years, Rice is simply irreplaceable:

“The shock news coming out of West Ham is that Rice is going be out for up to six weeks, which will be a massive blow for West Ham, especially in their hunt for European places.

“It’s a terrible shame for the boy, who’s been raising his game week in week out. I’d be annoyed, no disrespect to Noble who’s been a wonderful player and servant to West Ham, but he looks like the automatic choice.

“But when Nobes plays, then tend to defend a awful lot more. They don’t have that energy that Soucek and Rice bring in the midfield, no disrespect to Nobes.”

Leeds United defender Gaetano Berardi’s time at Elland Road will come to an end this summer, according to The Athletic‘s Phil Hay.

The once-capped Switzerland international joined the Whites back in 2014, arriving from Sampdoria for an undisclosed fee.

Berardi has gone on to make a total of 155 appearances for Leeds, performing solidly in that time and being more of a regular during his early years at the club.

Under Marcelo Bielsa, however, the 32-year-old has featured far less and he is now coming to the end of the one-year contract extension he signed last October.

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Hay tips Berardi to leave Leeds

The reliable Hay confirmed that he doesn’t expect Leeds to retain Berardi’s services beyond this summer, such is the depth now at Bielsa’s disposal:

“And I won’t be surprised if Gaetano Berardi leaves at the end of his latest contract too.”

Transfer Tavern take

Hay continued to explain that the Whites are very well covered at centre-back, and thus it makes perfect sense for the club to move Berardi on, getting him off the club’s wage bill and freeing up funds for potential reinforcements to come in.

He is currently on approximately £32,ooo per week (the fifth highest paid player in the squad), and considering he suffered an ACL injury last summer, he is unlikely to fully return the same player again.

Leeds have moved on without Berardi and should now be looking at younger players who can help take the team forward in the long-term – perhaps another striker given the rumours surrounding Rodrigo’s future.

In other news, a former Leeds star has given his take on the Whites’ summer transfer budget. Read more here.

Aston Villa could wave goodbye to a hugely disappointing Ross Barkley this summer by signing Norwich City star Emiliano Buendia.

The man on loan from Chelsea has endured a poor campaign at Villa Park, scoring just three goals in 21 Premier League games and only providing the one assist. All but one of those contributions came prior to the November international break.

Reports in recent days have suggested that Dean Smith’s side have made the decision not to sign him on a permanent basis this summer, and it’s no surprise given the below-par displays he has put in this season.

Speaking after he was substituted in the second half against Leicester last month, Sky Sports pundit Alex Scott slammed the 27-year-old’s performance, saying: “For me it’s another missed opportunity for Ross Barkley to show up and demand, he’s been subbed off again and you can see in his face he’s not happy. But how many chances does a player need?

“You need to take it upon yourself. There’s only so many chances that he can be deserving. He’s missed another opportunity today.”

If Barkley leaves as expected, then Villa should be looking at none other than Buendia – a player who Lee Hendrie has insisted would be near the top of his summer shopping list.

The former Villa ace told This Is Futbol: “I think a big club will definitely try and take him. I know you can say he’s done it in the Championship, but you could say that about (Said) Benrahma, you could say that about Ollie Watkins.

“I feel that Buendia, I mean we’ve seen him in a very good Norwich side in the Championship, I feel in a Villa side… wow. If I could say or had a big say in bringing players in, he’s the one on top of my list that I would bring into Aston Villa.”

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The £19.8m-rated playmaker has been dubbed a “revelation” by Chris Sutton and has enjoyed a stellar season at Carrow Road, scoring an incredible 12 goals and providing a further 16 assists. Buendia’s contributions have fired Norwich to the brink of Premier League promotion, currently sat top of the Championship table.

Given Barkley’s virtually nonexistent end product this season – a total of four goals and assists in the Premier League is a shocking return – bringing in Buendia would allow Smith to wave goodbye to the on-loan liability.

Meanwhile, Villa could sign Jack Grealish’s perfect partner in this star…

Southampton are heading towards a summer transfer window in which they need to rebuild and strengthen, so Ralph Hasenhuttl should be looking to get rid of veteran striker Shane Long permanently.

The Republic of Ireland international was somewhat surprisingly handed a new two-year deal last summer but barely featured for the Saints in the first half of the campaign, before being sent out on loan to Bournemouth in the Championship.

The 34-year-old made just two starts for Southampton in all competitions, along with some brief cameo appearances from the bench, before making the loan switch to the Cherries in January, with whom he has made nine appearances thus far, contributing two goals.

However, his lack of goals for the Saints has been a real concern in recent seasons, and following his contract renewal, he has failed to find the back of the net for Hasenhuttl’s side.

This means that, given that Long reportedly earns £60k per week at Southampton, he has been paid £2.7m in wages so far this season without returning a single goal.

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The Irish forward isn’t exactly setting the world alight at Bournemouth so unless Southampton can find a buyer for him this summer, it seems likely that he will end up back on Hasenhuttl’s bench again next season.

The Austrian already has the likes of Danny Ings and Che Adams available as regular striking options in his side, whilst Nathan Redmond and Theo Walcott have also featured up front at times this season.

This, combined with promising attacking options such as Dan N’Lundulu and Nathan Tella, suggests that Long doesn’t have a future with the Saints in a playing capacity.

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Therefore, they must try and rectify the mistake they made last summer when they gave him a new two-year deal and ensure that he leaves the club on a permanent basis ahead of next season and get his huge salary off the books.

And, in other news… Nine passes completed: £16.2m-rated Saints flop let Hasenhuttl down with an anonymous display

Rangers’ unbeaten run continued on Wednesday night, although Steven Gerrard’s side will have been disappointed to not take all three points back to Ibrox, as they were denied a win.

Scott Wright grabbed his first goal in Rangers colours to make it 1-0 and the Light Blues wasted a few chances to kill the game off, before Callum Davidson’s St Johnstone side earned themselves a draw with the late equaliser.

Gerrard rang the changes following the 2-0 win in the Old Firm derby last weekend and will undoubtedly be disappointed that some of the players who were given a rare opportunity to impress failed to do so at McDiarmid Park.

One man who struggled to perform on Wednesday night was Swiss striker Cedric Itten.

As per SofaScore, the Swiss striker, who joined from FC St Gallen in a deal believed to be worth around £3m last summer, would earn a shocking 6.3/10 rating for his performance, which was the worst of any Rangers player to feature in the game.

During his 90 minutes on the pitch, the 24-year-old would have just 45 touches of the ball and would only complete 21/28 of his passes, which is even fewer than the 26 completed by goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin.

Itten also failed to register a shot on target, key pass or cross during his time on the pitch, which emphasises just how little he was involved in an attacking sense.

Gerrard was perhaps hoping that the striker would be able to hold the ball up for Rangers so they could bring their wingers into play more, but he struggled to function as a target man, winning just one of his seven aerial duels, and just three of his 10 ground duels, resulting in a less than impressive 24% success rate.

Despite being involved so little, the striker still managed to lose possession on 18 occasions on the evening, which surely will have frustrated Gerrard.

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Therefore, it seems clear that Itten let his manager down on Wednesday evening, and it would be a surprise to see him future when the two sides meet again on Sunday in the Scottish Cup.

And, in other news… Allen masterclass: “Terrific” Rangers beast has seen his value rise by 275% since Ibrox switch

Leicester City will be aiming to make it back-to-back Premier League victories on Monday evening as they do battle with Crystal Palace.

The Foxes head into the clash at the King Power Stadium having soundly defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-0 last Thursday.

Will Rodgers be tempted to rotate much for the visit of the Eagles?

We are expecting just a couple of changes to the team that dispatched of the Baggies last week.

Kasper Schmeichel will, of course, be in goal as he has been for the Foxes’ last 108 league matches.

The Dane is set to be shielded by a strong back-three with Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu and Wesley Fofana all selected. The former will be hoping to get on the scoresheet once more having netted against West Brom last time out.

There might be a slight alteration out-wide though. Timothy Castagne will doubtless play after an exhilarating showing against the Baggies on Thursday but Ricardo Pereira could return after sitting out the previous game.

Should he be fit enough, he will replace young left-back Luke Thomas, despite it possibly being better for the latter to remain in the starting XI.

Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans should start again having harnessed a hugely impressive understanding this season.

There should, however, be a slight alteration in front of that duo with £110k per week James Maddison, who is only just making his return from a long-term lay-off, replaced by Ayoze Perez.

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Leicester’s front two should look exactly the same. Kelechi Iheanacho continued his fantastic form with yet another goal against West Brom, whilst Jamie Vardy ended his long run without one against the Baggies.

He will certainly be hoping to continue that goalscoring form on Monday having netted five career goals against the Eagles.

AND in more news, Leicester have been boosted with a major transfer target now potentially available…

Frank McAvennie has dropped a big behind-the-scenes claim on the manager hunt at Celtic after a transfer update emerged.

As per transfer market expert Nicolo Schira, the Hoops had a bid rejected for Mario Vuskovic earlier this week, and McAvennie has put two and two together as it would be strange for the Parkhead club to be bidding for new transfer targets without a permanent manager to approve of them.

Speaking to Football Insider, the former Hoops striker said the development is a ‘strange’ situation:

“It might be that there’s a manager behind the scenes who’s telling them who to go for.

“I can’t see Celtic going and buying a player without a manager in place. The situation is strange, why would you buy new players if a new manager might come in and say ‘I don’t want him’?

“There’s a chance that they might not be bothered about what the new guy thinks, or someone is telling them to get him. 

“It would be such a waste of money if a new manager came in and didn’t want him. It wouldn’t be a good start to their Celtic career. 

“I’ve not heard anything but if that report is true, it means Celtic are talking to a new manager.”

Do Celtic already have their new manager?

While there have not been any confirmed reports in the media of a new manager for the Bhoys as of yet, it is no doubt an interesting connection that McAvennie has made with the transfer bid for Vuskovic.

Surely they would not be trying to bring in new players if they did not already have a new boss lined up already, as those players would have to fit their style and system.

Celtic have a lot of work to do in the summer to try and wrestle the Scottish Premiership title away from the hands of their bitter rivals Rangers, and so the next managerial appointment is key.

Nonetheless, that next appointment may already be lined up behind the scenes if the Vuskovic rumours are true.

In other news, find out what former European Super League team are monitoring this Hoops ace here!

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Marcus Bent has revealed what Duncan Ferguson has told him about working with Carlo Ancelotti.

Ferguson’s final two seasons in his playing career crossed paths with Bent’s two years spent at Goodison Park, and the latter revealed they’re still in contact.

“I speak to him now and then. Dunc’s a hard one to get hold of and a hard one to get anything out of,” he told Football FanCast.

“He’s a very humble man and strict about what he says and what he does on and off the pitch.”

Having spent 11 seasons across two spells with the Toffees, the former Scotland striker returned to Merseyside in 2014 to become part of the coaching staff.

Following the departure of Marco Silva during December 2019, Ferguson became interim manager and remained unbeaten during a four-game spell, which included a memorable victory over Chelsea.

He was rewarded by becoming Ancelotti’s assistant after his appointment as manager later that month and has been working closely with the Italian ever since.

And Bent told Football FanCast that Ferguson has a great responsibility in his role:

“What he has said to me is that he’s good to work with, he asks Duncan’s opinion a lot of the time. The training is good, he lets Dunc take a lot of training sessions, so his opinion counts.

“Dunc is a massive Evertonian and a big part of the club, and he respects Dunc’s opinion.”