Tag Futebol

Tottenham Hotspur have been given hope of tying Harry Kane down to a new contract…

What’s the word?

In a recent column for the Telegraph, journalist Matt Law claimed that the smart money is ‘very much’ on the 29-year-old extending his current deal after sporting director Fabio Paratici conducted “phenomenal” work to keep him at the club.

Of course, the England international was heavily linked with a move to Premier League champions Manchester City last summer and even publically stated his desire to leave.

‘Those involved in talks about Kane’s future describe Paratici’s impact as “phenomenal” and with [Erling] Haaland now at City the smart money is very much on the England captain eventually signing a new Tottenham contract,’ he wrote.

Best business yet

Forget Richarlison, forget Cristian Romero, forget the lot. If Spurs can tie Kane down for the foreseeable future, then it would be Paratici’s best business yet.

After a slow start to the season in 2021/22, the Englishman bounced back and became a key cog in manager Antonio Conte’s system. He ended the campaign as their top goalscorer in all competitions on 25 goals, a feat that he has managed in each of the last eight years.

He also topped the charts for assists, too, managing ten, meaning he was the biggest threat for Tottenham in the final third.

Conte has regularly waxed lyrical about his talisman.

“To have a player like this in your team is very important. He can score goals and create chances. I like him as a person,” he told reporters (via the Daily Mail).

“Talented players don’t always want to work hard but from the first day I arrived here, he set an example. You think that’s normal but it’s not. Great players are sometimes lazy and that’s not him. He’s a big example for his teammates. He’s encouraging us to be competitive.”

It echoes his comments from many years ago, where during his stint at Chelsea, he dubbed Kane a “complete striker” and that he was “one of the best strikers in the world.”

Back in April, GOAL lauded the Spurs talisman in a similar nature, so that only goes to show the level of consistency that he has been delivering over a long period of time, despite the lack of silverware in N17.

With Law suggesting that it’s likely Kane signs a new contract, we should expect the prolific marksman to keep up such form over the coming season and beyond.

He and Conte are at the forefront of Spurs’ current transformation and that should leave many concerned with the club absolutely delighted.

AND in other news, Spurs can finally end their Pochettino nightmare as Fabrizio Romano drops exit update…

Manchester City managed to secure their fourth Premier League title in five years last season after beating Liverpool to the finish line.

One figure in Pep Guardiola’s squad that played a very big part in City’s previous campaign was Joao Cancelo.

With 36 league appearances to his name, the full-back racked up more minutes than any other player at the Manchester club.

In those appearances, Cancelo scored one goal and provided seven assists for the side, in addition to racking up more shots at goal (81) than any of his teammates. He also topped the list for successful tackles (54) and interceptions (75) at the club as he capped off an enthralling campaign in Manchester.

However, with the transfer window still very much open for business it could give the Citizens the chance to bring in what may well be their next version of the Portuguese defender.

One player that has been linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium in recent days would fit the profile is Benfica’s Alejandro Grimaldo.

In his 29 league appearances last season, the 26-year-old found the net five times and supplied five assists for his side, highlighting his attacking talent and the threat he carries in front of goal.

He also provided more crosses (172) than any other player at the Portuguese club as well as making 28 interceptions and 32 successful tackles.

This shows the clear attacking prowess he has as well as the useful defensive attributes he can produce, just like Cancelo.

His overall performances earned him a season rating of 7.28/10 from WhoScored, making him the fifth-highest rated Benfica player.

This backs up why he was hailed as being “one of the best five left-backs in Europe” by Benfica’s sporting director Tiago Pinto.

Bearing in mind how Cancelo worked his way through Benfica’s youth ranks at the early stage of his career, it shows an added similarity between the duo.

With a reported price tag of €20m (£16.8m), securing a deal for Grimaldo should be at the top of City’s priority list, especially as they could do with adding another full-back to their squad following the departure of Oleksandr Zinchenko and recent claims that a move for reported target, Marc Cucurella, has stalled.

The Daily Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards has dropped a Newcastle United transfer claim on Jack Harrison.

The Lowdown: Winger wanted

The St James’ Park outfit have been linked with moves for the likes of Harrison, Moussa Diaby and Anthony Gordon this summer, which would imply that they are looking for a new winger.

They have already done some shrewd business so far, bringing in Nick Pope, Sven Botman and Matt Targett, but now it is time for them to strengthen their options in the attacking third of the pitch.

The Latest: Harrison claim

Taking to Twitter, Edwards has claimed that a move for Harrison from Leeds United to Newcastle should not be ruled out, as the 25-year-old could be seen as an alternative to Diaby and Gordon.

The journalist stated: “I honestly wouldn’t focus too much on the Gordon interest as nobody seems to think it’s going to happen. Shows what #nufc want – young players who will grow with project over the next few years. I hope they can do Diaby deal personally. Don’t rule out Harrison if they can’t.”

The Verdict: Unlikely

Given that Jesse Marsch’s side have already sold Kalvin Phillips to Manchester City, and a deal for Raphinha to Barcelona is ‘almost done’ according to journalist and Barca Times chief reporter Shay Lugassi, it seems unlikely that the Whites would let Harrison go as well.

Called an ‘amazing’ and ‘absolutely fantastic’ player by Toon legend Alan Shearer upon scoring a hat-trick in a 3-2 win at West Ham United last season, the 25-year-old was Leeds’ second-highest scorer in the 2021/22 Premier League with eight goals, while he also claimed one assist and three man-of-the-match awards (WhoScored).

However, if the money put forward is right, the Tynesiders could still have a chance of signing the winger from Elland Road.

Tottenham Hotspur are still trying to sign Middlesbrough right-back Djed Spence this summer, and the Teesside club’s manager Chris Wilder has now dropped an update on the potential transfer.

The Lowdown: Stumbling block

According to football.london, Spurs’ managing director Fabio Paratici is keen to push through and make a deal with the Championship outfit for the 21-year-old, who enjoyed a fantastic breakout season whilst on loan at Nottingham Forest.

However, it is reported that coming to an agreement on a transfer fee has proven to be the stumbling block in negotiations, with Middlesbrough demanding an initial £15m with further add-ons, an arrangement to which which the Lilywhites are reluctant to agree (via Daily Mail).

The Latest: Wilder’s comments

Wilder has now commented on Spence’s potential move to Spurs, stating that the transfer is ‘taking its time’, but Middlesbrough are hopeful that it will come to a ‘quick conclusion’.

As reported by The Northern Echo (via football.london), Wilder claimed: “Hopefully, it will come to a quick conclusion because that would help everybody. That’s the way we’d like it to be, although the situation isn’t always straightforward.

“It is taking its time, but hopefully, it can get sorted. If not, then as I’ve said all along, Djed comes back to us.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-developments-2/” title=”Tottenham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Worth the wait

At just 21 years of age, Spence inevitably has a long-term future at the top of the game.

Pundit and former Premier League striker Ian Wright couldn’t praise the youngster enough, having proclaimed: “If we are talking about right-backs performing at an unbelievable level, we’re talking about Reece James and Trent, but I have not seen a combative, technical, swashbuckling performance like that for a very long time.”

With Antonio Conte looking to add a right-back to his squad to challenge Matt Doherty for the starting spot, Spence would appear to be an ideal candidate. The 21-year-old averaged 1.5 interceptions per game last season, level with Spurs’ best performer for that metric, while he also showed a willingness to take on opponents by completing 1.7 dribbles per game, better than anyone in Conte’s squad in 2021/22.

Therefore, for Tottenham, this is a prospective transfer worth a degree of compromise if that’s what it takes to get over the impasse in negotiations.

Gianluigi Longari has dropped an update on reported Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Raphinha.

What’s the talk?

In a recent post on Twitter, the Italian journalist revealed that, following Arsenal’s first offer for the Leeds United winger, Fabio Paratici is now preparing his own bid for the Brazil international – believed to be around £50m plus £10m in add-ons.

The Sportitalia reporter also went on to state that, while Barcelona are thought to be the 25-year-old’s first choice destination, the LaLiga side are yet to reach an agreement with the Whites regarding a fee for the forward.

In his tweet, Longari said: “Raphinha situation: Also Tottenham want LUFC winger and ready to submit an offer (50m+10m).

“Arsenal just submitted a fresh bid as per David Ornstein. Barcelona always first choice but no agreement with LUFC. Raphinha hasn’t decided yet.”

Supporters will be buzzing

Considering just how impressive Raphinha has been for Leeds following his £17m move to Elland Road back in the summer of 2020, it is not difficult to see why Paratici would be keen on a deal to bring the Brazilian to north London ahead of the upcoming 2022/23 campaign.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-much-more” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more!”]

Indeed, over his 30 Premier League appearances in 2020/21, the £40.5m-rated talent proved an immediate hit for the Whites, scoring six goals, registering nine assists and creating 12 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.2 shots, making 2.1 key passes and completing 1.9 dribbles per game.

These returns saw the £63k-per-week winger average a quite extraordinary SofaScore match rating of 7.14, not only ranking him as Leeds’ second-best outfielder in the league – behind only Kalvin Phillips – but also as the joint 30th-best player in the division as a whole.

Furthermore, despite Jesse Marsch’s side’s struggles in 2021/22, Raphinha still managed to catch the eye over his 35 top-flight outings last season, bagging 11 goals, providing three assists and creating 10 big chances, in addition to taking an average of 2.5 shots, making 1.9 key passes and completing 1.8 dribbles per fixture.

These metrics once again saw the former Stade Rennais star earn an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.97, ranking him as the Whites’ second-best outfielder in the league – this time behind only the imperious Liam Cooper – with the Brazilian playing a key role in Leeds’ securing their Premier League status heading into 22/23.

As such, it is undeniable that, should Paratici go on to land the 25-year-old this summer, Raphinha would make an exceptional addition to Antonio Conte’s current options in attack – something which leads us to believe that Longari’s latest update on Tottenham’s pursuit of the winger is sure to have left the Spurs faithful buzzing.

AND in other news: “People within his camp…”: Gold drops big Spurs transfer update supporters will love

Celtic are reportedly close to confirming an official permanent transfer for Jota from Benfica.

What’s the news?

According to a recent article from the Daily Record, the Hoops “are set to take up their £6m option” to purchase the winger from the Portuguese club after his recent season-long loan spell at Parkhead.

During his time in Glasgow, the 23-year-old made 40 appearances in total for the Bhoys across all competitions. In that time, the winger found the net 13 times and delivered 14 assists, showing that it wasn’t any trouble for him to settle into the team and become a deadly attacking figure.

In 29 league appearances, Jota scored 10 goals and supplied 11 assists, which goes to show how important he was in Celtic’s Premiership title charge as they ended the season with more goals scored (92) than any other top-flight team.

Great news for Celtic

To further highlight how dangerous Jota was in an attacking sense, only Liel Abada finished the season with more shots and shots on target in the league than the Benfica youngster among Ange Postecoglou’s squad.

Also, no other Celtic player came close to providing the number of crosses that the Portuguese gem delivered for his side (229).

Taking this latest behind-the-scenes development into account, it will surely be great news for the Glasgow club and their fans to be able to secure the talented winger on a permanent transfer.

If they can do so, it would then give them the chance to focus on securing other potential transfers that Postecoglou may feel the need to complete.

While the Bhoys will undoubtedly be setting out to retain their Premiership title next year, they will also be looking to go as far as they can in Europe and win the other domestic trophies as well.

To maximise their chances of doing so, Postecoglou will need to ensure that he has the right balance of quality and depth in his squad so they can go out and achieve their targets.

Looking back to last summer’s transfer window, the significant amount of business which took place during that period will surely give a lot of Celtic fans hope that the upcoming window can be just as fruitful for them once again, with Jota’s proposed arrival on a permanent basis kicking things off.

In other news: Celtic can replicate O’Riley masterclass by signing 21 y/o gem who’s “right up there”

Everton have secured safety in the Premier League ahead of their final game of the season after a difficult relegation battle and this afternoon the Toffees will travel to North London to play Arsenal.

Frank Lampard will be going into his first comfortable game since arriving at Goodison Park in January and can go into the clash against top four chasing Arsenal knowing that he has successfully completed the great escape from relegation to the Championship this season.

In terms of injury updates, Fabian Delph and Yerry Mina have both been confirmed as unavailable for the final game, and with Delph out of contract this summer it means that his outing against Watford may have been his last performance in an Everton shirt.

Andros Townsend and Nathan Patterson remain sidelined with long term injury issues, whilst Salomon Rondon will continue to see out his three-match suspension making him unavailable for selection for today’s game.

With that being said, this is how Football FanCast expects Everton to line up this afternoon…

We expect that Lampard will make just two changes to the team that beat Crystal Palace earlier this week, changing to a 4-3-3 formation.

The first change we predict is the introduction of Anwar El Ghazi who hasn’t been given the opportunity to show what he can offer to the Toffees since he joined on loan from Aston Villa in January, playing just 11 minutes over the last five months.

El Ghazi who was hailed “remarkable” by pundit Adrian Clarke, will unlikely feature on the wing as Anthony Gordon and Richarlison are likely to keep their spots, but could appear in an advanced midfield role if the Everton boss decides to give the player a chance to make his mark, replacing Andre Gomes.

We expect 28-year-old Gomes who was dubbed a “walking red card” by Greg O’Keeffe to lose his spot in the selection to make way for Donny van de Beek’s return to the side after being out with injury issues since the beginning of March, and will play alongside Alex Iwobi to complete the midfield three.

With safety secured it would be the perfect opportunity for Lampard to give opportunities to players that have been rarely seen but he will also want to end the season on a high by causing an upset at the Emirates against Arsenal who will be desperate to take all three points from the clash to keep their Champions League dreams alive for next season.

AND in other news: Lampard plotting Everton bid for £158k-p/w dynamo, he’d be a “joy to watch” 

West Ham’s signing of Nikola Vlasic has proven to be a disaster and following the summer addition of Lucas Paqueta, David Moyes must get ensure that he gets rid of the Croatian.

The Hammers paid £26m to sign Vlasic from CSKA Moscow last summer but his first season at the London Stadium was a hugely disappointing one, as he managed just one goal and two assists in all competitions.

This works out at around £8.6m per goal and assist, which represents terrible business by GSB, especially as he is now on loan with Torino in Serie A, where he has already exceeded his goal tally with the Hammers, scoring three goals in six appearances for Il Toro.

According to ExWHUemployee (via West Ham Zone), Vlasic earns £70k-per-week at West Ham, which suggests that he has been even more of a waste of money and the club should definitely look to move him on permanently, otherwise they risk paying him to sit on the bench until his contract with the Hammers expires in 2026.

Fortunately for Moyes, Torino hold an option to buy the Croatia international, so he will be hoping that he can continue his fine start to the season and convince the Serie A side to pay the necessary fee to sign him permanently.

It was definitely a strange decision from GSB to spend so much on Vlasic when you consider that he had contributed just two goals in 19 appearances during a spell with Everton, while his form at CSKA Moscow was impressive, as he hit 33 goals in 108 appearances but definitely did not justify such a large fee.

Paqueta, by comparison, would manage 21 goals and 14 assists in 80 appearances playing at a higher level with Lyon, while fellow summer addition Maxwel Cornet scored nine Premier League goals in a relegated Burnley side.

Therefore, it seems unlikely that Vlasic would be able to ever force his way back into Moyes’ plans, and considering his disappointing performances and the excessive fee West Ham paid, this signing must go down as a nightmare by GSB which Moyes must put an end to as soon as possible.

India have been the best and West Indies the worst when it comes to completing their overs on time

Sidharth Monga and Shiva Jayaraman12-Feb-2019There have been 485 of them since 1992; most have been brushed aside with a gentle rap on the knuckles, some have resulted in match bans, a few of them have brought about the threat of lawsuits, and a rare one was responsible for a mid-tournament captaincy switch that has since been outlawed.We are talking about punishments for over-rate offences, for which the ICC invariably gets criticised: “too soft” when overs are lost but allowances are made, “too officious” when a captain gets banned despite allowances. The ICC finds itself in a bind over a breach-related incident again, this time being criticised heavily with West Indies playing their ongoing third Test against England without captain and talisman Jason Holder.ALSO READ: Jason Holder slow-over ban is just ICC killjoys at workThe first thing to know on the subject is that the process is subjective but not arbitrary. In a Test match, you are expected to maintain a rate of 15 overs an hour; in an ODI, you are expected to bowl your 50 overs in three-and-a-half hours or bowl the opposition out before that; a T20I innings should go no longer than 90 minutes. There are allowances made: injury timeouts, DRS reviews, sightscreen problems, longer drinks breaks in hotter weather, any external delay beyond the control of the fielding captain.In April 2003, the ICC took the drastic step of bringing the captain under the ambit of match bans. In the six years leading up to that, starting 1997, international cricket lost 73, 59, 60, 77, 78 and, in 2002, a whopping 120 overs. On the final day of the Port-of-Spain Test of 2002, a fifth-wicket stand of two hours for just 73 runs frustrated India. There was still time for both outright results, but the draw became a real possibility. Now, imagine the situation if West Indies had not been caught short by 18 overs across their two bowling innings.Such were the matches that eventually resulted in ICC getting stricter. Even as the amount of cricket has only increased since, there has never been a year since 2003 in which 60 overs have been lost. The data available – on the ICC website for all to see – is not always complete, but here are a few trends that might reinforce certain views and surprise you too.West Indies are the slowest
This is perhaps no surprise. They bowl a lot of fast bowlers, they haven’t had a great spinner since 1992 to build an attack around, and they have not been the most disciplined side. Since 2003, West Indies have been 88 overs short in a total of 45 over-rate breaches. Pakistan – 32 breaches and 69 overs lost – are a distant second.Data for over breaches and overs short•ESPNcricinfo LtdRicky Ponting, Graeme Smith and Sourav Ganguly are the captains under whose watch a high number of overs were lost. However, while Ponting and Smith captained 287 and 286 matches to be short by 36 and 34 overs respectively, Ganguly captained in only 64 matches since April 2003, but was in charge of a team that was short by 31 overs. Virat Kohli’s side has been short by only one over in 129 matches played under him.Captains with no over-rate violations•ESPNcricinfo LtdIndia’s transformation
India began to transform as they became more and more spin-oriented under MS Dhoni, and then as a disciplined bowling unit on the whole, that still had enough spin, under Kohli. It might surprise you if you have seen a lot of Indian cricket in the 2000s, but India hold the longest streak without an over-rate offence. The last time they were found short was at The Oval back in 2014. Ravindra Jadeja has never been part of a side found short on overs. India’s is a streak of 216 matches, comfortably ahead of Bangladesh’s 190 at second spot. West Indies’ best streak has been 48 matches.Longest streaks without a breach•ESPNcricinfo LtdTeam-wise data for longest streaks without a breach•Getty ImagesIt’s not always pace
As you would expect, most of the breaches happen when a high proportion of overs is bowled by the quicks – when Faf du Plessis was banned recently, he bowled no spin – but there have been a few instances when sides have failed to maintain the acceptable rate even with spinners on. Rahul Dravid once bowled only 16 overs of pace in an ODI innings, and yet fell short by two overs – against Australia in Gwalior in 2003.Captains with the most overs short per match•ESPNcricinfo LtdDo Big Three players get away with it?That is the question always asked because the last few captains to be banned have been from West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies again, Sri Lanka again, Sri Lanka yet again, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Pakistan again. This is a question difficult to answer unless you sit with a stopwatch and note every allowance made for every delay during every match. If you agree, though, with match referees – and that’s their job so there’s little point doubting them without evidence – the penalties sound about right.Since 2003, in all formats put together, West Indies have been short in 6.45% of their matches, Pakistan in 4.38% and South Africa in 3.69%.Sri Lanka are an interesting case study. Their overall rate of breaches since 2003 – 3.24% – is close to India’s and Australia’s, but they have a big variance: excellent when at home, with the vast majority of the bowling done by the spinners, but slow when using quicks.Who goes over most often•ESPNcricinfo LtdDo over-rate penalties in Tests need a rethink?
Now to the biggest gripe among fans with these over-rate penalties. When Holder was banned, his side was short by two overs, in a Test ended in three days. Is the over-rate relevant then? Once the rule is in place, you can’t ask the match referee to be subjective in its implementation based on the number of days there were in the Test. So this has to be a question for the lawmakers. Also, even in a shorter game, if one side is bowling at a prescribed rate and the other not, there is a possibility the offending side’s bowlers are taking extra time to recover between overs and between balls.

Days Taken For Result Over Rate BreachesTwo 1Three 11Four 22Five 28For what it is worth, this is a poser for the lawmakers: in Tests with results, since 2003, there have been 62 over-rate breaches. Only 28 – fewer than half – of those matches went into the fifth day. Shane Warne recently suggested there should probably be no over-rate penalties if a Test ends in fewer than 225 overs, which is under half of the stipulated overs. Should the ICC make some allowance for matches that don’t go the distance or end in fewer than a certain number of overs?

The longest gaps between Test centuries by a player (since World War 2)

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-20163660 days Hamilton Masakadza (Zimbabwe)
July 2001 to August 2011 (Zimbabwe didn’t play Tests between Sep 2005 and Aug 2011)•AFP3639 days Bob Simpson (Australia)
December 1967 to December 1977 (Simpson returned from almost a decade-long retirement to lead a Packer-weakened Australia in 1977)•John Dawson/PA Photos3367 days Bert Sutcliffe (New Zealand)
November 1955 to March 1965•Huw John/ESPNcricinfo Ltd3234 days Mushtaq Mohammad (Pakistan)
July 1962 to June 1971•Getty Images