All posts by z3u9t.icu

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Danny Murphy believes that Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane would get into Liverpool and Manchester City’s teams at this point, per talkSPORT.

What’s he said?

The former Spurs midfielder believes that the forward would be excellent for both clubs as he discussed with Adrian Durham the possibility of Kane departing Tottenham.

And he says that both Liverpool and City would look to do everything they could to bring him in.

He said: “Liverpool or City, would he get in both teams? Would Liverpool and City fans take Harry Kane now?

“I think Harry Kane would get in Liverpool’s team ahead of (Roberto) Firmino because I think he’d score more goals. I love Firmino but he’s not Harry Kane.

“And I think with (Sergio) Aguero being nearly 32, I think City fans would welcome Harry Kane with open arms.

“That’s not to say he’s better than Aguero, City fans aren’t going to have that argument, it’s not about that.

“But right now if Harry Kane was on the shopping list, would City fans be happy?

“What would he cost? That’s another question because you’ve got FFP as well. It could be a world record.”

Futile discussion that sums up talkSPORT

This is just unnecessary from Murphy.

Clearly, he has been asked a question on talkSPORT and they aren’t exactly known for their subtle approach to the big issues.

But one has to wonder why exactly they are discussing the prospect of Kane moving when we’re in November and Liverpool are already running away with the league.

Sure, Spurs are in a tricky spot – they lie 14th in the Premier League – but this is akin to throwing a dart at a board and picking a topic from that.

Kane has never once suggested that he could leave Spurs, he is tied to a long-term contract that doesn’t expire until 2024 and, as Murphy actually alluded to, it would cost a fortune to get him.

This kind of radio is purely designed to bait fans and Murphy has done just that; not only has he suggested Kane would get in those teams, engaging City and Liverpool fans, he’s also suggested he’s better than Firmino in a completely arbitrary statement that isn’t based on a great deal of evidence.

But then again, nothing on talkSPORT is.

Southampton recently announced that St Mary’s would host The Killers on their 2020 tour, with the Las Vegas band heading to the English stadium next June.

The tweet was always going to bring an interesting reaction from the club’s supporters, who have not been too happy with what they have seen from their team this season.

And it was not a surprise that many took the chance to troll their own side.

Watch Southampton Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

The Saints have lost each of their last four matches in all competitions, whilst they are without a win in the Premier League since the middle of September.

As a result, the strugglers are 19th in the Premier League table ahead of this weekend’s trip to Unai Emery’s Arsenal.

The announcement was supposed to draw attention to the musical performance next June, but the supporters were only thinking about football when they responded.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

Douglas Luiz played the full 90 minutes as Aston Villa recorded a 2-0 win over Newcastle United in the Premier League on Monday night.

And a number of the Villa fans have taken to social media to praise the Brazilian.

Conor Hourihane made the breakthrough in the 32nd minute of the contest before Anwar El Ghazi struck four minutes later to make it a long way back for Newcastle.

[ad_pod ]

The Magpies ultimately could not recover at Villa Park despite Andy Carroll, Dwight Gayle and Christian Atsu all being thrown on in the second half.

And many of the home team’s supporters believe that Luiz was a key contributor to what was Villa’s fourth league victory of the 2019/20 campaign.

According to WhoScored, the 21-year-old had a pass success rate of 84%, whilst he also managed four shots and two dribbles during a positive performance.

A selection of the Twitter reaction to Luiz’s display against Steve Bruce’s side is available to view below:

Meanwhile, a number of Villa fans have insisted that one man deserves international recognition for his form this season.

Arsenal fans have been reacting to another potential exit this week as right-back Hector Bellerin is said to have multiple clubs interested in him over a potential summer switch.

According to FC Inter News, the Nerazzurri are looking for a younger alternative to wing-back Antonio Candreva ahead of next season and the Gunners’ Spaniard is on the list.

Spot the fact from the fib: Are these Premier League records true or false?

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

It’s claimed that La Liga duo Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are also keen on Bellerin, but a move to Italy would be his preference, which has left many at the Emirates Stadium in debate.

The 25-year-old has struggled for game time this campaign following a left ACL tear back in January 2019 and a hamstring injury. He has featured only 14 times and is also now the team’s vice-captain.

Bellerin is currently under contract until the summer of 2023, which would carry him past ten years at the club.

Here’s how the Gunners faithful has responded to the transfer claims…

AND in other news, Arsenal fans go nuts over Mesut Ozil’s Twitter post about former player…

In the early stages of Lucas Leiva’s career, it’s fair to say he wasn’t exactly every Liverpool fan’s favourite player at Anfield, even being booed by sections of his own fans during a clash against Fulham – a moment that he described as the “worst”.

But the man signed for just £6m from Gremio back in the summer of 2007, eventually proved his worth big-time on Mereyside, and more than vindicated the kind of faith showed in him by Rafa Benitez – the man who brought him to English football in the first place.

In fact, speaking after the confirmation of the move, Steven Gerrard waxed lyrical about what Lucas could bring to the table. He said: “From what I’ve seen of him so far he’s got everything you need in a Liverpool player; good touch, good passing and he’s also a good lad off the field. I expect him to be knocking on the door of the first team before too long and hopefully, in time, he can help us win many trophies.”

The Greatest Bargains in Premier League history – How much did they cost?

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

And after that difficult start, there can be no question that Lucas established himself as a key part of the first-team squad at Anfield. Perhaps rather surprisingly, he ended up making a total of 346 appearances for the club – a total that puts him 47th in the all-time list for Liverpool, even above names like Kevin Keegan, Michael Owen and Didi Hamann.

When the midfielder eventually did depart Anfield to join Lazio in a £5m deal back in 2017, he was the Reds’ longest-serving player at the time. The exits of both Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano really paved the way for him to make his mark on Liverpool’s midfield, and he was even voted the Fans’ Player of the Year back in 2011.

Journalist Juliette Ferrington spoke glowingly of how the Brazilian really excelled during Kenny Dalglish’s time in charge. She said: “The Brazilian survived under five different managers and it was perhaps fitting that it was Kenny Dalglish who presented Leiva with a golden ’21’ – his squad number – on the last day of last season to mark his 10 years at the club.

“It was under Dalglish’s management the midfielder excelled. He refused to buckle under unforgiving pressure and worked hard to earn the respect of the crowd, answering his critics with endless effort and energy.”

He may not have started off as a fans favourite, but Lucas certainly turned things around by the end.

Meanwhile, Liverpool fans react to this update on ace.

Very few Australian footballers have had quite the impact on these shores than the likeable Tim Cahill.

A prolific goal-scoring midfielder – where in total he scored 125 goals from 528 games in English football for both Millwall and Everton – Cahill is best remembered for not only being one of the best headers of a football in the Premier League, but also for his iconic punching-the-corner-flag celebration that he unleashed after every one.

The celebration alone was clearly enough to ensure the organisers of the NHS Charities Together Cup pair him up alongside Dillian Whyte and the famous Evertonian, Tony Bellew, in Team Apollo, where they’ll be facing off against the likes Tekkers Kid and Lando Norris.

What is the NHS Charities Together Cup?

A group of celebrities, including former-sports stars, comedians and actors, have signed up to compete in the NHS Charities Together Cup, which aims to raise £100m in support of the current Covid-19 crisis.

The FIFA 20 competition will involve eight all-celebrity teams, with three celebrities per team, going head-to-head in 12-minute long FIFA 20 matches. Fans will be given the chance to vote for who they want to see compete from every team in each round.

The competition’s organisers, Celebrity e-Sport, hope to raise a huge £100m for NHS charities together during these desperate times for all the care workers on the frontline, who are putting their own lives at risk to help save ours.

Team Zeus v Team Ares

Ben Stokes v John Terry

Stuart Broad v Paddy McGuinness

Jos Buttler v Jonny Brownlee

Team Apollo v Team Nemesis

Dillian Whyte v Lando Norris

Tony Bellew v SV2

Tim Cahill v Tekkers Kid

Team Hercules v Team Iris

Justin Rose v Kem Cetinay

Joe Root v Chris Hughes

Ulisses v Shaugna Phillips

Team Artemis v Team Poseidon

Leah Williamson v Shaun Wright-Phillips

Erin Cuthbert v Joleon Lescott

Viv Miedema v Fabrice Muamba

For more information on the event and how you can donate, click here.

Celtic fans were celebrating the historic Centenary double they achieved back in 1988 on Thursday, and a fan page found a video of Tommy Burns’ interview after completing this great campaign. This is causing a lot of the Hoops faithful to rave over the former player.

Winning both the league and the Scottish Cup is a great moment in any campaign, but do to it in a centenary season makes it even sweeter, and it goes down as one of the great moments in the history of the club, per Transfermarkt.

Burns was a key part of the squad for 16 years, and made 467 appearances throughout his career with the side, scoring 81 goals along the way, per thecelticwiki. He also returned to the club as manager for three years from 1994-1997 and won one trophy whilst in charge.

Even though he only managed to pick up one piece of silverware whilst in the dugout, he won a crazy amount of trophies whilst playing for the club as he lifted the league title six times as well as five domestic cups.

In the interview, he expresses how good a connection he has with the fan base, as he said, via Celtic Lisboa, “They’re there and they’re always there, and god bless every one of them.”

Fans still appreciate these words as they flocked to the post to praise the midfielder, with one labelling him a “Celtic great”:

Celtic fans, how good was Tommy Burns? Comment below!

Arsenal should sign Gabriel as transfer news emerged from Le 10 Sport that the north London club remain likely to make concrete progress in the near future in terms of securing the LOSC Lille central defender in the upcoming summer transfer window.

As per the outlet, the file is still on the Gunners’ table, however, a deal has apparently been very advanced with an English club, probably Everton, but no final agreement has been reached to date.

The price set by the French club, around 30 million euros (roughly £26.9 million), could partly explain it, but according to the publication’s information, AFC, who have been interested for several weeks in the Brazilian defender, would keep the option open.

Indeed, Gabriel has produced some relatively impressive stats in Ligue 1 this season, as he wins 6.3 duels per game and also averages 3.3 clearances, 1.7 tackles and 0.9 interceptions per match, according to Sofascore.

These are key areas for a centre-back that Gabriel has arguably excelled in, as he could add some steel into Mikel Arteta’s team for next campaign.

If the 22-year old is signed, then the Spanish coach should consider partnering him up with the returning William Saliba, who may have learned a lot from Gabriel having played in the same domestic league with Saint-Etienne.

Also, being left-footed, Gabriel would perhaps bring a nice balance to the possible partnership if he plays on the left side of the 19-year old.

With the global pandemic potentially hitting clubs like Arsenal hard financially, £26.9 million may prove to be a decent price as other sides go hunting in the market.

Gooners, could Gabriel be an ideal partner for Saliba? Comment below!

Manchester United have been chasing Jadon Sancho’s signature for a number of months, with seemingly no end in sight. 

However, the Red Devils have now been handed a confidence boost by one of their former players.

Louis Saha believes Sancho would be a perfect fit for his old club, after the Manchester Evening News revealed United want to sign the winger in the summer.

Last week, ESPN reported that the Reds are leading the race to sign the Borussia Dortmund star. Sports journalist James Benson added the youngster has told Dortmund he wants to leave and return to his homeland.

After establishing himself at the Signal Iduna Park, Sancho has become one of Europe’s hottest talents.

The former Man United striker told beIN Sports (as relayed by Goal) “he is a player that is uncatchable.

“He’s very clever, quick, very precise. He’s got the legs, the stamina, the quality. He’s very creative for that type of player.

“When you have all those things, like I said about speed and creativity, but precise as well, so imagine how deadly these things are.

“You can’t stop the guy and at the same time he’s very precise because he knows how to stop when passing the ball.”

It is hard to argue with Saha on this one, as Sancho is one of the most coveted wingers in the world.

Indeed, Premier League rivals Chelsea were interested in the England international, but Frank Lampard has decided to turn his attention to Bayer Leverkusen ace Kai Havertz.

The 20-year-old, who is the Bundesliga challengers’ top scorer this season, has scored 17 goals and 16 assists in the Bundesliga so far.

Saha’s vote of confidence will no doubt give his former teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer some encouragement, as Paul Merson has now urged the Blues to sign Sancho instead.

The Red Devils have been linked to the Englishman for a very long time, originating from Jose Mourinho’s turbulent time in charge at Old Trafford.

Solskjaer was planning ahead for a squad overhaul before the nationwide lockdown was imposed in response to the coronavirus crisis (ESPN).

It seems the Norwegian has stayed firm as he is keen to sign his top transfer target in the summer, and it appears he could be about to beat all competition for the winger in a matter of weeks.

United fans, do you think Jadon Sancho is coming to Old Trafford? Let us know down below!

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.