All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Michael Brown has hailed the signing of Dominic Calvert-Lewin after Everton U23 boss David Unsworth claimed that his transfer fee was ‘a lot less’ than £1.5 million.

Speaking to Football Insider, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United central midfield player was asked about the England international’s transfer from Sheffield United:

“I think if you look, it’s been documented that Sheffield United didn’t want to let him go, things were moving on and Everton came in and got him.

“Unsworth knows all about him, Chris Wilder said some nice things about him last week, he’s had a good couple of weeks. 

“It’s good business, as many years as a young player it looks great business now but you’re still taking a risk with these young players when you’re talking £1million – not so much now but when Calvert-Lewin’s deal was going through, that was different.”

Calvert-Lewin transfer was ‘great business’

Indeed, the transfer of Calvert-Lewin to the Goodison Park faithful from the Blades was clearly ‘great business’ as Brown has claimed.

The 23-year old currently has a market value of £36 million (Transfermarkt), and so if he were to be sold by Carlo Ancelotti in the near future, the Merseyside club would make a fairly hefty profit on him indeed.

Calvert-Lewin has recently been linked with a big-money move to Real Madrid for €40 million, which equates to just over £36 million.

Dominic’s dominance

Indeed, Calvert-Lewin has been great so far in the 2020/21 term, as the striker has scored no fewer than ten goals in just seven matches over all competitions so far, including a hat-trick in both the Premier League and Carabao Cup (Transfermarkt).

If his scoring streak continues, Calvert-Lewin may well be a hot contender to win the Golden Boot award, which would be a big achievement for the forward.

Nonetheless, the sum of money that the Blues paid for him has clearly been money well-spent, and given that he is just 23 years of age at the moment, he is only going to get better and thus his market value is surely only going to rise.

Evertonians, find out which other European giant has been linked with a move for DCL here, and do not forget to comment below!

Here at the Transfer Tavern, we recently wrote about how midfielder Bongani Zungu looked to be nearing a move to Glasgow Rangers. This possible transfer has got many talking, including former Scotland and Gers defender Alan Hutton.

The Scotsman reported that the Ibrox outfit are currently discussing personal terms with the midfielder, who plays at Ligue 1 side Amiens, and that they look to have put in a bid close to £4 million (£3.6 million) for Zungu.

Speaking about the possible transfer to Football Insider, Hutton said: “We’re talking around £4million for a player who’s been relegated, one year left on his contract – it’s a bit steep, I would think.

“I don’t know too much about him but I know that the scouting system has worked really well at Rangers so to be forking out that amount of money for a player, I’m not so sure if it’s the right thing to do.

“They obviously see something in him they like, he’s an international player, he’s played at a high level so you’d like to think he can come in and do a job – we don’t know exactly how he’s going to settle in so I would see that one as a bit of a gamble.”

The South African international has made 57 appearances so far for his current club, scoring twice and assisting three goals, per Transfermarkt, and also has experience in the top tier in Portugal, making 27 appearances for Vitória Guimarães.

It’s hard to disagree here about the signing being a gamble, any player not proven in the domestic division that they are going to can always be a risk, and £4 million is a lot of money to be spending on an unproven player with just a year left on his contract.

However the scouting system at Rangers has worked well recently, bringing in players like Ryan Kent, Joe Aribo, Alfredo Morelos, and Conor Goldson. Even though on paper it does not look like the right thing to do, supporters of Glasgow Rangers should trust Steven Gerrard’s judgement.

Glasgow Rangers fans, do you think the signing is a gamble? Comment below!

Paul Pogba has been linked with a move away from Manchester United this summer and he has now some may think he has dropped a huge hint on social media.Â

Pogba’s official Twitter account tweeted the word “TOMORROW” followed by the eyes emoji

It doesn’t seem like his agent Mino Raiolo will take down the tweet, but @this_is_MUFC has made a backup copy just in case.

The French midfielder’s future at Old Trafford has seemed far from certain ever since he re-joined the Red Devils for a then world-record fee worth £89m from Italian champions Juventus in 2016.

Both his old club and Real Madrid have been heavily linked to the 69-cap France international, but Fabrizio Romano recently revealed he wants to sign a new deal with Man United.

His contract is set to expire inÂ2021, with the option to add another year, amid renewed interest from Zinedine Zidane’s side.

It is understood that relations between the Red Devils and Raiola are improving, while United are convinced they can keep him at the club fore the foreseeable future.

However, fans could be left disappointed as the tweet may be about him dropping a new line of merchandise instead.

German sportswear company Puma tweeted the same message, including a seven-second clip of a player wearing some new boots.

Pogba has dropped plenty of hints about his future in the past, although a move has failed to materialise so far.

His cryptic post could have no connection to a new contract and may be part of a sponsorship instead.

However, he is still an official Adidas athlete, but this might be about to change. Puma are Manchester City’s £650m kit sponsor, so this may cause an uproar if it turns out to be the case. The 27-year-old is close friends with Romelu Lukaku and Antoine Griezmann, who are part of Puma’s stable, so they may have had a part to play in convincing him to sign a new deal.

Nevertheless, Solskjaer remains confident the club can reach an agreement with Raiola in the summer.

And the manager believes he could be the man to take United to the next level by claiming their first piece of silverware this season.

United fans,Âare you confident that Paul Pogba will sign a new contract? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Newcastle United’s prospective £300m takeover appears to still be some way off being complete this week after journalist Paul Smith delivered this latest update.He claims that the Premier League still haven’t given any confirmation over the deal and those involved remain “completely in the dark” over the situation.Smith tweeted this afternoon:

This is rather a cause for concern that the relevant parties involved haven’t received the slightest bit of information regarding the owners and directors test. The claim also suggests that both the buying and selling side know as much as the fanbase right now.

It’s been around two months since the news first broke about the Magpies potentially being sold to a Saudi-backed consortium. Several reports have created doubt on the situation in recent weeks, which wasn’t helped by Premier League CEO Richard Masters barely giving anything away in an interview on Friday.

Best of the Decade: Top scorers & creators – Can you name them?

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

The truth is, no one really knows when – and even if – the takeover will go through, especially with ‘Project Restart’ being centre of attention for the top-flight at the minute.

AND in other news, Newcastle fans react to update on season tickets…

Arsenal and Manchester City go head-to-head at Wembley this weekend for a place in the FA Cup final.

For the Gunners, who have won the trophy a record 13 times, it acts as a welcome distraction from what has been a difficult Premier League campaign.

But for Man City, the FA Cup acts as the perfect opportunity to bring some success to a campaign which has seen them toppled from their Premier League throne by Liverpool.

Mikel Arteta’s North London outfit are in weird form, having following up a 2-1 defeat to rivals Tottenham with a victory over Champions Liverpool by the same scoreline, and this inconsistency is threatening their participation in any continental competition next term.

Man City, meanwhile, are in search of a yet another piece of silverware under Pep Guardiola and with second place in the league all wrapped up, their attentions will now be on this competition and, of course, the Champions League.

Form

As we’ve already established, Arsenal’s form has been a bit inconsistent over the last week, which has led to them currently wondering whether lifting the FA Cup will be their only route into the Europa League.

In this competition, Arsenal are undefeated in 27 of their last 30 FA Cup matches, while in all competitions they’ve lost just once in seven outings.

Pep Guardiola’s side are bidding to retain the FA Cup, and they’ll be the first team to do so since their opponents Arsenal did it between 2013 and 2015.

They should be confident of at least making the final given their recent record against the Gunners – they’ve won their last seven matches against the North London side.

Team News

Arsenal will be without the cup-tied Cedric Soares, but also have a number of key first-team players out injured, including Bernd Leno, Gabriel Martinelli, Calum Chambers and Pablo Mari.

Eddie Nketiah is suspended and, as is almost always the case, there are doubts over Mesut Ozil’s involvement.

Man City’s only doubt for this game is Sergio Aguero, and it’s expected that Guardiola will be looking to field a very strong XI after rotating heavily over his last couple of league outings.

Cup goalkeeper Claudio Bravo is expected to replace Ederson between the sticks.

How to Watch

Fans can tune in to watch the FA Cup live on TV this weekend via BT Sport, with the game scheduled to kick-off at 7:45pm.

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…

Ben White has only played 19 games at Championship level in his young career and he’s already impressed enough to be linked with moves to some of the biggest clubs in England.

Indeed, White is reportedly the subject of interest from the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool, but he’s never really been tested by top-level opposition.

Watch Leeds United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

He’s been brilliant this term, winning 3.3 aerial duels per game, as well as making 2.6 interceptions, but it’s hard to gauge whether or not he’s ready to play for one of those clubs as he’s only playing in the Championship.

For as much as Leeds fans adore the centre-back, it’s impossible to deny that he hasn’t played against top-class opposition during his first season in the Championship. He’s only ever played against one Premier League side as he faced off against Tottenham during his loan spell with Newport back in early 2018.

It’s fair to say that White has made a bit of step-up since playing for the League Two outfit as he’s recently been compared to John Stones, and this upcoming game against Arsenal is his chance to prove that those comparisons aren’t premature.

This will be White’s first opportunity in almost two years to play against Premier League opposition, and with top-flight clubs having eyes on him this will be his time to show exactly what he can do against some of the best attackers in the country.

Whether or not the Brighton loanee steps up to the plate or not remains to be seen, but regardless of whether he flourishes or flops, this could be a vital moment in the 22-year-old’s career.

Meanwhile, Leeds fans have been expressing their disdain for the latest Elland Road trend.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

West Bromwich Albion sit top of the table once again thanks to one man’s heroics this weekend. With other results going their way on Saturday afternoon, Slaven Bilic’s side now have a two-point cushion at the summit.

Snapshot

The Baggies had to work hard for their win, however, as they came from behind to snatch all three points at Birmingham City.

Lukas Jutkiewicz headed the home side in front early on before Grady Diangana’s effort soon evened things out, but then straight after the break, Harlee Dean handed the Blues the lead once again.

Watch West Bromwich Albion Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

The game looked to be heading towards just Albion’s second defeat of the season until Bilic introduced Charlie Austin.

He scored an eight-minute brace to swing things in their favour starting with an outrageous half-volley from outside the area.

Then nine minutes from time, he met Darnell Furlong’s cross from deep with a textbook back post header.

Off the Bench

Despite being limited to substitute appearances over the last few weeks, Austin is finally starting to show why West Brom paid £4m for him in the summer.

He’s been a useful option since he joined the club but Saturday afternoon really displayed the predatory Championship striker we’ve seen for years at long last.

Both goals were sublime attempts – even the latter displayed the sort of movement from your striker that you’d expect in the top flight. Superb.

The 30-year-old has now scored six times in their last five matches taking his total to eight in all competitions this season, making him the top goalscorer for the Baggies. That’s something that was hard to imagine at the start of the season when he could only score once in 11 league games – via Transfermarkt.

Austin must surely be making Bilic think differently with January soon on the horizon.

[ad_pod ]

In other news, supporters have been slamming one Baggies player following the victory over Birmingham…

Leeds fans have been discussing a pivotal moment from the officials which ensured they were able to claim victory over Luton Town on Saturday.

The moment was, of course, the decision from the linesman to rule a Hatters’ goal offside, a strike that would have given them a 2-1 advantage and therefore put them in a strong position to win the match.

There is controversy surrounding it, too, as a Leeds player on the far side appeared to be playing James Collins onside, and therefore the goal should have stood.

[ad_pod ]

Some Leeds supporters are still doubting the validity of the goal, while others are dismissing the event, claiming that they are on the receiving end of bad decisions on a regular basis.

As a result, they argue that such calls balance themselves out over the course of a season, meaning the Whites are due their good luck on this occasion.

Responding to a tweet from Phil Hay, here is some of the discussion taking place between fans in response to the question of whether the goal was offside or not.

Elsewhere, fans have been discussing the performance of former Leeds loanee Izzy Brown on Saturday.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

It seems as though Everton have a particular lure to South America at the moment.

Not only are they lining up Flamengo boss Jorge Jesus as a potential successor for Marco Silva, but Gabriel Barbosa also remains someone they admire.

Yet, a further individual who could walk through the doors of Goodison Park in January is Rafael Santos Borre.

The River Plate forward, who scored in the Copa Libertadores final, is the subject of interest from the Toffees according to FOX Sports, via Publimetro.

[ad_pod ]

On the chalkboard

Everton clearly need more goals in January so it’s unsurprising that they’d be in the market for an extra forward.

Borre, who is currently aged 24, certainly fits the bill as someone who could lend them an extra hand. He’s scored seven times in the Superliga this season while also picking up a solitary assist.

That comes in just 11 games and is a tally that passes each and every one of the current playing staff at Goodison.

Find out what happened when a world-record-holding freestyler attempting skills with the worst pair of boots available on eBay in the video below…

Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have three each but Cenk Tosun has just one to his name. However, it is the former Juventus man Moise Kean who should be left to fear the most if the Colombian arrives.

The young striker has already been disciplined this season for arriving late to a team meeting twice and although he’s only been in Merseyside for a matter of months, he’s been treated in a rather bizarre way.

Despite Everton’s goalscoring woes, he’s remained on the bench and has started just two Premier League outings.

If he’s already struggling for regular opportunities now, the addition of another forward would be incredibly detrimental for Kean.

The 19-year-old’s mother was told he was going to be looked after when he joined but from a playing perspective that definitely hasn’t been the case.

Amassing just 288 minutes in the top-flight, he’s yet to score for the Toffees and there is already pressure mounting on a man who arrived from one of the giants of Italian football.

There is plenty of potential for him to grow but that may not be realised if he’s bumped further down the pecking order.

Landing extra firepower in Borre would be smart, but Everton must be wary at the same time.

Meanwhile, check out why Jorge Jesus would be a gamble for Everton…

Tottenham will be absolutely kicking themselves after their match against Everton at Goodison Park.

After three Premier League games without a win, it looked as though they might be on the way to picking up maximum points against the Toffees when they were 1-0 up with less than 15 minutes to go. Dele Alli had opened the scoring following Son Heung-Min’s assist.

However, the South Korea international was then sent off for a foul on Andres Gomes, which ended with the former FC Barcelona man being taken off the field of play on a stretcher.

The 27-year-old was clearly upset with his tackle and the pattern of the game hinged on that ghastly and unfortunate moment, with Cenk Tosun equalising in the last minute for the hosts.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The Spurs fans were particularly upset with one man’s display – Lucas Moura. The £36m-valued Brazil international – as per Transfermarkt – started up front in place of the ill Harry Kane, but he was largely ineffective as Mauricio Pochettino’s side could only come away with a 1-1 draw.

They took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.