All posts by z3u9t.icu

Heading into the New Year period, Dion Sanderson was very much a bit part of this Sunderland side.

The 21-year-old had started just two matches for the Mackems and it was looking like a failed loan spell.

The defender arrived from Wolves last summer but it’s taken until recent months for the young prodigy to finally make his mark.

His form has been exemplary too. Sanderson has formed part of a centre-back pairing that kept five clean sheets in a row prior to the 1-1 draw with Lincoln.

It almost defies belief, therefore, that he didn’t receive much of a chance in the early months of the season. It will be a decision that Phil Parkinson rues but one that’s seen Lee Johnson take Sunderland to the next level.

With Sanderson in their backline, the Black Cats have risen to third in the League One table. He has stepped up admirably with a number of defenders out injured.

Without troubles to the likes of Tom Flanagan, Jordan Willis and Bailey Wright, he wouldn’t have got a chance.

His opportunity has come about as mere good fortune. That being said, he has taken it on excellently and flourished under the stewardship of Johnson.

Sanderson has started nine consecutive league games at centre-half, winning 18 aerial duels and making 30 clearances over that time frame. His numbers are phenomenal and as a result of his performances, Sunderland want him back next season; that’s regardless of the division they’re in.

It’s something that Kevin Phillips would love to see. Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, he said: “He’s been very impressive and has looked assured and confident on the ball, so yes, it’s no surprise he’s getting linked.”

Phillips continued: “I hope that he finishes the season strongly and helps them go up. I’d love to see him stay at the club next year because I think he’ll just continue to get better.”

If Sunderland don’t achieve promotion then bringing him back to the Stadium of Light will surely be much harder for Kristjaan Speakman. After all, the young defender has already played at Championship level for Cardiff City.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-sunderland-news-and-gossip” title=” Latest Sunderland news and gossip!”]

If you heed the notion from Phillips that Sanderson will only get better, it’s hard to see his future in the third tier.

He has been so impressive and so vital to Sunderland that they simply have to try and bring him back. Wolves will have little use for him in the Premier League so it would be surprising if a deal couldn’t be struck.

That being said, it will surely all hinge on promotion. Johnson knows what he must do.

AND in other news, Drop him: Sunderland gem who lost 67% of his duels continues to let Johnson down…

Many Everton fans have been left to laud an update from Paul Joyce on his Twitter page.

As per a tweet from The Times journalist, the plans of the Goodison Park faithful to develop their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock can now proceed after the Merseyside club’s planning application received official approval from the government.

It means that work on building the new ground can now start and if everything goes to plan, the Toffees faithful will have a new home to go to in just a few years.

It is exciting times ahead for several Blues supporters as while some may be sad to leave their old stadium, the prospect of a brand new one certainly has the potential to elevate them to the next level as a football club.

Everton fan reaction to Joyce’s Bramley-Moore Dock stadium update

These EFC fans lauded the update on their proposed new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that it was ‘huge’ news:

“Every single narrow minded Kopite fuming. Let’s go Blues. NSNO.”

Credit: @Jeffreyhitchmo1

“COYB”

Credit: @venicebeach73

“Wohooooo”

Credit: @Gwall91

“HUGE”

Credit: @S34nR

“But I thought “Robert Elkstone” had been informed it was off? Up the progressive Toffees”

Credit: @RealBobbyRooney

“Whoop Whoop”

Credit: @nismoneil

In other news, find out what Everton ace wants to leave after a scary development here!

Southampton fans are far from happy with comments from Nathan Redmond ahead of their F.A Cup semi-final this weekend.

The Saints will travel to Wembley on Sunday to play Leicester City for a place in the final. Despite losing 3-0 to West Bromwich Albion on Monday, the St. Mary’s Stadium outfit will at least be happy to be playing a side who themselves are struggling for form in the Foxes – they have lost their last two games (lcfc.co.uk).

Redmond was speaking ahead of the clash, and he was discussing the contrast with Southampton’s last semi-final appearance in 2018. On that occasion, they were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea, and the £16.2m-valued 27-year-old (Transfermarkt) said that at the time there was no aspiration for success amongst the Saints players, although now they are in a far better position to prevail.

These comments were shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and it is fair to say the fans were disappointed. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the comments from Redmond below

“Appreciate his honesty but what a disgrace. In a semi final and no aspiration to succeed?!!”

Credit: @saintdansmith

“Behave”

Credit: @BuildABonfire

“This is throwing it on the line. Saying how up for it everyone is and how good the atmosphere is after a 3-0 spanking by a poor team means if we don’t turn up then we have some very big questions to answer.”

Credit: @Andrew_Stokes_

“He knows people actually watched the West Brom match right!?”

Credit: @JamesBrooksAP

“Imagine saying that out loud in any other job? Let alone a well paid one.”

Credit: @papaschmoo

“how can he say this after the wba game”

Credit: @jahgsvlayso

In other news, Southampton fans slammed this man against West Brom.

Kris Boyd believes Glasgow Rangers must offer new deals to Steven Davis and Allan McGregor to keep them at Ibrox beyond the end of the season.

Boyd makes contract claim

Both Davis and McGregor are over 35 and are set to be out of the contract at the end of this season (Transfermarkt).

Speaking to Sky Sports (via Glasgow Times), Boyd has urged the 55-time Scottish champions to offer new deals to the duo. He said:

“There are some players in there who are out of contract – Allan McGregor, Steven Davis – and it’s important, I think, the club get them tied down.

“They have been crucial to everything Rangers have done this season, along with a few others.

“But it’s very, very important that you don’t stand still and you come back to win things.

“The recruitment in the summer is massive, to take Rangers on and consolidate that level of performance – or up it – and go again next season.”

Experience

Given they are fast approaching the end of their careers, Steven Gerrard will not be able to rely on the duo to play every single week. However, they have both played important roles this season as the Gers have ended their 10-year wait for a major trophy and still have something to offer.

The Gers could well be competing in the Champions League next season – McGregor and Davis are two of the few players in the squad who have previously played in Europe’s premier club competition. The advice and guidance they can offer to their younger teammates is priceless. As Boyd says, Ross Wilson and co must make sure the pair are still at Ibrox next term.

In other news, some Rangers fans slam comments from this politician.

A finance expert has dropped a transfer claim on Tariq Lamptey, who has previously been linked with a move to Everton despite his new deal at Brighton.

Speaking to Football Insider, Kieran Maguire has claimed that his new contract at the Seagulls would not be an issue if the Goodison Park faithful or other linked clubs in Manchester City and Arsenal would wish to sign him in the near future, and also revealed the new wages that he has heard Lamptey is on and an estimated transfer fee for the England U21 international:

“It’s estimated at £40,000 a week. That would be about right, as far as what I’ve heard.

“The only issue would be if there is a release clause in the contract.

“If you look at the benchmark, Aaron Wan Bissaka went from Palace to Manchester United for £45million, I would imagine that’s going to be the ballpark figure in terms of a transfer.

“The new deal is a non-issue. It protects the player in that it guarantees him money in the event of a serious injury. It also keeps him happier as he’s now seen as a key part of the first-team squad and he’s being remunerated as such.

“But that kind of money is chicken feed for clubs like Everton. So it will not be an issue at all as far as potential suitors are concerned.

“I don’t know if Chelsea have a buyback clause but I think they’re probably on a share of the profits.”

Lamptey worth the money for Everton

Given that he is English and just 20 years of age, a transfer fee of around £45m would not be a bad one at all to pay for Lamptey, considering the potential that he has to become a top-class right-back.

Noel Whelan has previously labelled him as a ‘very exciting’ player and it is not a surprise that the likes of the Merseyside club as well as Arsenal and Manchester City are reportedly interested in his signature.

With Seamus Coleman being 32 years of age now, Carlo Ancelotti’s team need to start looking at a replacement for the Republic of Ireland international sooner rather than later, and Lamptey may well be a good fit.

In other news, find out which Toffees man has been linked with a move away here!

Both the Leeds United players and fans will be reeling from their latest Premier League result. A trip to the Emirates ended in disaster for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, who were handed a 4-2 defeat thanks to a relentless Arsenal.

Whilst this hasn’t dented their season too much, slipping down a spot in the league table will have definitely rubbed Leeds up the wrong way.

They will aim to come back with a vengeance in their next challenge which will see them take on Wolves on Friday – just two points separate the two teams at the moment, so the Whites won’t want to take another loss and slip further down the table.

Bielsa’s team has been hammered with injuries this season, and they are currently missing summer signings Diego Llorente and Robin Koch. They have also lost the likes of Kalvin Phillips on multiple occasions and are without Rodrigo at this point as well.

The Whites have been without his influence in midfield for the last three fixtures, after he picked up a muscle problem against Leicester in their 3-1 win.

According to Sky Sports, Ian Poveda was similarly forced out of action after an ankle injury caused him problems during an U23s clash.

However, fresh ahead of the looming fixture against Wolves, Rodrigo has given his teammates and fans a beacon of hope. The midfielder, dubbed a “class act” by Phil Hay for his impact on the team already, has taken to Instagram to post a positive message regarding his fitness.

The £57k-per-week summer recruit has posed at Thorp Arch with the caption ‘Day by day’. Fans have naturally flooded the comments section with their excitement as he could potentially be available for the upcoming clash at Molineux.

It could be a potentially huge boost for Leeds if they can include Rodrigo in their matchday squad this weekend.

They heavily missed his creative spark against Arsenal – averaging a joint-third number of key passes per game (1.3) – and could pose serious problems for the Wolves backline, who have leaked 25 goals from 24 games this term.

In other news, Ezgjan Alioski’s performance vs Arsenal may have sealed his fate…

Mark Douglas has dropped an inside claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.

Writing in his latest piece for The Chronicle, the football journalist has claimed that “sources close” to the buying side “insist” that the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would return to the table if a path was made clear for them to come back, and also added that Inter Milan “reached out” to the Saudis over a potential deal with them instead.

Newcastle takeover hope

Even though there have been rumours swirling of PIF making a move for the Serie A club as Douglas points out, it is not really clear just how interested they are in pursuing that deal, given that Inter reached out to them rather than the other way around.

The fact that PIF would also return to the table if a pathway is cleared is also promising news in terms of the potential revival of the original deal with Mike Ashley.

However, they are currently off of the table at the moment and could easily change their mind if the St. James’ Park faithful were to find themselves relegated from the Premier League down to the EFL Championship.

Nonetheless, the North East club need to fully focus on avoiding the drop for now and then deal with any potential takeover scenarios at the end of the 2020/21 term.

In other news, find out whose display against Aston Villa was slammed by Lee Ryder here!

Speaking in a press conference before this afternoon’s FA Cup trip to Marine, Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho confirmed the latest on Giovani Lo Celso and his absence – going on to say that he is ‘not going to play’ for the next few weeks due to his hamstring injury.

Lo Celso was shining in the number 10 role for Tottenham just before his lay-off, becoming a threat just behind star attackers Son Heung-min and Harry Kane.

Mourinho confirms Lo Celso latest

Alongside Tanguy Ndombele, the Argentine had been rotating as an attacking midfielder and put in some dazzling displays for the Lilywhites.

However, after picking up an injury to his hamstring, Lo Celso still faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines as Mourinho confirms the latest on his absence – with the Portuguese revealing he will remain unavailable for the next few weeks.

“Gio is injured. I don’t know for how long but he is not playing in the next few weeks, it is not a simple situation, he is not going to play in the next few weeks,” he said.

“Lamela maybe [will be involved]. I am waiting for tomorrow. So tomorrow, last day. Lamela possible.”

Transfer Tavern take

Described as ‘exciting’ by midfielder Harry Winks, Lo Celso had grown into a key attacking figure for the Lilywhites – but this news indicates that Spurs fans will not see him back in action for a while and will certainly miss this afternoon’s trip up north.

Gabriel Agbonlahor, speaking to Football Insider, reacted to this development and insists it is a ‘big blow’ for Tottenham.

When he will return for Spurs remains to be seen, but fans will be hoping it is soon rather than later.

In other news: Daniel Levy has entered talks to sign this ‘leader’ for Spurs, find out more here.

Glasgow Rangers once again gave away a two-goal lead against Benfica in the Europa League, and James Tavernier was not at his best on the night at Ibrox.

In Portugal, the Gers were pegged back to 3-3 after leading 3-1 with under 15 minutes left. It appears they didn’t learn much prior to Thursday evening, with Benfica once again levelling things up from a two-goal deficit. All in all, it is not the end of the world – the Gers are top of the group and remain unbeaten in 22 games in all competitions – but it will be frustrating for Steven Gerrard that they were unable to close the game out.

Captain Tavernier was not at his best. It was his own-goal that got Benfica back into the game, and he lost possession 20 times overall throughout the match. He is the club’s top goalscorer so far this campaign, but that did not stop a number of supporters slamming his display. They took to Twitter to do so.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about Tavernier below

In other news, this Gers man has been tipped to depart Ibrox soon.

Aston Villa have been handed a major boost in the race to sign Milot Rashica, after Bayer Leverkusen’s sporting director, Simon Rolfes, played down a potential move for the winger.

What’s the story?

Reports over the summer transfer window suggested that the Kosovo international was a key target for Villa as they looked ahead to their second season back in the Premier League.

It was claimed that after initially wanting to stay in the Bundesliga, the £16.2m-rated Rashica had a change of heart and was open to a move to the Premier League and join Villa, with Dean Smith’s side ready to cough up big money.

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And with reports in recent weeks claiming that Villa are contemplating reigniting their interest in the forward in January, they were given a significant boost when one of their rivals for his signature, Leverkusen appeared to pour cold water over a move.

Rolfes said: “That was a consideration in the summer, especially because of the many games in the autumn. In the winter we will re-evaluate it but at the moment he is not an issue.”

Another exciting signing for Smith

With Leverkusen seemingly bowing out of the race for Rashica, Villa may well have an open road to luring him to the Premier League in the upcoming January transfer window.

The 24-year-old has struggled with injury problems this season, making just five appearances, but when he is fit and firing, he is an explosive attacker who could bring yet more pace and dynamism to Villa’s attack.

Hailed as someone who “makes scoring look easy”, Rashica can play anywhere just behind the striker and even up front too, and that kind of versatility will be like gold dust to the Villa boss.

It seems like a no-brainer for Villa to go after him next month. Johan Lange must surely be licking his lips.