All posts by n8rngtd.top

Raheem Sterling won’t be leaving Manchester City to join FC Barcelona in January, according to Marca.

City are said to be unwilling to let Sterling leave The Etihad on loan midway through the campaign.

Sterling’s equalising goal in City’s 2-1 Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain in midweek was his fourth of the season.

The Englishman has now started, and scored, in back-to-back matches but game time has been limited overall.

The £300,000-per-week forward has started only four of City’s first 12 Premier League matches.

Sterling, who’s valued at £81million by Transfermarkt, will be out of contract at the end of next season.

Sterling not the only City player Barca fancy

21-year-old Spaniard Ferran Torres has, according to The Athletic’s Sam Lee, been ‘seduced by the idea of leading the line’ for Barcelona.

City are aware that he’s keen to move to the Camp Nou in January.

Fan feed City Xtra relayed Marca’s Sterling report, and here’s how supporters responded.

City fans celebrate news that Sterling won’t leave in Jan

“Sterling is staying in City no matter what happens go find someone else”

Credit: @Stark03865875

“Good, but Sterling deserves game time then…..”

Credit: @Goatdebruyne

“Super Raz is here to stay”

Credit: @curtis73479941

“Yesss”

Credit: @Mr_Magic_Bryce

“Phewww…”

Credit: @lqmnkhai

“This has been a good day of news”

Credit: @_TJ932O

“Dub”

Credit: @Irish_cityfan

In other news, a Bundesliga target has emerged for the reigning Premier League champs.

Many Wolves fans have been left fuming over some news which has emerged involving their January transfer plans.

As per The Daily Mirror, the club have no plans to spend significantly in the upcoming transfer window, despite pleas from Bruno Lage to do so.

The Wolves manager wants to bring in at least three new faces, but Fosun are not likely to grant him any major funds.

That is because the owners want to make the club self-funding and are mindful of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

Wolves do not have a particularly big squad and also have plenty of injuries, so it would be strange if Fosun do not dig deep into their pockets in order to help Lage, otherwise his squad could be depleted even further.

Wolves fans on transfer news

These Wanderers fans were left fuming as the news on their January transfer plans was shared by Talking Wolves on their Twitter page:

“#FosunOut”

Credit: @Gary_Poynton

“So short-sighted. Tell the fans one thing and do another”

Credit: @Ianph61

“Long may the pain continue”

Credit: @ChriWoodward

“We will be relegated next season if the squad is not improved in the next 2 windows. Heard it here first!”

Credit: @aimstocks2021

“Spend bottom half, get bottom half”

Credit: @Ashley19345299

“Really? Surely they won’t let him down again.”

Credit: @WolvesFirst

In other news, one Wolves player’s pre-Liverpool comments went down well with many supporters

After drawing 1-1 in their previous League One game against Oxford United at the weekend, Sunderland are back in action tonight with another home clash; this time against Morecambe, who are currently 15 places and 17 points below the Black Cats in the League One table. 

It’s no secret that Sunderland have a bit of an injury crisis at the moment, with the likes of Aiden McGeady, Luke O’Nien, Dennis Cirkin, Denver Hume and Corry Evans ruled out, and both Frederik Alves and Will Harris joining them after missing the match against the U’s. 

With this in mind, here’s how we feel Johnson could set his team up to take on Morecambe, with two changes from the XI which started against Oxford. 

In goal, we think Ron-Thorben Hoffmann will retain his place in the side to try and keep a first clean sheet since their 2-0 win over Ipswich Town last month. 

For the back three, we can see Johnson sticking with Callum Doyle and Bailey Wright on either side of Tom Flanagan in the middle after he impressed against Oxford. 

With Leon Dajaku scoring in the early stages of Sunderland’s previous league match, we reckon the manager will keep him in the side at left wing-back to see if he can add another goal to his tally. On the right, we think Johnson will drop Lynden Gooch after he failed to have much of an impact last time out, with Aiden O’Brien coming in instead.

For the central midfield positions, we can see Johnson keeping Dan Neil and Carl Winchester in the side but taking Alex Pritchard out after the Sunderland boss said that he took the player off in the second half against Oxford due to fatigue. 

In his place, we think Elliot Embleton, who is currently earning £5.3k-per-week according to Salary Sport, will make a return to the starting XI to see if he can help Sunderland secure another win and push them closer to the top of the table. 

At the top of the pitch, with Ross Stewart being the Black Cats’ top scorer by some distance this season, it would be hard to see him not start here, with Nathan Broadhead alongside him. 

In other news – Time’s up: Johnson must ruthlessly axe Sunderland’s “emotive” £5k-p/w dud tonight

Rangers are enjoying a fantastic season in the Premiership as the Glasgow giants currently sit top of the table after 16 games.

The Gers have won 12 of those matches, drawing three and losing one, and they sit four points clear of their nearest rivals in second as it stands.

GVB magic

Despite their success on the pitch, one player who has had an underwhelming season at Ibrox so far is Scott Wright. He has struggled to nail down a regular place in the side and has found game-time hard to come by under Steven Gerrard and now Van Bronckhorst.

The Dutchman now needs to work his magic to get Wright’s season back on track and turn him into a player capable of making the difference in the Premiership, having failed to do so thus far. In the league this season, the 24-year-old has made nine appearances (three starts) and produced one goal and zero assists as a wide midfielder.

As per SofaScore, he has lost possession of the ball 64 times this season, which averages out at 7.1 times per match, and has lost 56% of his duels on the pitch, winning just 1.9 battles per game. This shows how he has been a lightweight for the Gers in the top flight with his regular loss of possession, along with his struggles with the physical side of the game.

The fact that he also has just one goal contribution in nine games adds to the disappointment of the £5.6k-per-week dud’s season so far. However, all is not lost for him as he has plenty of time on his hands to turn it around and make a name for himself in Glasgow.

At the age of 24, he has room to develop and is far from the finished article. This means that Van Bronckhorst has the opportunity to work his magic with him on the training pitch to mould him into the perfect winger for his 4-2-3-1 system.

Wright showed a glimpse of what he can do in a cameo against Dundee over the weekend. As per SofaScore, he completed two of his three attempted dribbles and won three of his four duels, although he failed to translate that into providing a key pass or a shot on goal.

This is where the 43-year-old can step in and help him in training to develop his end product and teach him how to make better decisions when he gets into good areas in the final third. If Van Bronckhorst can do that and turn him into a quality option for the Gers, it would be a terrific piece of coaching from the Dutchman.

AND in other news, “They can get”: Exciting Rangers transfer claim made which will leave fans buzzing…

Writing for The Evening Standard, reliable reporter Jack Rosser has made a West Ham United transfer claim involving Liverpool defender Nathaniel Phillips.

The Lowdown: West Ham in defensive crisis…

As the Irons suffer a blow in their race for a top four finish, succumbing to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal on Wednesday evening, manager David Moyes’ task to keep West Ham fighting at the top could only get harder.

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Amid a hectic schedule with his side continuing to battle on all fronts, injuries to Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma have left Moyes short in central defence.

Only Issa Diop and Craig Dawson remain as senior options for the Scotsman, prompting the club to look at targets in the January window to reinforce West Ham’s options.

The Latest: Reliable reporter makes Phillips claim…

As explained by Rosser, writing for The Evening Standard, West Ham are ‘prepared to push ahead’ with a move to sign Phillips from Liverpool despite his fractured cheekbone.

Moyes is personally keen to add another central defender to his ranks with the 24-year-old a target and his recent injury apparently will not be a factor to West Ham swooping next month.

The Verdict: Right move?

As Liverpool slash his asking price from the summer, we believe the Hammers and recruitment chief Rob Newman could be striking a bargain if they move for Phillips.

The Athletic reported in the summer that FSG valued the player at £15m, with The Standard now claiming they will let him go for £10m, and West Ham should take full advantage of the discount.

Lauded as a ‘monster’ by manager Jurgen Klopp, Phillips contributed well during their injury crisis in defence last season – starting 15 Premier League matches and making more clearances on average than any Liverpool player (WhoScored).

Still at a fairly young age, the defender has many years to develop and mature into an even better option and the fact he is homegrown could come as an even greater incentive.

In other news: ‘Pleeease’, ‘I would cry’…West Ham fans erupt as Moyes now offered ‘quality signing’, find out more here.

Despite currently sitting in fourth place in the Championship table and just four points off the top spot, West Brom have scored the fewest number of goals out of any of the top five teams in the league at the moment with 30 scored in 23 games.

With this in mind and the fact that the January transfer window is close to opening, this could provide the Midlands club with the opportunity to strengthen their squad to put themselves in the best possible shape to attack the second half of the campaign and push for promotion.

In recent days, it has been reported by The Athletic that Barnsley striker Cauley Woodrow is “under consideration” for the Baggies to sign in January, which could be just what they need to progress.

The 27-year-old originally joined Barnsley on a loan deal from Fulham back in the 2018 summer transfer window before signing on a permanent basis in January 2019.

Overall, the striker, who is currently valued at £2.7m according to Transfermarkt, has made 151 appearances for Barnsley across all competitions, scoring 53 goals and providing ten assists along the way, showing how much of a goalscoring threat he could be for the Baggies.

With 42 appearances under Valerien Ismael during the duo’s time together at Barnsley, Woodrow managed to score 12 goals and provide six assists, showing that the West Brom manager knows how to get a tune out of the player and why it would make sense for them to reunite in January at The Hawthorns.

Labelled as a player that “carries a goal threat” by former Huddersfield Town boss and pundit Danny Cowley, Woodrow could be a great January signing for West Brom if he’s able to hit the ground running in terms of scoring goals and push the Baggies to promotion back to the Premier League.

However, with the striker playing the full 90 minutes in all but one of the 22 Championship games he’s appeared in so far this season, it could be tough for the Baggies to get Woodrow out of Barnsley based on how important he clearly is to their team.

Although, with Barnsley in the relegation zone with just 14 points on the board, a chance to secure promotion and play in the Premier League with West Brom could be rather tempting for Woodrow and possibly give hope to the Midlands club that they would be able to work out a deal to sign him in January.

In other news: Lai still wants to sell the Baggies

After not playing for a couple of weeks over the Christmas period, Leeds United are finally back in action when they take on Burnley at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side’s last Premier League outing came when they were beaten comprehensively by Arsenal in mid-December, and they face a Clarets outfit who are also in a perilous position near the bottom of the table.

The Whites were handed a significant boost ahead of the game, though, with Bielsa confirming that centre-back Diego Llorente is fit and available again for selection. If he comes through any late fitness checks, he surely must start against Sean Dyche’s side.

The “imperious” Spaniard became a regular in Leeds’ defence in the final few weeks of the 2020/21 season, starting 13 of the last 14 games in the top flight and coming up with some impressive performances, not least netting a late equaliser against Liverpool.

He earned a WhoScored match rating of 6.90 for that campaign, which marked him out as the Whites’ second-best centre-back after Cooper, who was also the only player at the club to win more headers per game than Llorente’s 2.2.

Former Leeds striker Noel Whelan raved: “He looked every bit that leader and that quality centre-half that we were all expecting when he signed for the football club. There was great excitement about him it took a long time to get to see him consistently.

“But when we did, we saw him grow and grow and grow. We saw him get stronger and better as the games went on. If you ask any Leeds United fan who watched him in that second part of the season and ask them who would be the first centre-half on the team sheet, they would say Llorente.”

With the Whites shipping an abysmal 11 goals in their past two Premier League games – albeit against Manchester City and Arsenal – having Llorente back could go a long way to restoring a bit of calm and composure in defence.

The £16.2m-rated ace could well be the game-changing return in defence which swings things back in Leeds’ favour heading into tomorrow’s clash against Burnley.

Meanwhile, this Championship ace “would jump” at the chance to join Leeds…

An update has emerged regarding a transfer offer for Rangers full-back Borna Barisic.

What’s the talk?

According to The Athletic, the Gers have rejected a £2m bid from English Premier League side Watford for the Croatian left-back.

The report claims that the offer was knocked back two weeks ago and that it would take a ‘significantly’ higher bid to convince them to part ways with the 29-year-old.

Fans will be delighted

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has averted a big Rangers disaster by not selling Barisic to Watford, especially for a mere £2m. Allowing the defender to exit would have left the club in a desperate position in the full-back areas, particularly with Nathan Patterson’s exit this week.

With Calvin Bassey emerging as a strong centre-back option for the Gers, James Tavernier and Barisic are the Dutchman’s only natural full-back options as it stands. Patterson had been providing cover on both flanks of late and the club may be forced to dip into the market to replace him, which illustrates how much of a problem it would have been to sell Barisic as well as the Scotland international.

Not only would it have created issues in terms of recruitment this month, it would also have weakened the team significantly, as the Croatian has proven his quality in the Premiership for the club.

Former Gers midfielder Alex Rae previously lauded the defensive monster, saying: “He performs at good level week-in, week-out and has terrific quality in the final third of the park.”

Barisic has averaged a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.30 this season from left-back in the Premiership, providing two assists in the process. Last term, he averaged a score of 7.40 and racked up six assists as he created 2.2 chances per game for his teammates.

This shows that he has performed consistently over the past 18 months and is able to carry an attacking threat with his crossing from out wide. Therefore, Gers fans will be delighted that he appears set to remain at Ibrox after the club rejected Watford’s offer.

As we’ve outlined above, it would have been a disaster for Van Bronckhorst if Barisic had moved on from Glasgow this month, and the 46-year-old will surely be looking forward to having him in his team for the rest of the season, assuming there are no more twists in the transfer window. The Croatian is a key member of the champions’ line-up, and fans will surely be buzzing to keep him.

AND in other news, Jordan Campbell drops key Rangers transfer claim, Van Bronckhorst will be buzzing…

Rangers have received a boost in their pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain’s Xavi Simons with the news from L’Equipe (via Get French Football News) that he is yet to sign a new contract. 

The lowdown

A report from Spanish outlet AS (via Glasgow Times) shortly before the turn of the year claimed that Rangers were leading the race for Simons, having opened talks with his agent Mino Raiola. The teenager, who joined PSG from Barcelona in the summer of 2019, is out of contract at the end of the current season.

Simons, who can play as an attacking midfielder, right winger and centre forward, has made four senior appearances for PSG, including two Coupe de France outings in the past month. He has also twice made the bench in Ligue 1 this season without getting any minutes.

The latest

The report from L’Equipe (via Get French Football News) claimed that PSG are at risk of losing Simons on a free transfer in the summer, having apparently become frustrated at the lack of first team opportunities afforded to him in the French capital.

Before he signs a new deal in Paris, the player wants guarantees that he will either be allowed to leave on loan for the remainder of the campaign or be properly integrated into the senior setup.

The verdict

This is a huge update from a Rangers perspective. It raises the genuine possibility that Simons will leave the Parc des Princes, and the Scottish champions appear to be at the front of the queue.

It would be some signing for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side. The Daily Record’s Robbie Copeland has written that the 18-year-old is ‘possibly the most exciting name Rangers have been linked with’; while another sports journalist in Maxi Angelo has raved about the teenager’s ‘spectacular’ showings in the UEFA Youth League after he produced three goals and six assists in the group stage of the tournament.

Even if the £1.6m-rated gem does sign a new deal at PSG, all hope may not be lost. If Simons gets his loan wish, he could still end up at Rangers on a temporary basis.

In other news, many Rangers fans flock to this double exit claim

Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis will ‘definitely leave’ Parkhead, should Ange Postecoglou add another forward, according to pundit Frank McAvennie.

The Lowdown: Source shares update

The Hoops have already brought in two forwards this year in Daizen Maeda and Johnny Kenny.

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Jota is also closing in on a permanent transfer, with sources close to Football Insider claiming Celtic want another wide forward on top of Maeda and Jota.

One player who has been linked is Shabab Al-Ahli’s Mehdi Ghayedi, and should the Hoops bring another in, McAvennie thinks Giakoumakis could make way.

The Latest: McAvennie’s comments

McAvennie was talking to Football Insider following the possibility of Celtic signing another forward.

He believes a third forward could spell trouble for Giakoumakis, who cost the club £2.25m over the summer when Dominic McKay was CEO.

“I’ll never say no to new strikers coming in.

“I think we have some great strikers. Kyogo has obviously proved it and the new guy Maeda is really exciting.

“I look at Ajeti and he’s not done it. I’ve said enough about him at this point.

“Giakoumakis, he’s not done anything really, has he? He barely plays and I do wonder why did we sign him?

“I don’t know if it’s a fitness thing or if he’s not up to the task but he was on fire last season.

“He doesn’t look right here. I just wonder if a loan spell might be best for him.

“I think if another striker comes in then he will definitely leave. The squad needs to be smaller now, not bigger.”

The Verdict: Patience required

Giakoumakis is an out-and-out centre-forward, whereas Maeda can turn out on the wing along with Jota.

The 27-year-old has only started two games for Celtic due to injury, so patience may be needed instead of shipping him out months after spending millions.

Should the Hoops add another striker this month to grant Postecoglou his wish of a third wide forward, then perhaps it would be wise to sell Albian Ajeti instead, who has had numerous chances in Glasgow.

Reports in November suggested Celtic would look to cut their losses on Ajeti, and if they do, that would leave Giakoumakis to battle Kyogo Furuhashi and Maeda for a central role.

In other news: Journalist drops big transfer claim as Celtic eye £12.5m-rated midfielder; Ange ‘a big admirer’.