All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

News has emerged about Sheffield Wednesday forward Josh Windass, regarding interest from Championship clubs.

What’s the talk?

According to the Sheffield Star, Championship sides Fulham and Birmingham are both interested in signing Sheffield Wednesday forward Josh Windass. Both sides are said to believe that they can strike a bargain deal for Windass due to Wednesday’s off-field issues in regards to their finances.

The report claims that Wednesday manager Darren Moore is a big fan of Windass and would like him to stay at the club next season. However, it does not state Wednesday’s official position on whether or not the club are open to selling Windass this summer, nor does it say what Wednesday believe Windass is worth.

Sky Sports pundit and former England international Sue Smith praised the forward earlier this year, labelling Windass as a constant “threat”. She told Sky Sports, as transcribed by Yorkshire Live:

“He’s just a constant runner and a constant threat.”

Chansiri must avoid mistake

Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri must avoid a grave mistake this summer with Windass. Amongst all the upheaval on and off the pitch, Wednesday should not be looking to sell their top goalscorer from the season just gone.

A number of first-team players will be leaving the club at the end of the month, including Joost van Aken, Elias Kachunga, Tom Lees, Joey Pelupessy, Adam Reach, Jordan Rhodes and Keiren Westwood.

This shows how depleted Moore’s squad already is ahead of the club’s return for pre-season next month. Chansiri sanctioning an exit for Windass would be the icing on a cake that Moore doesn’t want to eat.

Windass scored nine and assisted five goals in the Championship last season, which made him the club’s top scorer and joint-most creative outlet in the second tier. The former Rangers man proved his quality at that level and showed enough to suggest that he could thrive in League One and play a key role in any potential promotion push for the club next term.

The £10k-per-week ace, therefore, needs to stay at the club next season if Wednesday and Chansiri harbour any ambitions of returning to the Championship at the first attempt.

Selling him now could be a major error by Chansiri and he needs to make sure that Windass is still in Moore’s squad next month and that he’s ready to play his part in the 2021/22 League One campaign.

Moore has already lost the aforementioned players due to their contract situations, but Windass still has another year on his deal and Wednesday should be looking to make the most out of him over the next 12 months.

AND in other news, Get it done: Chansiri must seal SWFC swoop for £1.5k-p/w prospect, Moore will love it…

Tottenham Hotspur have made Joachim Andersen their top summer transfer target but only once they resolve their managerial situation…

What’s the word?

That’s according to Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, who dropped a fresh claim on Twitter earlier this week, where he suggested that the Fulham loan star is firmly on Spurs’ radar.

He wrote:

“Tottenham are working to resolve the manager situation then the board will decide on new signings. Joachim Andersen is the main target as centre-back – he wants to stay in Premier League, #THFC want him. Many European clubs are interested too.”

The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke has also revealed that the Danish defender has “chosen that he would like to come to Spurs” but the North Londoners are yet to open negotiations with his parent club, Lyon.

Andersen is expected to cost around £25m, as per the Telegraph, though as Romano states, there will be stern competition from right across Europe.

Imagine him under Pochettino

This off-season is certainly going to be an interesting one for the Lilywhites as their search for Jose Mourinho’s successor rumbles on. And one claim this week has linked Mauricio Pochettino with a sensation return to the club.

The Argentine was sacked over 18 months ago and is currently at Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain, though he’s thought to be open to coming back to the club.

Andersen is the sort of player that Pochettino would love in the heart of defence, especially as that is where Spurs need an overhaul the most.

As explained perfectly by The Athletic earlier this campaign, defensive issues and a lack of cohesion has been the defining theme of Tottenham’s terrible season.

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

Mourinho couldn’t settle on a backline, using over 16 different combinations, but you can hardly blame him when you’ve got to pick between Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez in the middle.

If Levy does manage to secure the 49-year-old, then he’ll only have the exact same problems, which is why a move for Andersen makes a ton of sense.

Despite being relegated with Fulham, the 24-year-old colossus has impressed massively, leading to praise from those in and around Premier League football.

For instance, ex-Wimbledon star Robbie Earle dubbed him “absolutely sensational” to his ‘The 2 Robbies’ podcast, whilst the Daily Mirror’s chief football writer John Cross hailed him as “magnificent” earlier in the campaign.

When comparing Andersen to Dier, there’s a clear standout, too.

The 6 foot 4 giant vastly outperformed the Spurs defender, yet it is he who tasted relegation. That says more about the Englishman than it does the Lyon loanee.

As per WhoScored, Andersen won more aerial duels (3.2 per game), registered more interceptions (1.4 per game), made more tackles (1.2 per game), and was more successful in finding the opposition offside (1.1x per game) than Dier.

His passing range is phenomenal too, having averaged a whopping 5.8 long balls per game, and that’ll please Pochettino and his system even more.

It means he not only reads the game better than the Spurs star but he also performed better, despite tasting relegation, in comparison to Spurs’ seventh-place finish.

Evidently, the £26m-rated centre-back is a huge upgrade on Dier, who was snubbed from England’s European Championship squad this week.

Levy could begin to turn things around in N17 if he were to land both Pochettino and Andersen as his first two pieces of business this summer. He must get this deal done.

AND in other news, Spurs surely risk losing Harry Kane after talks with “pathetic” ex-PL man with 30% win rate…

Wolves legend Steve Bull has told Football FanCast that Adama Traore is too good for Leeds and should be targeting at top four club should he leave this summer.

The flying winger still has more than two years remaining on his deal, but hasn’t yet committed his future to the club, with talks over a new long-term contract still ongoing.

Traore, who was once called “unplayable” by Jurgen Klopp following Liverpool’s 2-1 victory at Molineux last January, has been on Leeds’ radar for some time, and their pursuit of the Spaniard could be helped by reports suggesting that Wolves are looking to cash-in on the ex-Barcelona man.

The 25-year-old is still one of the most feared attackers in the Premier League, but only managed two goals last season, both coming in the final eight matches, whilst chipping in with three assists in 37 league appearances.

Despite his uninspiring goalscoring numbers, Bull exclusively told Football FanCast that Traore is still be world class on his day and therefore ruled out any potential move to Elland Road this summer:

“He’s too good to play for Leeds, that’s no disrespect to Leeds, but if he’s going to go anywhere, he will go to a top four club or go back home to Spain.

“When he turns it on, he’s a world beater, but I’m hoping he stays and wherever Nuno goes won’t tempt him, but I can’t see him going to Leeds.”

Some West Ham United fans were livid after Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher chose Pep Guardiola over David Moyes for Premier League Manager of the Year on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.

Moyes has done a fantastic job with the Hammers this season. Last year the Irons were in danger of relegation, but this time around they have battled for a spot in the Champions League and, with three games left, they still have a chance of doing so.

While Manchester City are closing in on the Premier League title, they are expected to do so given the budget Guardiola has at his disposal – what Moyes has achieved is almost miraculous.

However, when discussing who should win the Premier League’s end of season awards, both Neville and Carragher went for Guardiola over Moyes. This did not go down well at all with plenty of West Ham supporters, some of whom took to social media platform Twitter to share their disappointment with the pundits’ decision.

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

“Moyes deserves manager of the season”

Credit: @addictedgamble9

“Moyes has to be manager of the season, we were 17th last year looking awful and with 3 signings no-one’s ever heard of he’s got us to challenging for champions league, legend.”

Credit: @SkirthLiam

Only two clubs out of 20 made a profit in the summer window, West Ham and Leicester City. Now look at the table. There’s absolutely no way Pep deserves to be picked as manager of the year over Moyes and Rodgers. @Carra23 and @GNev2 have both got this one wrong imo.

Credit: @rbm1895

“Both stupid fools choosing Pep as manager of the year and really Cavani? Man U biased signing of the year is easily Coufal or Soucek, manager of the year Moyes easily!”

Credit: @JTEST1995

“just shows how little spotlight we get because we aren’t a big six team and don’t spend hundreds of millions every window”

Credit: @HarryMorganWHU

“Pep’s taken a team backed by ridiculous amounts of money and done what he should be doing each year, Moyes has taken a team on the brink of relegation to battling for the CL – joke of a pick”

Credit: @Fred_Johnston

In other news, some West Ham fans slammed this man’s performance against Everton.

Leicester City have been linked with a move for Manchester United winger Dan James ahead of the upcoming transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to Manchester Gazzette reporter Paul Swinson, the Foxes are interested in acquiring the 23-year-old’s services as they look to add some strength in depth to their first-team squad over the summer.

It’s reported that the Red Devils are unlikely to retain James for the 2021/22 campaign if Jadon Sancho arrives from Borussia Dortmund, with a loan deal including an option to buy anticipated.

Rodgers must avoid

Brendan Rodgers guided his Leicester side to their maiden FA Cup crown this season, defeating Chelsea 1-0 in the showpiece event at Wembley Stadium.

However, a defeat to the Blues in the league, and fellow losses to Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, meant the Midlands outfit won just one of their final four Premier League fixtures, ensuring they narrowly missed out on a Champions League qualification spot once again.

It was a cruel ending to an otherwise excellent campaign for the Midlands outfit but serious injuries to the likes of Harvey Barnes, James Justin, Wilfried N’didi and James Maddison at various points throughout the season hampered their progress.

The 2016 English champions have consistently punched above their weight since Rodgers arrived two and a half years ago, but breaking into the top four is still an achievement that has eluded them under the Northern Irish manager.

Compared to their rivals at the upper echelons of the top-flight, Leicester have relatively modest resources and have founded their success on smart work in the transfer market, often buying young stars full of potential for low prices before selling them on for an astronomical profit.

However, James does not fit into that category. The Wales international has showcased his lighting God-given pace, an incredible work rate and an ability to press intelligently during his two-year stay at Old Trafford but has often struggled to make a meaningful impact upon games, especially with the ball at his feet.

The youngster has scored just nine goals and provided a further nine assists in 71 appearances for United, not a terrible return but certainly not of the level that Leicester require to close the gap on their more affluent competitors.

Rodgers is perhaps, understandably, looking for someone to replicate the sheer speed and directness that Barnes offered in abundance before he was sidelined with a knee injury, although the £45,000-per-week James is not the solution.

While Barnes offers an end product and bags of potential to go alongside his natural assets, the same can’t be said about James, and if Rodgers pursues a deal for the £16.2m-rated forward (as per Transfermarkt), it would be a big mistake.

And, in other news…68% pass accuracy: Leicester ace blew the Foxes’ top-four hopes with hopeless display 

Jurgen Klopp has paid Leeds United a huge compliment ahead of their clash with Liverpool, describing them as a ‘special’ team.

The Whites return to Premier League action on Monday night, with the 2020 champions making the trip to Elland Road.

It has the potential to be a hugely exciting game with huge amounts of energy on show, with both Leeds and Liverpool known for playing attractive attacking football and playing out a 4-3 thriller at Anfield on the opening day of the season, .

[freshpress-quiz id=“351040″]

Klopp lauds ‘special’ Leeds

Someone who clearly thinks highly of Leeds is Klopp, with the German waxing lyrical over them in his pre-match press conference on Saturday as he said: “Leeds is probably the most ‘different’ game in the league. Leeds are really special.”

Transfer Tavern take

When somebody of Klopp’s legendary stature speaks so highly of Leeds, it says a huge amount about the job Bielsa is doing at Elland Road.

The Argentine deserves immense credit for making the Whites so much more than just a normal promoted team who are expected to instantly return to the Championship, leading his side to 10th place in the top flight as it stands.

Monday’s game is set to be an intriguing match-up, but the tactical battle between Klopp and Bielsa on the sidelines could be as fascinating as the on-pitch action.

In other news, one Leeds player has been tipped to start against Liverpool – find out who it is here.

Luke Edwards has dropped some interesting insight on arbitration and the potential takeover of Newcastle United.

As per a tweet from the Daily Telegraph journalist, the Premier League are ‘extremely confident’ that they will win the pending case against the Tyneisde club, which they believe is ‘watertight’.

He also claimed that it is a ‘hit and hope’ and a ‘long shot’ for Mike Ashley, adding that he has ‘never been confident’ himself that the Magpies can win the legal battle.

Newcastle takeover worry

If the Premier League are as confident as Edwards claims that they are, then it is certainly a worry for Newcastle going into the hearing.

A negative result for the Magpies in this case could well kill the hopes of a potential takeover by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group once and for all, but conversely a positive one may pave a pathway for the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to come back onto the table – if they are willing to do so.

Nonetheless, everything is all speculation up until this point, and Newcastle should now be focusing on making sure that they copper-fasten their Premier League status for next season.

In other news, find out what big claim on the potential takeover Ben Jacobs has been dropped!

Fans of Sunderland have been reacting to a post on Twitter, in which the Black Cats relayed footage of Jordan Jones back in training at the Academy of Light.

Since arriving at Sunderland on a four-month loan deal back in January, Jones has highly impressed over his nine League One appearances for Lee Johnson’s side, with the winger scoring two goals and providing three assists, as well as averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.04 – ranking him as the club’s eighth-best performer in the third tier.

However, after picking up an injury in the Black Cats’ 2-0 win over Portsmouth towards the start of March, the Rangers loanee has missed the club’s last three league fixtures.

Although, it appears as if the 26-year-old could be back in action for Sunderland in their upcoming fixture against Oxford United this Friday, as the club shared footage on Twitter of the winger in first-team training, with the account adding that Jones will be “back soon”.

And, in reaction to the footage, fans of Sunderland flocked to have their say on the matter, with many appearing delighted at the prospect of Jones returning to first-team football in the very near future.

So, what exactly did these Sunderland fans have to say in reaction to the club’s update on Jordan Jones?

“Fantastic news ahead of a critical period of the season.”

@eab1992

“He could be a game-changer against Peterborough.”

@markbol1972

“Get the bloke signed ASAP.”

@harryeddowes

“Like a new signing (again). He’s different class at this level.”

@LiamIDST

“Great news.”

@LeeOliv19354993

“Welcome back Mr Jones, you’ve been a miss.”

@TomNelson73

In other news: loads of Sunderland fans were ecstatic after the club confirmed this ‘absolutely magnificent’ news – find out more here!

Marcus Bent has exclusively told Football FanCast that Declan Rice and Michail Antonio are the “backbone” of West Ham’s team amid their recent double setback.

Rice, whose recently been wearing the armband in the absence of Mark Noble, is the heartbeat of the Hammers midfield alongside Tomas Soucek, whilst only the Czech Republic international has scored more than Antonio this season (7).

However, following on from Rice’s knee problem which is expected to keep sidelined for around four weeks, Antonio’s campaign might be over completely having sustained a hamstring injury during their victory at Wolves on Monday.

West Ham boss David Moyes said that Antonio “didn’t feel too bad” after the game at Molineux, although scans has revealed that Antonio’s hamstring is worse than first feared – with the former the Sheffield Wednesday man set to spend around four to six weeks on the sidelines in what’s quickly turned into a wretched week for the European hopefuls.

With Sebastien Haller sold to Ajax in January, the Hammers have no other senior striker in their squad, and Bent told Football FanCast that it’s going to be difficult for them:

“He’s their only recognised striker at the moment. Personally he’s doing well, so to get an injury at this crucial time in the season is a big blow to West Ham and himself.

“Two players going missing that are kind of the backbone of the team, it’s going to be hard for them.

“Football has a way of hitting you in the back of the head when you’re least expecting it. They’ve got players in there.”

Rangers’ 22-year-old midfielder Jamie Barjonas is looking set to seal a loan move away from the club.

Barjonas is yet to play even once in the Scottish Premiership for the Gers this season, and it seems as if he is set for a temporary move away from Ibrox.

Barjonas could to Ayr United move

The Athletic’s Rangers journalist, Jordan Campbell, has recently reported about Barjonas’ situation at Ibrox. He claims that the 22-year-old is now training with Ayr United and the expectation is that he will seal a loan move away from the Gers soon enough.

His contract at Rangers expires at the end of the season, but the journalist provided no further information about when the loan deal at Ayr United will expire.

The Leeds-born midfielder has been on the bench for the Gers multiple times in the Europa League this season. He’s also made it to the bench a couple of times in the Premiership (as per Transfermarkt).

Loan move could benefit Barjonas

The midfielder is a product of the Rangers youth academy, but he has spent multiple loan spells at clubs like Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers and even Bury (as per Transfermarkt). He has played only nine times for the Rangers first-team and his last appearance came in the 2017-18 season.

It is time for the Gers to part ways with him and in the summer, they should allow him to leave Ibrox permanently so he can find more consistent playing time.

In other news, Kevin Campbell has discussed the future of Alfredo Morelos – read more about it here.