All posts by z3u9t.icu

West Ham have been given a clear run to sign Andrea Belotti in 2022, according to emerging reports…

What’s the word?

The long-serving Torino talisman was a tentative target for Irons boss David Moyes throughout the summer, with even the reliable ExWHUemployee mooting the club with interest at one stage.

And now it appears the 28-year-old forward will be available for nothing from January as he will be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with any team outside of Italy, thus opening the door for the east Londoners to strike.

“Andrea Belotti has chances to leave Torino as [a] free agent next summer, as things stand now,” revealed transfer expert Fabrizio Romano earlier this week. “He’s out of contract in June 2022 and he has not accepted yet last Torino proposal to extend [his] current deal.”

Back in May, some reports in Italy suggested the Hammers were even the ‘front-runners’ to seal Belotti’s signature, so he’s certainly a player on their radar.

Bargain swoop

The Irons were merely one striker away from achieving a very successful summer transfer window. It is the one position they still lack considerable depth in and it absolutely has to be the top priority for new head of recruitment Rob Newman.

Moyes only has one senior centre-forward at the club in Michail Antonio, 31, who has suffered from his fair share of injury problems throughout his time at West Ham. Indeed, he hasn’t started more than 24 league games across the past four seasons, largely due to those aforementioned issues.

He missed the Hammers’ first defeat of the season through suspension and his presence was sorely missed in the final third.

Without him, it means the Scottish coach has to turn to someone like Jarrod Bowen to play out of position, which seems like a crazy scenario to be left in considering they are vying for a top-six finish and are competing in the Europa League this season.

Belotti on a free would not only solve this massive quandary but also save GSB and the club millions.

The Italy international, who won Euro 2020 this summer, has proven to be a prolific goalscorer in the Serie A over several years, hitting double figures in every campaign since 2015/16, including a career-best of 28 goals in 2016/17, as per Transfermarkt.

Former Premier League shot-stopper Joe Hart played with Belotti during a loan stint in Turin and waxed lyrical about the talismanic forward to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.

“Andrea is similar to all the great strikers, English and not. It’s hard to compare him to someone else because he’s special. He’s Belotti and that’s it. He has [an] instinct for goals, personality and he’s a team player: he’s always focused on his team and plays hard to help it.”

Considering he is valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, Newman could secure West Ham an absolute bargain and at the same time, fix one of Moyes’ ongoing nightmares in one fell swoop.

Belotti is there for the taking and the Irons would be foolish to not make their move again.

AND in other news, Moyes could have West Ham’s next Glen Johnson in “fearless” 19 y/o gem who’s a “unit”…

West Brom are sweating over the fitness of Baggies midfielder Alex Mowatt after he picked up a foot injury, judging by an update from their manager.

The Lowdown: Mowatt picks up foot injury

Valerien Ismael’s side suffered a disappointing night in the Championship on Friday, losing 1-0 away to Stoke City to dent their promotion bid.

Not only that, but Mowatt also suffered a foot problem, having started all 11 of West Brom’s league matches so far this season.

The Latest: Ismael provides injury update

It’s now a few days after the game and an update has been provided by Ismael via The Express & Star, with Joseph Masi reporting that the club are still waiting to find out how serious the injury is.

The Baggies boss said: “The injury with Alex Mowatt – we need to check and see how bad it is.

“It’s his left foot and he needs to go and have a scan. I hope it isn’t too bad. When Alex comes out, it’s normally a bad sign because he can play all the time, he wants to play all the time – 90 minutes plus.”

The Verdict: Key player for Baggies

Mowatt is a massive player for the Baggies already, having followed Ismael from Barnsley in the summer – he has averaged two tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game in the Championship this season, the former being the second-highest in West Brom’s squad – so the hope is that he is back in the fold as soon as possible.

There is the bonus of an international break coming this weekend, though, which gives the midfielder more time to recover ahead of the visit of Birmingham City on October 15.

In other news, one West Brom player has been blasted by a pundit. Find out who it is here.

Another one of West Ham’s mooted summer transfer targets has slipped from their grasp…

What’s the word?

Back in May, the Irons were strongly linked to Adam Armstrong and were thought to be the front-runners in the race to land his signature, as per The Sun.

The Daily Mail then claimed a month later that Blackburn Rovers were willing to sell him for a lower amount than their initial £25m valuation, which further opened the door to the East Londoners to strike a bargain deal.

However, the 24-year-old talisman has joined Premier League rivals Southampton on a four-year deal, replacing another one of the Hammers’ reported striker targets, Danny Ings, who signed for Aston Villa last week.

Armstrong cost just £15m.

Striker setback

Ivan Toney last year. Ings last week. Potentially Tammy Abraham. And now Armstrong.

West Ham’s search for an alternative to Michail Antonio has been very frustrating and it seems like it’s not going to get any better now, as another target has been missed.

David Moyes cannot afford to go into September with the 31-year-old as his only senior option, especially given his past with injuries. Since joining from Nottingham Forest in 2015, Antonio has struggled to start more than 24 matches in the league.

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He’s also proof that recruiting from the lower divisions can pay dividends and Armstrong would’ve been a very interesting option for the Europa-bound Irons this season.

Former Hammers star Joe Cole once likened the former Rovers striker to Sergio Aguero.

“Armstrong reminds me of Aguero in a way, he’s of the build and he’s hungry for goals,” the ex-England midfielder told Coventry’s official website (via efl.com). “In a lovely way, he’s selfish for goals and has the ingredients to be a top player and go on to score many more goals.”

No player fired off more shots per game in the 2020/21 Championship than Armstrong (4.7), so it’s hardly a surprise to see him amongst the most lethal finishers in the division, having bagged a whopping 28 goals – a feat only bettered by Toney.

Also described as “explosive” and “devastating” by Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray to The Athletic, the former Newcastle United youth product would fit the sort of mould that Moyes would undoubtedly be looking for as these are similar characteristics to Antonio.

He will surely be absolutely gutted to miss out on yet another target.

AND in other news, “We are told”: Sky Sports drop major West Ham transfer update, Moyes will be delighted…

Many Nottingham Forest fans have been slamming the performance of Gaetan Bong in their 1-1 draw at Reading on Saturday.

Philip Zinckernagel gave the away side a very early lead, but Steve Cooper’s men were eventually pegged back midway through the second half by Scott Dann.

Bong came on around the half-hour mark to replace the injured Max Lowe at left-back, and several Forest supporters were left wishing that he did not after the performance that he put in.

The former Brighton defender lost out on four of his duels and also failed to record a single successful dribble, blocked shot or interception, while failing to make a key pass or cross (SofaScore).

Bong also lost possession of the ball on 13 occasions, the joint-third most out of any Forest player despite not starting the match (SofaScore).

Nottingham Forest fans hammer Bong

These Forest fans slammed the Cameroonian’s performance on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that he is a ‘liability’ against Reading:

“Was a good trip to Reading, shame about result and if I’m honest first time Cooper made a big mistake by bringing Bong on, waste of a sub because he is awful”

Credit: @AdzL_93

“Leave Bong in Reading please”

Credit: @cookenffc

“PLEASE DO NOT PLAY BONG AGAIN!!!!!!!”

Credit: @Lee_Rev1

“Bong is still absolutely lost, how does he still get a game?”

Credit: @mmearsuk

“Gaetan Bong plays like he’s filming a TikTok”

Credit: @josephpickard

“Bong is a liability. COYR!”

Credit: @ScatmanRon

In other news, find out what club tweet had these Forest fans erupting

Many Wolves fans have been left raging as Tim Spiers posted their squad for their pre-season trip to Marbella in Spain.

While Spiers tweeted some names that supporters will surely get excited about, such as new signing Jose Sa and the return of Raul Jimenez, a lot of the squad is made up of youth players and highlights how thin it is going into the new 2021/22 season.

Of course, players such as Adama Traore and Conor Coady will return to the Midlands a little bit later given their exploits in Euro 2020, but nonetheless it does seem like a squad that is in desperate need of new additions.

With the new Premier League campaign a matter of a few weeks away now, it seems as if several members of the Molineux faithful are growing more impatient with the lack of incomings at this moment in time.

Wolves fans on pre-season squad

These WWFC supporters fumed as the pre-season squad was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that it was ‘awful’:

“We can fit the whole squad in a tweet, we’re actually in trouble”

Credit: @wwfc_bibb

“Our squad is weak need some new faces to be added big time #wwfc #Wolves”

Credit: @Georgewwfc2

“Nuno left us in a right state”Credit: @Gary_Poynton”What an awful squad of players that is”Credit: @Macca_Clifton”Seeing it laid out on paper makes us look weak man!!”Credit: @goldandblack17″Wow. Concerned by the lack of depth here”Credit: @StefanF30In other news, find out what transfer update has Wanderers fuming here!

Former Tottenham Hotspur hero Graham Roberts believes that Ivan Toney would be a good signing for the club this summer.

Toney has enjoyed a fantastic season at Brentford as the club have won promotion to the Premier League via winning the Championship play-offs.

The striker scored at Wembley against Swansea City and ended the campaign with 33 goals and 10 assists in the second-tier, with 17 of those coming in 2021 alone.

It remains to be seen if he would be allowed to leave Brentford, given that he has a contract until 2025, and he is valued at £16.2m by Transfermarkt.

Roberts believes that Spurs need to cast their net wider than they are currently as they look to bring reinforcements into the squad, and start looking down the leagues.

Indeed, he has cited the example of Ollie Watkins, who joined Aston Villa from Brentford and made England’s provisional squad for the European Championships, having scored 14 Premier League goals last term.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, he said: “There’s players out there. What about Toney at Brentford? Watkins has done it, do you not think Toney can do it? But they don’t want to look that low, but he’s a Premier League player now.

“That’s what you’ve got to do, you’ve got to look at the lower-leagues, there are good players there. But the spine of your team has to be the best so you have to pay the best and everything else falls into place.”

Many Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been sharing their delight on Twitter following the news that Saido Berahino has completed his move to the club from Zulte Waregem.

Starting his career at West Bromwich Albion, the 28-year-old arrives at Hillsborough with a big reputation after registering 84 goals in 300 appearances between first team and underage level [Transfermarkt].

Berahino has plied his trade in Belgium since 2019, rebuilding his reputation as a clinical centre-forward. In his time at Zulte Waregem, the Burundian chipped in with 14 goal contributions in 34 appearances, in the form of 10 goals and four assists across three seasons [Transfermarkt].

He has previously worked with Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore at West Bromwich Albion, whilst he will beef up the manager’s offensive options as the Yorkshire club aim to win promotion to the Championship this campaign.

In light of this news, plenty of Sheffield Wednesday supporters took to Twitter to celebrate Berahino’s arrival at Hillsborough.

Sheffield Wednesday fans react

Replying to the club’s official Twitter channel, here is what some fans had to say about the “incredible signing”:

“Buzzing with this, UTO”

Credit: @lukepeo1867″Incredible signing. Let’s hope he gets his career back on track here! Welcome to Hillsborough!”Credit: @andymcelwaine

“HE’S MAGIC YOU KNOWWWW”

Credit: @BrxdSWFC

“Incredible. So much potential still and bags of talent. Has gone through so much & matured. Perfect fit for Darren Moore to get best out of him. We’ve built a great Championship side for League One. Welcome to the club Saido.”

Credit: @SteveJ2403″Solid signing especially in League 1,  time to allow the new squad to gel a little and get some cohesion going. Got a better squad of players now than last season”Credit: @RossSiddons”Welcome to S6″Credit: @litherland_saraIn other news, many Owls fans criticised one player over a recent performance. Find out more here.

Tottenham Hotspur are on the verge of selling two players before Tuesday’s transfer deadline…

What’s the word?

According to renowned Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Spurs have received an offer for right-back Serge Aurier, whilst Moussa Sissoko is in talks to join one of their Premier League rivals.

“Atletico Madrid have opened talks for Zeki Çelik as new RB – he’s one of the options. Tottenham have received an approach from Lille for Serge Aurier in case Çelik will leave,” he tweeted.

“Tottenham are also progressing in talks for Moussa Sissoko to Watford. It’s close.”

Get them gone

It has been a real summer of change for the north Londoners – but one that has been completely necessary. A lot of the same players that let Mauricio Pochettino down are still contracted to the club, so it’s no wonder they have stagnated in recent seasons.

Erik Lamela has gone and now it appears both Sissoko and Aurier will follow him out the door.

The French veteran has seen his form drastically tail off in the past year or two – as per WhoScored, Sissoko averaged 1.4 dribbles per game during the 2019/20 campaign but that halved to 0.7 in 2020/21, whilst his key passes and tackles also dropped massively.

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He cost the club £30m and is on wages of £80k-per-week, so many should be glad to see the back of him.

Similarly, Aurier’s time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been marred by off-the-pitch controversies and calamitous displays on it.

Last year, the Ivory Coast international was fined for breaching the country’s lockdown regulations for the third time, whilst Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher lambasted him as “one of the biggest liabilities in the Premier League” after their Carabao Cup final defeat to Man City.

Again, if Fabio Paratici can offload him, then it’s fantastic news that’ll win over the Spurs faithful even more.

Even in the replies to Romano’s update, you can see just how thrilled they are – for example, one fan exclaimed: “What a tweet, Fabrizio!” with another adding: “Thank you for this good news.”

On the above evidence, this latest development should leave many around N17 absolutely buzzing. Spurs are embarking on a new era under Nuno and co, it’s an exciting time to support the club right now.

AND in other news, Paratici could complete Spurs’ summer business with “unplayable” £27m-rated “machine”…

Mauricio Pochettino could sensationally return to Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

That is the latest claim from The Sun, who suggested that the 49-year-old is considering a switch back to Spurs following a disappointing spell in charge of French giants Paris Saint-Germain.

The Ligue 1 outfit have squandered the title to Lille and were also knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals, whilst Daniel Levy is said to be considering a ploy to lure his former manager back to N17.

Spurs’ chairman is said to have admitted to close friends that sacking the Argentine was the worst mistake of his career to date – rather damning if true.

Pochettino would undoubtedly be welcomed back with open arms, although it remains to be seen whether he’s a viable candidate.

According to football.london’s Alasdair Gold, if his situation changes at PSG and he “showed interest”, he would then “come into the frame”, especially considering that he has the “ideal candidate profile” for the job.

Not only would his return appease much of the Lilywhites fanbase, many of whom have been seen protesting against Levy and the club’s owners ENIC in recent weeks, it could also give them a massive boost in their bid to keep hold of star striker Harry Kane.

Recently, the England talisman waxed lyrical about Pochettino and the relationship between the pair to Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville for The Overlap YouTube channel.

“[Pochettino] was the perfect guy for me to come into because we worked so hard, training was so tough,” said Kane, before adding: “We built up a real good relationship. We understood each other, not just football but personal as well. We had some great years and great moments and obviously would’ve loved to have won something with him, won a trophy with him. It didn’t quite happen but I will always cherish the relationship and the years we had together for sure.”

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Sky Sports believe that Kane has asked Spurs if he can leave the club this summer, putting the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea on high alert.

The 27-year-old desperately wants to win trophies as he enters the peak of his already goal-laden career and was thought to have made a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ with Levy to stay to try and achieve that under Jose Mourinho.

Pochettino wouldn’t instantly bring Spurs a piece of silverware if he were to return. After all, he failed to do so in five years at the club but, truth be told, they overachieved with him in control, which included making the Champions League final two years ago.

If he were backed in the transfer market the same way that Mourinho was, there’s every chance he could then take Spurs to the next level, and you’d imagine the relationship that Kane and Pochettino have would be enough to keep the striker in N17 for at least one last hoorah.

Names such as Graham Potter and Roberto Martinez are surely going to push him out the exit door.

If Pochettino is the “ideal candidate,” then the Spurs hierarchy must shelve their pride and correct their mistake. In doing so, they could have a fighting chance of keeping their superstar striker.

AND in other news, Levy risks more fury if Spurs appoint “very stubborn” 62 y/o who “would like” the job…

Rangers’ James Sands failed to impress journalist Jonathan Moar against Motherwell on Saturday. 

The lowdown

Sands, who can operate as a centre-back and a midfielder, is adjusting to life at Rangers after making an 18-month loan move from MLS outfit New York City FC in January.

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He’s made a total of 10 appearances so far, starting three times in the Scottish Premiership and twice in the SFA Cup.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst named the American amongst the substitutes for Saturday’s 3-1 win over Motherwell but handed him a chance to impress when he introduced in him place of Scott Arfield in the 68th minute.

The latest

In Moar’s player ratings piece, Sands earned a rating of just four out of 10 for his cameo.

That was the same rating as Leon Balogun, who received a straight red card after less than half than hour.

Meanwhile, Moar handed three players eight out of 10 – midfielder Steven Davis and attacking duo Fashion Sakala and Scott Wright.

The verdict

What do the stats say about Sands’ performance?

Well, the £3.6million-rated 21-year-old won three out of the five ground duels he contested, so that at least was a positive (via SofaScore).

But on the other hand, he misplaced three of the four passes he attempted, leaving with an accuracy of just 25%. And overall, he lost possession with more than 44% of his touches.

From that point of view, then, Moar was right to be underwhelmed.

And it’s hard to argue that Sands has significantly improved his starting chances, even with Van Bronckhorst seemingly inclined to make changes around the Europa League semi-finals.

In other news, Andrew Dickson ripped into this midfielder.