All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Many Crystal Palace fans have been left buzzing on Twitter after popular Eagles account HLTCO posted pictures of their players sporting the new home kit in their 3-1 friendly win over Watford on Saturday.

Bringing their pre-season preparations to a successful close, Patrick Vieira’s side comfortably swept aside divisional rivals Watford in an entertaining encounter which saw Wilfried Zaha bag a brace prior to a late strike from Christian Benteke, who had earlier deflected Troy Deeney’s strike into the Eagles’ net. [Mail Online]

Palace will now turn their attention towards the start of their Premier League season, which sees them make the trip to fellow London club Chelsea on Saturday, with a 3pm kick-off.

Aside from the weekend’s win over Watford, many Eagles diehards took to Twitter to discuss their opinions on the new home shirt, which features the traditional red and blue stripes in a diagonal sash pattern.

Crystal Palace FC fans react:

Replying to popular Crystal Palace page HLTCO on Twitter after they described the kit as a ‘belter’, here is what some supporters had to say about the images of the shirt, which one fan described as “really nice”:

“In about 2 days I went from hating it to loving seeing it in person at Watford (what a game that was as well)”

Credit: @AdamAdimi123

“Wasn’t keen until I realised it was the sash on steroids.”

Credit: @Sarf_London

“It looks 100 times better on the pitch than it did in the studio. Really grown on me”

Credit: @BenH11TON”Love it”Credit: @nialljclark”Actually really nice. The freak out for it was for no reason”Credit: @Bunds_”I agree 100%. Looks great on the pitch!”Credit: @TonyCpfc”If the shorts were red I think it would be top tier”Credit: @RussellMoleIn other news, Crystal Palace are set to miss out on a reported transfer target.

An update has emerged on Rangers and their January transfer window plans for gem Joe Aribo…

What’s the talk?

According to The Scottish Mail of Sunday journalist Gary Keown, via Ibrox News, the Gers are keen to ‘strike while the iron is hot’ by cashing in on the midfielder this month.

The report claims that he is attracting ‘strong interest’ from a number of English Premier League teams, although no potential fee is mentioned.

Infuriation

Gers fans will surely be left infuriated by this update as it suggests that the club have decided that now is the best time to sell Aribo.

However, Rangers could be headed for a major January blunder if this is the case because they would be frustrating their own supporters and weakening their side in the midst of a title battle.

Supporters will be up in arms as he has been in terrific form this season and his exit would harm Gio van Bronckhorst’s chances of winning the Premiership. He has averaged an excellent SofaScore rating of 7.20 this term, scoring six goals and providing three assists, showing that he is delivering consistently brilliant displays for the Scottish giants.

His former Charlton teammate Ezri Konsa once praised Aribo’s style of play, saying: “Having Gerrard as his manager at Rangers, that has made him go up another level.

“Joe’s style is unique. When I was with him at Charlton he did remind me for a while of a left-footed Yaya Toure. But you don’t get a lot of midfielders like Joe, there aren’t many around.

“Like Toure, for a tall guy he’s got such great feet. But that languid style he’s got is actually fairly unique in the game.”

These comments, in particular, highlight why selling Aribo could be a big disaster for the Gers. He is not a run-of-the-mill midfielder who the club could go and easily find a replica of. He is unique and replacing him in the transfer market, particularly in the winter window, could be extremely difficult, which is why selling him now would be an error.

Therefore, Ross Wilson must reverse his decision to seek a sale for Aribo and avoid striking ‘while the iron is hot’ to keep him at Ibrox. He is a crucial player for the Gers and selling him now could have a major impact on the pitch and off it in terms of the fan reaction it could bring.

AND in other news, Expert makes “transformational” £50m Rangers claim that will leave Ross Wilson buzzing…

Southampton couldn’t continue the good run of form from prior to the recent international break, having won three out of their four previous league games before being beaten 2-1 today by Norwich City.

After taking an early lead with a goal from Che Adams, the Saints didn’t keep that lead for long after Norwich striker Teemu Pukki levelled the scoring just a few minutes later. Grant Hanley scored the winning goal in the second half to give the home side their second win of the season and Dean Smith’s first as their new manager.

One Southampton player who definitely had a day and performance to forget on this occasion was Valentino Livramento.

After recovering from an injury scare which forced him out of international duty, the 19-year-old played the full match at Carrow Road but only won six of his 15 duels, completed just 29 of his 38 passes (with no key passes), completed just one of his three dribbles and lost possession 17 times. He ultimately earned a disappointing overall match rating of 6.4/10, making him the lowest-rated Southampton outfield player to start the match according to SofaScore.

Since joining from fellow Premier League side Chelsea in August in a deal worth a reported £5m, Livramento has played almost every minute of Premier League action for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, cementing his place as their first-choice right-back.

Given his young age and the fact that the Austrian clearly trusts him to perform every week for the Saints, it would be easy to chalk down this disappointing individual performance against Norwich as a bad day at the office and just hope he can improve next time around.

However, if the youngster doesn’t manage to improve on today’s performance and keeps putting in lacklustre displays, his place in the team could be at risk going forward, especially with Hasenhuttl recently revealing that he will be rotating his side throughout the next few weeks and months to navigate the busy winter schedule.

In other news: Ralph could save Southampton millions with £1.8m-rated beast who “fancies himself”

A worrying Tottenham Hotspur injury update has emerged on midfielder Oliver Skipp…

What’s the latest?

Antonio Conte has revealed that the England U21 international is not closing in on a return as he is having issues with his recovery.

He has been out of action since January and it remains to be seen when he will be able to represent the club on the pitch again.

Charlie Eccleshare tweeted: “Conte on Skipp injury: ‘Skipp is having a bit of trouble with his injury – in this moment he’s not available. I know his frustration, but this new contract shows we trust him a lot and he will be very important for the present and future.'”

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-martinez-dybala-spence-conte-2” title= “Read the latest Spurs news!”]

The head coach also spoke about the youngster’s new contract at the club, saying: “I’m very happy for Skippy because we are taking about a good player, young player. A player from the academy and you know very well the importance to this club of developing players from the academy. A fantastic guy.”

Supporters will be fuming

The supporters will be fuming with this injury update as it suggests that Skipp will not be back out on the pitch any time soon for Spurs.

They will be keen to see him in the starting XI as he is ‘one of their own’ and has shown glimpses of Premier League quality in his career so far.

The gem was handed his chance in the first team this term after a sublime season on loan with Norwich in the second tier. In 45 league appearances, he averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.02 as he made 3.3 tackles and interceptions per game and helped them to win the title.

He was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year for his efforts and carried that form over into the start of this season with Spurs as he started 14 Premier League matches before his injury and averaged a solid SofaScore rating of 6.81.

Skipp is a midfielder who mixes energy and defensive ballast with control and poise in possession and looks classy in a deep-lying role in the middle of the park. He has completed an impressive 90% of his attempted passes in the top-flight and fans will surely be keen to have his reassuring presence gracing the team again as quickly as possible.

This is why they will be fuming with this update from Conte as it is a huge blow for Spurs and Skipp and they will be hoping that he is able to overcome his issues sooner rather than later.

AND in other news: Conte can now axe “truly hilarious” £42k-p/w flop as Spurs eye £33m “difference maker”

A medical expert has now revealed some Tottenham Hotspur injury news involving Ryan Sessegnon.

The Lowdown: Another scan

As quoted by football.london, Antonio Conte has confirmed that Sessegnon will have another scan on his hamstring in a few weeks, and will resume training if all goes well.

He also claimed that he should be able to welcome Oliver Skipp back after the international break, but it is now understood that he may have been getting carried away.

The Latest: Sessegnon worry

Speaking to Football Insider, Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis, has claimed that Sessegnon’s constant injury problems are a ‘worry’, and added that it could be ‘early May’ before he returns to action:

“There have been a couple of serious issues prior to this one.

“The worry is, why does this keep on happening? We’ve heard Antonio Conte discussing a few theories about that.

“When he comes back will depend on where they are in the league at the time and also the form of the likes of Sergio Reguilon.

“This has exposed the fact that the squad isn’t blessed with a huge amount of depth. That’s a real problem these days if you pick up a few injuries.

“Return-to-play timelines, therefore, are not always black and white. But as with any player, you don’t want to bring him back too early.

“If he is out for about four weeks it could be early May before he is back in contention.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-news-copy/” title=”Tottenham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Cut losses

Unfortunately for Sessegnon, he never seems to be able to keep himself fit for an extended period of time, and so Spurs should really consider cutting their losses on him in the summer.

The 21-year-old has only managed one goal and two assists over three seasons in North London (£25m price tag promised.

Nonetheless, the fact that he may not play until May at the earliest means that he is going to miss at least their next five fixtures in the Premier League, and by then the Lilywhites could already be out of the top-four race, if Arsenal manage to pull clear.

In other news, find out which £22.5m-rated ‘phenomenon’ THFC could now sign for free here!

Despite having an average squad age of 26, Southampton have a handful of players who are in and around the twilight years of their careers.

One of those is 30-year-old midfielder Oriol Romeu, who signed for the club back in 2015 from fellow Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.

Since then, the Spaniard has made a total of 221 appearances for the Saints prior to their Premier League clash against Burnley this afternoon, scoring six goals and providing four assists in the process.

With the midfielder’s current contract at St Mary’s set to expire in 2023, we feel there’s a chance that Romeu could leave the club by that point, but we also believe that the Saints could already have an ideal replacement for him if he does leave.

That man is 18-year-old Ryan Finnigan, who has been described as an “excellent” player by the club’s academy director Matt Hale. A product of Southampton’s youth system, he has made 15 appearances for their under-18 side, scoring one goal, with one assist in seven games for the Saints’ B team.

Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl is apparently a big fan of Finnigan, who has made one senior appearance for Southampton, which came during their 2-0 win over Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup back in January.

Moving forward, if the teenager can continue developing in Southampton’s youth sides and make the most out of any future opportunities he gets in the first team, we think he could well go on to become a regular for them in the future as a potential long-term replacement for Romeu. That might save the club millions of pounds in potential transfer fees trying to sign a new midfielder, as well as seeing him join a long list of players to come out of the club’s youth academy to go on and have big careers in the Premier League.

In other news: Southampton could already have their next Gareth Bale in “quality” 17 y/o starlet

Rangers were rocked by the news recently that Nathan Patterson had withdrawn from Scotland duty due to injury, which is a huge blow to Steven Gerrard at Ibrox.

What’s the word?

The right-back picked up a knock in the 1-0 win against Moldova at the weekend and has been forced to withdraw from the squad as a result, which suggests that he could be a doubt for Rangers’ next game, which sees them take on St Johnstone away from home this weekend.

Gerrard’s side are still recovering from their own injury and covid issues, with James Tavernier one of those who has been missing in recent fixtures after being forced to self-isolate, so it is unfortunate timing for the Gers that Patterson may not be available.

A big blow for Gerrard?

Although Leon Balogun impressed at right-back in the Old Firm derby win, it is not ideal for Gerrard to have Patterson potentially missing for upcoming games, especially considering the Gers’ busy schedule.

Hopefully, those who were out due to isolation in recent games weren’t too badly affected by their illness and will be close to full fitness by the time they travel to McDiarmid Park on Saturday, otherwise Rangers’ squad may end up looking very thin.

[freshpress-quiz id=“593776”]

Patterson has established himself as a key part of Gerrard’s squad over the past 12 months or so, initially breaking into the first-team when Tavernier was out injured last season and impressing so much that there were some calls for him to start ahead of the captain at right-back.

Alan Hutton and Shaun Maloney lauded Patterson’s “outstanding attributes” last season and his energy down the right-hand side has quickly helped to establish him as a fans favourite at Ibrox.

The 19-year-old was the subject of interest from Everton in the summer transfer window and looks set for a very bright future in the game, so Rangers fans will no doubt be gutted if he is set for a spell on the sidelines, as it increases the pressure on Tavernier to play nearly every game.

Therefore, it is undoubtedly a blow for Gerrard that Patterson could be unavailable for upcoming games after injuring himself on international duty.

And, in other news… 3 key passes: “Outstanding” Rangers ace emphasised his class with superb international display

After their disheartening 3-2 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their previous Premier League outing, Leeds United are back on the road again with another tough test against reigning league champions and current table-toppers Manchester City.

On the chalkboard

In terms of which players Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa could select to be in his starting XI to take on City with the likes of Liam Cooper, Patrick Bamford, Rodrigo, Robin Koch, Kalvin Phillips and Pascal Struijk out injured, one player that we think should be involved tonight is Whites attacker Tyler Roberts.

In his previous appearance for Leeds against Chelsea, Roberts managed to do his bit for the team in an attacking and defensive sense despite the ultimate disappointing result.

Offensively, the Welshman managed to assist Joe Gelhardt’s equalising goal in the 83rd minute and managed to test Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy with a shot on target.

Roberts, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £22k-per-week according to Salary Sport, also did his bit for the team in a defensive regard by winning seven duels and making three tackles.

This display ultimately earned the 22-year-old a respectable overall match rating of 7.1/10, making him one of Leeds’ highest-rated players on the day according to SofaScore.

With Roberts now having scored a goal and providing an assist in his two previous league appearances for Leeds, it would make sense for Bielsa to unleash him once again to see if he can add to his tally against City, especially with Bamford and Rodrigo out injured.

Leeds signed Roberts back in the 2018 January transfer window from West Bromwich Albion in a deal worth a reported fee of around £2.5m. Since then, the Welshman, who is currently valued at £5.4m according to Transfermarkt, has gone on to make 101 appearances for Leeds across all competitions, scoring nine goals and providing ten assists in the process.

Labelled as a player who “has got everything” in terms of ability on the pitch by former West Brom manager Tony Pulis, Roberts could end up being Leeds’ key man in the game against City and provide a real attacking threat alongside Raphinha, who has seven goals to his name in the league so far this season.

In other news: Bielsa could save Orta millions with 20 y/o Leeds “revelation” who “loves defending” – opinion

At long, long last, the future is looking brighter for Newcastle United and the Toon Army.

Gone is Mike Ashley and the last of the Sports Direct banners have finally been removed from St James’ Park too.

Not only that, but the Magpies finally have their first win of the campaign on the board as they strive to climb the table and survive relegation.

Eddie Howe is through the door and coupled with the rich finances of PIF, the January transfer window has the potential to be incredibly excited.

But who will they sign? A more eye-catching move for Fiorentina hitman Dusan Vlahovic has been touted but with more pedigreed clubs like Tottenham also in the hunt, it would be a surprise if he ends up in the north-east of England.

An update from Craig Hope this week, however, helped fill in the gaps as he supplied a list of more realistic signings that Newcastle could pursue over the winter.

Taking to Twitter, he said: “We understand targets include Lloyd Kelly, the Bournemouth defender who Eddie Howe signed in 2019. Germany centre-back Matthias Ginter, Joe Rodon of Spurs & Lille’s Sven Botman mentioned. Also told Mohamed Elneny is a midfield option.”

But if all of those players arrived to welcome Newcastle’s new era, how could Howe line up?

Here’s what we’re predicting at Football FanCast…

As you may notice, Newcastle’s forward line could stay pretty similar. After all, there are no issues with Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin.

Instead, the Toon’s prime concerns are further behind them in defence where Howe’s men have shipped 30 goals, the second-highest in the top-flight.

Therefore, three new faces form what looks like a much-improved backline. Jamal Lewis has impressed since replacing Matt Ritchie but we’d expect the £9m-rated Lloyd Kelly to be selected at left-back.

Alongside him is Lille’s Sven Botman, a man valued at £25.2m. Hailed as a “leader”, he could add vital grit and determination to Howe’s ranks. He partners Spurs man Joe Rodon at centre-back who is rated at around £17m. The Welshman has been described as “flawless” by journalist Ian Mitchelmore, and they have the ability to form a scary defensive partnership.

Two further arrivals come in the middle of the park where £24.3m-rated Matthias Ginter could arrive. The German is capable of playing at centre-back but also in holding midfield, and it’s there where Howe may select him if he bolsters his backline significantly.

It’s then a midfield pairing of two potential former Arsenal players where the more attacking Joe Willock links up with £9m-rated Egypt international, Mohamed Elneny. A true midfield enforcer, he would keep things ticking over while breaking up the play. As a result, the Newcastle boss would be able to axe Jonjoe Shelvey.

These players might not be the be big names that some supporters are craving but all said and done, this could amount to a potential £84.5m spending spree from PIF that strengthens the squad enough to keep them away from a relegation battle.

If they can do that, Newcastle will then be able to attack the summer market with more intent knowing their Premier League status is secure.

AND in other news, “Loads of names”: Liam Kennedy drops big NUFC update that’ll leave supporters buzzing…

Writing for football.london, reliable Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold has lifted the lid on a promising off-field development.

The Lowdown: Tottenham making moves off the field…

Spurs have been making plenty of moves off the field over these last few weeks, starting with the appointment of new managing director Fabio Paratici.

Meanwhile, it has also been reported that Tottenham are also close to finally sealing a deal for their stadium naming rights in what could be a big financial boost (The Daily Mail).

The Latest: Spurs set for another appointment?

As per Gold, writing on his social media, Spurs are set to appoint a new ‘head of emerging talent’ in Chris Perkins and are about to poach the club chief from Premier League rivals Everton.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-updates/” title=”Tottenham latest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

“Understand Spurs are set to appoint a new ‘head of emerging talent’ in Chris Perkins, who is at Everton and was at Derby before that,” the journalist said on Twitter.

Currently on gardening leave until he leaves Goodison Park, Perkins will join up with Paratici and be tasked with bringing the best and brightest young talents between 17 and 21 to north London (football.london).

The Verdict: Boost for Tottenham…

Perkins has quite the reputation for scouting potential future stars as evident by his time at Derby County, where he oversaw a high percentage of first team players coming through the academy into their first team.

Spurs already have many promising youngsters coming through the ranks with high expectations, with Dane Scarlett and Nile John the latest to come through their ranks and dazzle on-lookers.

The arrival of Perkins only further reinforces Tottenham’s chances of producing even more starlets over the next few seasons in north London in what could be a real off-field boost.

In other news: ‘News regarding Tottenham’…Sky Sports drop big transfer update on live TV, find out more here.