All posts by h716a5.icu

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Manchester City fans on Twitter have been going wild after an update from ESPN journalist Mark Ogden on Wednesday morning.

He revealed that the club are closing in on signing highly-rated Atletico Madrid star Saul Niguez, moving ahead of Barcelona in the race for the player who the Madrid team are believed to be letting go for €80million.

Pep Guardiola’s men have long been searching for a permanent replacement for ageing central defensive midfielder Fernandinho and as the original report suggests, the legendary manager better call Saul for this.

The news has caused a wave of joy amongst City supporters with one promising to scream if the rumour is true and another proclaiming that the 26-year-old Spanish international is “a world class DM.”

One other fan counteracted the general argument about what would be a “mad signing” by articulating that they too would “love” to see Saul at the Etihad Stadium next season, but he is not an appropriate replacement for the 34-year-old Fernandinho.

442oons have charted the entire career of Man City’s main man Sergio Aguero through song in the hilarious video below…

Check out those responses and the rest of the best Tweets as the City fan base reacted, below…

Celtic have been hugely impressive in recent times, other than failing to secure all three points against Aberdeen, as they find themselves in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup and they’re leading the way in the Scottish Premiership. 

Many fans will agree that Neil Lennon has done a solid job since taking the reigns from Brendan Rodgers on an interim basis, but it remains to be seen as to whether he’ll receive the permanent job at the end of the season.

Of course, securing the treble would be hard to ignore.

But, a change of management doesn’t appear to have brought transfer speculation to a halt, as according to the Daily Star, Celtic are interested in signing Ayr United’s Lawrence Shankland, who could be available on a free.

Celtic have chopped and changed things at the pinnacle of the attack in the current campaign, with the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Michael Johnston, Timothy Weah, Oliver Burke and Vakoun Issouf Bayo all swapping around.

Although, many Celtic fans will agree that their side are still yet to find the perfect replacement for Moussa Dembele who left for France back in the summer transfer window. Indeed, the Frenchman was prolific during his time at Parkhead as he established himself as a hero by scoring 51 goals in 94 appearances.

However, Celtic may have found the man to replace him in the form of Lawrence Shankland. The 23-year-old has produced an incredible 31 goals and eight assists in all competitions, which includes nine goals in six Scottish League Cup appearances. He may not have had the chance to prove himself in the Scottish Premiership as of yet, but if he can produce half as many as he’s scored this season in the top-flight then Celtic would be laughing.

Celtic fans, do you think Shankland could potentially replace Moussa Dembele? Join the discussion by commenting down below!

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Leeds United captain Liam Cooper has the ideal chance to make up for his 2018 horror show against Millwall at Elland Road this weekend.

On the chalkboard

The Whites host the south London outfit on Saturday looking to bounce back from their disappointing defeat at home to automatic promotion rivals Sheffield United before the international break.

Looking at the Championship table would suggest that a simple win for Marcelo Bielsa’s men is on the cards, but you only have to look back at the January 2018 clash between the two teams in Yorkshire to see what a difficult game this one could be.

While Leeds were in a different place under Thomas Christiansen at that time they found themselves 2-0 down at half-time against the Lions, and even though they completed a remarkable turnaround they still proceeded to then lose 4-3.

Cooper needs to make amends

He certainly does.

The experienced skipper wasn’t playing particularly well on that day anyway before he picked up a 37th-minute red card following a rash challenge on George Saville, leaving his side with 10 men for the remaining 53 minutes of action.

The 27-year-old has clearly matured under Bielsa this term and has arguably been the Yorkshire outfit’s best defender during the current campaign, and he needs to turn up again this weekend.

Leeds are in desperate need of the three points – as are the visitors in their battle against the drop – and they can’t afford for Cooper to lose his head like he did previously in what is always a feisty encounter.

Keeping a calm head and playing the match and not the occasion is the order of the day on Saturday, and the centre-back can redeem himself with a display that can help the Whites take the three points they desperately need.

Leicester City are picking up under new manager Brendan Rodgers, and could well find themselves the best of the rest outside the top six come seasons end.

The Foxes have been back to their exciting best under the former Liverpool manager, and it would appear he has brought the magic touch with him back to the Premier League following his spell with Celtic.

However, with good form and quality football will come admiring glances towards some of your star players, and one man who has been catching the eye has been left back Ben Chilwell.

Indeed, today has seen Chilwell linked with a £50m move to the likes of Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, and it’s easy to see why given his displays.

However, we here at the Tavern feel that £50m is a bit of an insult for the Foxes, and we feel if they do sell, they should be holding out for the mega-money fees clubs are now choosing to pay if they want to capture the top talent in the world.

Chilwell has proved his quality already, and he has made the step up to international level with ease as well.

Leicester have well and truly unearthed another gem in the fullback positions for England, and while the money will be tempting if the Spanish giants do move, they should be holding out and getting the maximum for their best talents.

Chilwell has so much to give and so many years ahead of him at the top, and it should be a case of put up, or shut up, for the onlooking clubs across Europe.

Can anyone really trust Alfredo Morelos to keep his head? It’s time Rangers bought a reliable striker like Lawrence Shankland to rake in the goals instead.

Steven Gerrard mentioned he was being too soft with player discipline after the Old Firm derby, and that he’d toughen up. The ultimate way to keep his players in check is to bring in a player who won’t step out of line but will still produce the goods.

Shankland has scored 23 times and made five assists in 29 games for Ayr United in the Scottish Championship. He’s certainly got an eye for goal, so it’s time he took the step up into the top division, and the bright lights of Ibrox would be perfect. The Daily Star previously reported Rangers and Celtic are both interested.

In 216 career games at clubs including Aberdeen and St Mirren, he’s only ever had one red card. That’s quite a contrast to the five Morelos has racked up, and that’ll be music to Gerrard’s ears, who likes passion but surely prefers his main striker on the pitch rather than down the tunnel.

He’s developing a no-nonsense approach to the media and it seems he wants to do the same with his squad, so why not bring in the 23-year-old to prove he won’t be a pushover. Shankland would also make a great partner for Jermain Defoe if he’s still at Ibrox next season.

He deserves a chance to prove himself at the highest level, and with his contract running out in May, he’ll be available for free. There’d be no risk attached to this signing. The biggest risk is not having a player to compete with Morelos and replace his goals when his head falls off every now and again.

Rangers fans, who do you think Steven Gerrard should bring in to challenge Alfredo Morelos? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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On Thursday, Dele Alli turned 23 years of age.

Signed from MK Dons for an initial £5m in 2015, Alli has turned out to be a stunning capture for Tottenham Hotspur.

Indeed, the attacker has a record of 53 goals and 46 assists in 175 appearances for Spurs in all competitions, including seven goals this term.

Alli is also a hugely important figure in the England set-up and there is every reason to believe that he will continue to improve over the coming years.

As expected, Tottenham’s official Twitter account were on hand with a special birthday tribute for the 2015 arrival.

Pl>ymaker FC’s Matchday with Max caught up with Jamaica’s women’s team. See what happened when he met the history makers in the video below…

And that led to a number of the London club’s supporters taking to social media to lavish praise on the incredibly talented attacker.

It is certainly going to be interesting to see how his career develops over the coming years.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Tottenham fans, who have shown their love for the 6 ft 2 ace, can be seen below:

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Former West Ham United defender Jose Fonte impressed and found the net in Lille’s brilliant 5-1 win against 10-man Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday night, and Irons fans on Twitter are clearly still split on the decision to get rid of him in February 2018.

The Portugal international had moved to the London Stadium just over 12 months earlier but he struggled to hit the ground running with the Hammers, sometimes looking way off the pace.

The 35-year-old left for Chinese Super League club Dalian Yifang before moving back to Europe last summer, and he has been a key player for the Ligue 1 outfit who lie second in the standings and look destined for Champions League football next term.

The centre-back scored a bullet header as PSG suffered their biggest French top flight defeat in 19 years, and dealt well with the threat of the mercurial Kylian Mbappe up top.

While some West Ham supporters clearly regret letting him go when they did with one saying the club “shouldn’t have sold him so quickly”, others clearly disagreed with one individual saying “he was dreadful for us”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Liverpool fans kept the title race alive with a 2-0 win away at Cardiff yesterday and it was a win that they had to work hard for. Goals from Gerginio Wijnaldum and James Milner secured it, and they had their scares along the way. One of those scares saw Fabinho withdrawn with a head injury, and the fans are desperate for him to be okay.

The Brazilian defensive midfielder was rested from the start by Jurgen Klopp, as the German gaffer obviously has one eye on the Champions League clash against Barcelona next week. It looked to be a clever decision, but when Fabinho did enter the fray in the second half he lasted just four minutes, clashing heads with Kenneth Zohore and going off in the 75th after entering in the 71st minute.

The fears will be that the ex-Monaco man has suffered a concussion, and if he has then Jurgen Klopp made the correct decision by bringing him off. If he has to miss a couple of days then so be it, but given the research going into head injuries and the recent publicity it’s had, there’s no way the German tactician could justify leaving his midfield enforcer on, especially in a game that they were already winning.

You can read the Reds’ calls for Fabinho to be okay here:

The Kopites are desperate to see Fabinho recover properly and will be desperate for him to make it for Barcelona next Wednesday should he miss the Friday night clash with Huddersfield.

There are surely changes already shaping up to take place at Newcastle United.

Be it at upper-level management or the squad itself, a new-look Magpies unit could be on display next season. Indeed, Rafa Benitez, however, will only want to keep the best and restructure the squad to his style in order to succeed, if he does extend his stay on Tyneside.

The Spaniard will be ruthless when cutting talents, but he’ll want to make some beneficiary additions as well. According to reports (via Football Insider), he wants to reunite with an old friend in Fulham’s Ryan Babel. Having returned to English football after years, the Dutch winger’s been a (fairly) bright figure in the Cottagers’ shallow attack.

While Babel couldn’t stop their inevitable drop, he’s created some special moments since arriving in January. Be it his whirling movement down the left, dribbling ability or incisiveness to get behind defenders, he’s entertained fans by at least trying to trick the opposition. The Dutch international’s scored 4 goals and assisted 3, a somewhat decent return.

Granted, it’s not overly inspiring for the Mags reading this. However, the Toon Army needs attacking reinforcement and a move for a man Benitez knows well would make sense.

He can actually fit in really well at Newcastle to add that cutting edge to their attack. Obviously, he doesn’t have many years in him, but his understanding with Benitez and ability to add that extra spice in attack could work wonders at St. James’ Park.

The Duch winger’s addition could allow Benitez to tweak his formation to a more attacking one. Having lacked a menacing figure down the left, Babel could bring pace, creativity and that irresistible eye for goal which has lacked among the Magpies’ wingers this season.

Newcastle fans, would you be pleased with Babel’s reuniting with Benitez? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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Tottenham Hotspur came unstuck against Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon for more reasons than one, but the influence of Mark Travers between the sticks was arguably the most important of them all.

What’s the word?

The Irish goalkeeper was handed his Premier League debut against one of the most potent attacking outfits in the Premier League last weekend.

It was a high magnitude test for the 19-year-old but he passed it with flying colours, successfully completing a series of excellent saves to deservedly claim a clean sheet.

His cause was aided by Tottenham going down to nine men early in the second half, but his first half heroics were a major factor behind the 1-0 victory for the home side.

And, with his performance fresh in mind, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp included him in his team of the week column, as published by the Daily Mail, and delivered a glowing verdict on what was a compelling senior debut.

‘After that performance, Howe should have every confidence that this young man can be part of his first-team squad next season.

‘He certainly doesn’t need to buy another goalkeeper this summer. Travers may well have saved his club £30million.’

Massive claim after just one fixture

Tottenham’s weekend nemesis will be completely flattered by these comments but they are clearly a touch on the sensationalist side.

After all, this was one performance and it’s difficult to judge how high Travers can climb in the game.

To place the comments into context, Manchester City signed Ederson, arguably the best goalkeeper in Europe right now, for £35 million in June 2017.

It’s unlikely that Bournemouth would be willing to spend close to that figure on a new goalkeeper and equally it would be rash to suggest that Travers could be as reliable as a £30 million stopper.

But this was a performance which will have naturally alerted Spurs and plenty of top sides in English football to the breakthrough stopper, and they will surely be taking a closer look at his development in the coming years.

Perhaps he could be a £30 million keeper in the making.