All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Many fans of Manchester City have been reacting to a post on Twitter which relayed Sam Lee’s article regarding the future of Erling Haaland.

In his article for The Athletic, Lee claims that City representatives have been in contact with Haaland’s father in recent weeks, meaning that the “wheels are in motion” regarding a move for the £141,000-per-week centre-forward this summer, in addition to the fact that the club have “sanctioned” the potential transfer.

So far this season, the £99m-rated 20-year-old has been in astonishing form for Borussia Dortmund, scoring 21 goals and providing four assists over his 21 Bundesliga appearances, as well as bagging 10 goals and one assist in just six Champions League fixtures.

After City Xtra relayed Lee’s report on Twitter, these fans of Manchester City flocked to have their say on the matter, with many appearing to be ecstatic at the prospect of Pep Guardiola’s side landing Haaland this summer.

So, what exactly did these Manchester City fans have to say in reaction to the report regarding Erling Haaland?

“This is genuinely happening.”

@OliverBoisen

“OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.”

@SilkyCyrus_74

“Wow.”

@Vrishab05777495

“He’s coming home.”

@CityJoul

“SAM LEE? This is becoming serious man.”

@agboladephilip

“This is what we like to see.”

@alexpaolo9

“OHHHHHHHH.”

@Prince_Ederson

“IT’S HAPPENING! IT’S REALLY HAPPENING!!”

@Citizenani06

In other news: loads of Manchester City fans loved this news about a former Etihad hero – find out more here!

Emil Krafth badly let Steve Bruce down as Newcastle United were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday night.

The Toon were desperate for a positive result with them creeping ever closer to the relegation zone and they may see their lead over 18th-placed Fulham be reduced to a single point on Sunday.

Scott Parker’s Craven Cottage natives visit Crystal Palace in the midday kick-off, striving to make what was once a 10-point gap to the Magpies a distant dream just three weeks on.

Krafth was given the run around by Wolves forward Adama Traore throughout the night at St. James’ Park, with the powerful Spaniard constantly showing the defender a clean pair of heels.

Traore often assumed centre-stage for the visiting side and came close to marking his first assist in the Premier League this season late in the first half, when Ruben Neves could only send the 25-year-old’s cutback wide.

The £36m-rated speedster also came within inches of his first goal of the top-flight campaign before the break, but saw the returning Martin Dubravka palm his header around the post.

Altogether, Traore accounted for three of Wolves’ 14 shots and provided a joint game-high four key passes – level with Newcastle’s Allan Saint-Maximin – to warrant WhoScored’s Man of the Match award with a 9.3 out of 10 rating.

No other player for either side scored above a 7.8 (Pedro Neto), while Krafth earned a 7.1 for his performance that ended in the 72nd-minute due to a shin issue.

Krafth was also given a 6.6 out of 10 by SofaScore, who similarly marked Traore (8.4) as their Man of the Match, representing the third-worst grade be a United player who started ahead of only Joe Willock (6.4) and Ciaran Clark (6.5).

But Willock was praised for his performance by Chronicle Live, who noted how the Arsenal loanee grasped the battle in the engine room and provided five interceptions – a game-high tally.

The Chronicle also criticised Jamal Lewis for his performance, noting how the £15m summer signing from Norwich City had failed to prevent the cross which led to Wolves’ equaliser while not being at his best offensively.

Yet the former Canaries full-back’s overall performance was better than Krafth’s, with the Sweden international dribbled past twice as often as the Northern Ireland international (2), per SofaScore. Only Willock (6) was dribbled past more often for either side.

Lewis also won three of his six ground duels to Krafth’s two from six, took 64 touches to the 26-year-old’s 38, completed 40 of his 45 passes (89%) to the right-back’s 21 of 26 (81%) and was successful with his only attempted dribble, while the £5m ex-Amiens SC defender failed to run with the ball at his feet on any occasions.

Krafth generally offers more for Newcastle than what he produced against Wolves, with the £58,000-per-week dud averaging 44.6 touches, a 58% ground duel success rate, and is dribbled past only the once compared to the four times versus Wolves.

With Traore ranking first in the Premier League for successful dribbles (105) and second to Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish (187) for ground duels won (179) throughout the 2020/21 season to date, Bruce knew Krafth would have his work cut out trying to restrict the Spaniard.

Yet Krafth failed to keep the five-time international quiet, and he was lucky to not be punished to cost Newcastle the solitary, but potentially vital, point they were able to attain.

AND in other news, Newcastle have joined the race for a sought-after “real talent” capable of “outstanding” displays…

Many Liverpool fans did not hold back on their thoughts towards midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after his side’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Thursday night.

The 27-year-old came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute for Mohamed Salah, which raised a lot of eyebrows considering the Reds were chasing a goal and the Egyptian forward is their top goalscorer this season.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has been hugely unlucky since his move from Arsenal in 2017, suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear which saw him miss a year of football in 2018 and a serious hamstring issue the following campaign.

Fans aren’t giving him any sympathy though, after the game on Thursday appeared to pass him by during his 28-minute cameo. Per Sofascore, Oxlade-Chamberlain made no key passes, had no shots on goal and lost two duels.

With this in mind, supporters were not impressed with the Englishman’s performance with some keen to see him offloaded in the summer.

Fans fume at the Ox

“Time to release Ox this summer along with other deadwood. Cant just hope for him to come good some day after waiting another season.”

Credit: @MayurK1903

“What was Klopp thinking with those #LFC subs? Ox offers nothing coming on and Salah is the premier league’s top scorer coming off? CRAZY”

Credit: @LFCblogster

“Liverpool with a shocking performance #LFC Ox is finished James Milner the useless is finished”

Credit: @LFC_LION

“Subs just don’t make sense. Bringing Ox on is a waster, he’s not the player he was and hasn’t played regularly so wouldn’t expect him to change anything. Jota coming on was right but for the wrong player and god knows why Milner was brought on #LFC”

Credit: @93JRowan

“At least we know Ox can run. Other than that, useless. #LFC”

Credit: @raw_yaseen

“Oxlade-Chamberlain joins Origi in “what’s the point?” Club.”

Credit: @frankspeil

In other news, Liverpool fans flock to Sky Sports pundit’s claim on star midfielder.

David Sullivan must convince AS Roma goalkeeper Pau Lopez to accept a January transfer to West Ham United after he reportedly rejected the Premier League side’s interest.

What’s the word?

According to Forza Roma, Lopez has a string of admirers outside of Italy during the mid-season market but has no intentions of quitting his Serie A side.

The Irons are believed to have presented the £75,000-per-week shot-stopper with an offer to join David Moyes’ squad this month, but the proposal was thrown out by Giallorossi chiefs as they are prepared to accept Lopez’s decision to stay.

West Ham’s offer is believed to have been a half-season loan with an obligation to buy dependant on Lopez’s number of appearances.

Other Premier League and La Liga clubs have also put forward their interest in the 26-year-old during the January window to no avail, with the £9m-rated colossus steadfast in staying at the Stadio Olimpico and fighting to regain the number one jersey from Antonio Mirante.

Lopez has started five of Roma’s last seven Serie A fixtures after spending the opening months on the bench, having been granted a recall with veteran ‘keeper Mirante currently struggling with a biceps femoris muscle injury.

Sullivan must convince Lopez

Sullivan must not let Lopez’s initial refusal to join West Ham stop the Irons co-owner and Chairman from revisiting the two-time Spain international’s situation this month, as he can secure Moyes’ long-term heir to 35-year-old Lukasz Fabianski in the Roma goalie.

Lopez’s stock has fallen significantly in the past 12 months following his decision to join Roma in 2019, as a mistake in the Giallorossi’s 1-1 draw with rivals SS Lazio a year ago is widely seen to be the route cause of their season collapsing and something he is yet to recover from.

The former Real Betis shot-stopper’s issues have seen his TransferMarkt valuation plummet from a career-high £21.5m in December 2019 to his current figure of £9m, in a decline that is yet to stagnate.

Lopez has a chance to prove himself in Italy again while Mirante is injured, and is already showing glimpses of his abilities with an average of 2.7 saves per league game with a 73% shots faced success rate, while being successful in each of his runs out to date, per SofaScore.

Fabianski is currently boasting 3.1 saves per game in the Premier League this season, where he prevents 70% of all shots faced from finding the net, and has also been successful with each of his runs out to date, showing the level of talent Sullivan needs to discover in the Poland international’s eventual replacement.

AND in other news, GSB must back Moyes with WHU move for “devastating” 17-goal star with “explosive pace”…

According to L’Equipe, Arsenal are one of the clubs interested in signing Marseille left-back Jordan Amavi.

What’s the story?

With Sead Kolasinac’s long-term future at Mikel Arteta’s side up in the air given that he joined Schalke on loan in the January transfer window, the Gunners are without a natural left-back as cover for Kieran Tierney.

The Premier League side have chopped and changed between Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Cedric as the Scotland international’s back-up, so it’s no surprise that French publication L’Equipe claim that Arsenal have joined the likes of Napoli and Crystal Palace in the race to sign Amavi.

The Frenchman is out of contract at Marseille come the end of the season and would thus be able to join on a free transfer, with the report adding that the Ligue 1 side’s negotiations with Amavi over a new contract have stalled.

Arsene Wenger wanted him

Being French and a rising talent in Ligue 1, it’s no surprise that former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was reported to be interested in Amavi back in the summer of 2015 (Mercato365 via The Hard Tackle).

The Gunners eventually lost out to fellow Premier League side Aston Villa for his signing, where the left-back played for just a couple of seasons before moving on to current side Marseille.

Since then, Amavi has been a consistent performer week-in and week-out for the Ligue 1 giants, averaging a Whoscored match rating of over 7 in three out of the four seasons – in fact, this campaign has seen him average an impressive 7.17 match rating, which ranks him first in the entire Marseille squad.

Speaking back in 2017, the Frenchman himself said about his permanent move to Marseille: “I will bring my aggression and some speed. I like to battle, and my attacking play. I will do my best in the offence, but first of all in the defence. I want to win as many duels as possible and get the ball as much as possible.”

Given that he will be available on a free transfer, Amavi would represent a bargain signing for the Gunners as they look for a back-up to established first-choice Tierney.

Amidst the financial situation facing most clubs around the world, the Kroenke family will be very pleased if Arsenal can address a key issue in their squad without actually having to splash the cash.

Meanwhile, Arsenal can sign their next Ashley Cole in this Premier League starlet…

Dean Windass, while speaking exclusively with Football FanCast, has urged Everton to sign Real Madrid dynamo Isco in the upcoming January transfer window.

The former Hull City and Middlesbrough striker believes Isco is the perfect blend for the side Carlo Ancelotti and Director of Football Marcel Brands are striving to build at Goodison Park.

Everton sit comfortably inside the Champions League places after 14 games having claimed a 2-1 win over Arsenal on Saturday, even without summer arrivals James Rodriguez and Allan taking to the field.

Ancelotti is thought to be targeting midfield upgrades in the mid-season market after deeming the engine room to be an area of concern, with reports touting Isco as a potential target.

That’s according to Spanish publication Sport, who claim the £18m-rated maestro’s situation at the Santiago Bernabeu is only getting worse after failing to convince head coach Zinedine Zidane to recall him to the side.

Madrid would like to get Isco’s £210,000-per-week contract off their books but will not allow him to leave for free as they did with Rodriguez, though Windass would urge Everton to strike a deal nonetheless.

He told FFC:

“He’d be Ancelotti’s sort of player. He’s had him before so yeah, great player.

“When was the last time you spoke about Everton bringing players like that into the club? That’s how much of an impact Ancelotti has made. Players want to play for managers like that.

“They probably need four or five players in January to sustain being at the top of the Premier League.”

Isco has started just three of his nine La Liga appearances this season ahead of Real Madrid facing Eibar on Sunday, and is thought to be coming to terms with his time in the Spanish capital nearing its end with Juventus, Sevilla, AC Milan, Everton and now Arsenal all considering moves.

No bids have yet been put to Los Blancos, while claims by Eurosport suggest it will take a very impressive offer for Isco to leave the Santiago Bernabeu as he may yet stay and fight for his Galacticos future.

Isco has rejected several potential exit routes in the past through his love of Real Madrid and desire to succeed with the club he joined from Malaga in 2013 during the same summer as Ancelotti was appointed head coach.

Just maybe Brands will listen to Windass’ demand.

AND in other news: “Huge blow” – Exclusive: Pundit reacts to major Everton setback…

Tottenham Hotspur romped into the next round of the FA Cup with a routine victory over non-league minnows Marine on Sunday evening.

Jose Mourinho’s top-flight big dogs avoided potentially the worst upset in the competition’s history, which was hardly a surprise given the strength of Spurs’ starting XI compared to the lowly eighth-tier outfit – and when you can bring on Gareth Bale as a substitute, it says it everything you need to know.

A 13-minute hat-trick from fringe striker Carlos Vinicius, a sublime free-kick from Lucas Moura and even a goal from 16-year-old prodigy Alfie Devine secured the third-round triumph.

There was a rare start for Dele Alli too, and despite his lack of game time and intense speculation over his future in north London, the 24-year-old delivered an absolute masterclass in the heart of Spurs’ engine room.

Indeed, the 37-time England international has found life hard under Mourinho this term, managing only 407 minutes of action in all competitions before kickoff.

However, he did himself a world of good and made quite the statement in the process.

Before he was withdrawn in the 65th minute, Alli was on for the most touches of any Spurs player but in the end, settled for 83 of which 54 were accurate passes (86%), via SofaScore.

The creative midfielder, currently valued at €40m (£36m), also made five key passes, created two big chances, had four successful dribbles and won 80% of his ground duels.

Even though Vinicius was the man to score three of their five goals, it was Alli who pulled strings from further back, summed up by him delivering the assist for the opener that got Spurs finally off and running.

Dan Kilpatrick at the Evening Standard described him as “the architect of Tottenham’s romp,” grading his performance an 8/10 in his post-match ratings.

There were signs of the Alli of old having once been dubbed a “freak of a talent” by Tottenham Hotspur legend Darren Anderton, whilst Mauricio Pochettino labelled him a “competitive animal.”

Alli has been linked with an exit from N17 since with former Spurs manager now taking the helm at Paris Saint-Germain as per the BBC, but after a display like that, Mourinho would be a fool to let him depart.

He could have a major part to play as they still remain in a healthy position in all domestic and European competitions.

That showing should serve as a stark warning that he has so much more to give, especially in the no.10 role.

He just needs to be given that opportunity more often – a nice but huge dilemma to have with neither Tanguy Ndombele nor Giovani Lo Celso featuring on the night.

AND in other news, Spurs transfer target dubbed “very rare” can become their next Ricky Villa…

Manchester City starlet Jayden Braaf must surely be knocking on Pep Guardiola’s door in the hopes of earning a spot in the Spanish manager’s first-team, as he continues to impress for the academy sides.

The 18-year-old was signed from PSV Eindhoven’s youth team in 2018 and was quickly promoted to City’s Under-23 side, despite his tender age (per Transfermarkt).

The Dutchman has hugely impressed with the academy sides at City, having now scored 12 goals in just 23 appearances for the U’23s.

It was reported towards the end of the 2019/20 season that Braaf was training with Guardiola’s first-team but he is yet to make an appearance for the senior side.

There have also been suggestions that he is becoming frustrated with his lack of opportunities under the Spanish manager and you imagine that if he did want to leave the Etihad Stadium outfit, there would be no shortage of interest in the 18-year-old.

City must therefore do everything they can to avoid a situation similar to Jadon Sancho’s, with the Englishman deciding, after a lack of opportunities, that his future lay away from Manchester City.

He joined Borussia Dortmund for a fee of just £7.05 million and has gone on to establish himself as one of the hottest prospects in European football after some superb displays for the Bundesliga side.

In just 108 appearances for BVB, he has contributed 36 goals and 47 assists (per Transfermarkt), which has led to him being valued at an eye-watering £105.3 million and he obviously attracted some serious interest from Manchester United during the summer.

Therefore, City should perhaps consider giving Braaf an opportunity in their first-team in the near future, otherwise, they risk a repeat of Sancho’s situation.

Former Manchester City U’23 coach Paul Harsley was full of praise for Braaf during his time managing the youngster, saying:

“Jayden’s a real handful for opposition full-backs when we can give him the ball and he’s got space to go and run at them.

“You can see with the goals he has scored and the chances he has created that – whether he goes outside or inside – he gives opposition defences all sorts of problems.

“He has performed well – along with all of the rest of them.

“Jayden has only just turned 17 and though he is still growing, it’s incredible to see his physique.”

Braaf has certainly impressed at academy level and it is now time to give him a chance to show what he can do in senior football.

From the moment Manchester United suffered defeat away to Istanbul Basaksehir, they knew they had an absolute mountain to climb in their Champions League group.

The draw had pitted them alongside both PSG and RB Leipzig, so realistically, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s desperately needed a minimum of two wins from two from the side from Turkey.

That damaging defeat left them requiring a win against Leipzig in their final group game, and after falling 3-0 behind on Tuesday night, there was absolutely no coming back from that, even despite mounting a late rally.

And whilst Solskjaer will understandably take a lot of the criticism for his side’s performance, Harry Maguire delivered the kind of shocking display that will once again leave many wondering just how Leicester managed to prise out £80m for him.

The England international looked all at sea trying to deal with Leipzig’s fluid attacks, and it was no surprise that he was found wanting for the Bundesliga side’s decisive third, when he completely misjudged a cross and allowed Justin Kluivert to pounce.

Maguire’s lack of awareness of runners behind him has become a theme of his defending at United, and when the stats sheet on Tuesday see him having made no tackles or interceptions whatsoever, that’s no surprise at all.

It even led United legend Paul Scholes to slam him as being “wooden” and “stiff” whilst on punditry duty for the game, and for the United captain to produce such a display in a game they desperately needed their leaders to stand up and be counted, was disappointing to say the least.

Solskjaer might take the flak for being the man in charge, but Maguire’s performance shouldn’t go unpunished either.

West Ham United appear to have missed out on signing David Moyes’ natural heir to Manuel Lanzini, after failing to secure a deal with Cagliari for their Uruguayan playmaker Nahitan Nandez this summer.

The Hammers were touted as one of two potential destinations for Nandez in the Premier League by La Gazzetta dello Sport, via TransferMarketWEB, earlier in the year, when the Italian outlet claimed the 24-year-old could depart the Sardegna Arena if his €36million (£32.6m) release clause was met in full.

Nandez was lured to Italy last year from Boca Juniors on a contract running until 2024, and impressed in his debut season under Rolando Maran and later Walter Zenga with two goals and four assists to spark transfer interest from Inter Milan, AS Roma and SSC Napoli alongside West Ham and Crystal Palace.

The Punta del Este-born creator is yet to get off the mark for either goals or assists under new Cagliari boss Eusebio Di Francesco, who has called on Nandez to start each of his side’s three Serie A fixtures held prior to the international break.

But Nandez displayed the skill that set West Ham up to track his situation this summer in Uruguay’s win over Chile on Thursday night, despite entering the action with just 34 minutes left on the clock to earn a 32nd international cap.

Substitute and one-time West Ham target Maxi Gomez secured the win for Uruguay in the third minute of stoppage-time, after former Manchester United and Arsenal winger Alexis Sanchez slid an angled effort into the net to counter Luis Suarez’s first-half opener.

Nandez had to wait until the second-half to enter the action when he eventually replaced River Plate’s Nicolas De la Cruz, but provided a constant outlet for Uruguay once on with 26 touches and 15 completed passes from 17 attempts for one key ball, per SofaScore.

The 5 ft 7 playmaker also beat his marker with two of his three attempted dribbles, delivered an accurate cross from his only attempt, played one long ball and was fouled three times whilst winning five of six ground duels.

Nandez’s cameo would have displayed to David Moyes all the reasons why West Ham were interested at the start of the summer, and why he would have made the ideal midfield signing had funds been raised from the expected sale of Lanzini.

Lanzini proved last season that his best days in east London are in the past with an underwhelming campaign featuring just three assists and no goals in 25 outings, and has only been awarded minutes in the Carabao Cup this term with Moyes only feeling fit to name the 27-year-old among his substitutes for Premier League matches.

Controversy somewhat overshadowed the result for Uruguay on Thursday with Chile players furiously confronting the match officials at full-time, having felt multiple penalty decisions went against them during the affair.

Suarez’s strike to break the deadlock in the 39th-minute came from the spot after the Paraguayan referee Eber Aquino spent a long period of time scouring over replays of the ball bouncing up off Sebastian Vegas’ body as he slid in to block a shot before it struck his arm.

Chile’s frustrations mounted further when Aquino refused to consider two later penalty shouts, including one blatant handball nearing full-time that could have prevented Reinaldo Rueda’s men from starting their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign in defeat.

AND in other news, West Ham could land David Moyes’ ideal defensive partner for Angelo Ogbonna in a Championship talent his current side landed for £4m.