All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Aston Villa are close to signing goalkeeper Robin Olsen on loan until the end of the season.

That’s according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, which, as to be expected, has had plenty of Villa fans talking.

Johan Lange has made no secret of his hunt for a new back-up goalkeeper this month, as the club have been linked with West Ham’s Darren Randolph and PSG’s Sergio Rico as well as Olsen.

He has finally made a breakthrough, and it appears Olsen will now be the man to come in alongside Emiliano Martinez and Jed Steer, with a medical booked for Tuesday.

Olsen, who has won seven trophies during his career, is currently on loan at Sheffield United where he has made 11 Championship appearances. The Blades have agreed to cut that short, though, with Villa now agreeing on a temporary deal with parent club AS Roma.

Villa fans react

@villareport relayed Romano’s claim on Villa’s next January swoop. This is what these fans had to say in reply, with a mixture of responses available to view below.

“We’re massive!”

Credit: @MattSmith1874

“Robin Olsen wooaahhhh. Olsen woaaaah”

Credit: @AVFCFaithful_

“We needed a good experienced keeper as cover for Emi he’ll do nicely, now just Bissouma and Pau Torres and we’re sorted”

Credit: @STAUNT0N

“Pointless.”

Credit: @StevieGsVilla

“We need a centre half”

Credit: @N1X0

“No analysis needed. Someone to take the furthest right seat on the bench.”

Credit: @jmhart1

In other news: Shares agent with Gerrard – Villa now after midfield ace ‘like’ Gascoigne.  

Celtic winger Jota will miss the League Cup final against Hibernian later this month through injury, Sky Sports’ Alison Conroy reports.

The Lowdown: Permanent deal on the cards

The 22-year-old has proven to be an excellent addition under Ange Postecoglou, becoming a regular in Celtic’s front three.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-18/” title=”Celtic updates!!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Jota has been involved in 14 goals in his 18 appearances for the club, with the manager wanting to exercise their option-to-buy clause for the winger before the end of the season.

It would cost Celtic £6.5m to secure Jota’s services on a permanent basis, but he’ll miss his first final as a Hoops player through injury.

The Latest: Hampden Park absence

Jota suffered a hamstring issue against Hearts earlier this month, which is expected to keep him out for ‘a few weeks’.

Conroy reported Postecoglou’s pre-Real Betis press conference on Twitter on Wednesday, with the manager confirming Jota won’t be available against Hibs.

The Verdict: Hammer blow

Jota has proven to be a big player for Celtic with his reliable and consistent production in the final third, racking up eight goals and six assists so far this season.

You always want your best players ready to go for big games, so his absence will be a blow for Postecoglou, who may have to rely on youngsters Mikey Johnston and Liel Abada to fill in for the time being.

Described as ‘brilliant’ by Frank McAvennie, Jota may well return to the side before the winter break, but if he doesn’t, the next time fans see him, he could be a Celtic player on a permanent basis.

In other news: Celtic closing in on possible loan-to-buy move for ‘tireless worker’; Ange isn’t hanging around. 

West Ham United are interested in a deal to bring Duje Caleta-Car to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Telegraph, who claim that, with Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma being ruled out of action for a considerable portion of the remainder of the campaign due to injury, David Moyes is looking to bring in a number of defensive reinforcements into his side during the upcoming winter window.

The report goes on to state that Olympique de Marseille centre-back Caleta-Car is one of the 58-year-old manager’s targets, although, it is also claimed that newly-rich Newcastle United are also interested in a move for the 25-year-old, who was reportedly available for just €15m (£12.6m) last summer.

Forget Ogbonna

While it is true that West Ham have badly missed Ogbonna ever since the centre-back injured his anterior cruciate ligament in the Hammers’ 3-2 victory over Liverpool towards the start of November, should the club’s board be able to get a deal over the line for Caleta-Car this January, it would certainly help ease the loss of the 33-year-old defender.

Indeed, over his eight Ligue 1 appearances so far this season, the £14.4m-rated man has been in imperious form, helping his side keep three clean sheets, scoring one goal, as well as making an average of 0.8 interceptions, 1.1 tackles, 1.9 clearances and winning 72% of his duels per game.

These returns have seen the £47k-per-week centre-back average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.17, ranking him as Jorge Sampaoli’s second-best performer in the top flight of French football – behind only a player West Ham fans will be very familiar with, in the shape of Dimitri Payet.

Furthermore, former Liverpool defender and Caleta-Car’s Croatia teammate Dejan Lovren clearly believes the 25-year-old has what it takes to make it in the Premier League, stating of the defender last year: “He is physically very strong, stronger than other players. He will explode in a few years and become even stronger.”

As such, while the loss of Ogbonna for what could be the rest of the current campaign is undoubtedly a nightmare for David Moyes, should GSB manage to seal a deal for Caleta-Car as the Italian’s replacement this January, the manager’s current nightmare in the heart of his defence would certainly turn into something of a dream for the Scot.

In other news: Forget Vlasic: £79k-p/w WHU gem who lost the ball every 2.1 touches badly failed Moyes

A key Rangers transfer claim has been made ahead of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s first window in charge of the Glasgow giants…

What’s the talk?

Retired Scotland international Frank McAvennie has claimed that he would ‘certainly expect’ the Gers to bolster their defence in the January transfer window.

The 62-year-old has pointed to their struggles against Martin Boyle, who scored a hat-trick in Hibernian’s 3-1 win over Rangers last weekend, as evidence as to why they need to dip into the market.

He told Football Insider: “I should think there will be deals.

“Martin Boyle is a very good player but if one player is running rings around your entire defence, you have a problem. The same quality hasn’t been there this season and sometimes the best way to amend that is with fresh blood.

“Maybe things have gone stale but look at the number of times they have conceded first this season.

“It’s a shocking drop off from last season. I don’t know if Van Bronckhorst will have taken the job if he wasn’t going to be backed. Let’s see what happens in January but I would certainly expect some movement to fix that defence out.”

Fans will be buzzing

Rangers fans will surely be buzzing with this claim from McAvennie as the team’s defence has faltered at times this season, so bringing in defensive reinforcements in January could delight those who want to see the backline improved.

So far this season, the Gers have only kept three clean sheets in their 13 Premiership matches. In the 2020/21 campaign, Steven Gerrard’s side managed 26 shutouts in 38 games on their way to the title, but the 41-year-old was unable to carry the impressive defensive record into the current season prior to his departure for Aston Villa earlier this month, with Van Bronckhorst tasked with improving that statistic.

The Dutchman also has to deal with Leon Balogun and Connor Goldson both being out of contract at the end of the season, although the former has an option to extend by a further 12 months. This means that Goldson could be on his way out the door next summer, so signing a replacement for him in January could be an ideal situation for the club and would surely please the fans.

Rangers could bring in a centre-back during the January transfer window to slowly take over from Goldson throughout the second half of the campaign. The former Brighton man could then leave next summer, with his replacement already in the door and accustomed to Van Bronckhorst’s tactics and his teammates.

AND in other news, Forget Morelos: “Special” Rangers beast with 91.6% duels won stole the show vs Sparta…

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left fuming over some early team news that has emerged ahead of their game away at Hearts at Sunday lunchtime.

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match in the Scottish Premiership, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has revealed that Kemar Roofe is now a ‘doubt’.

The Jamaica international has struggled at times with injury problems throughout his career at Ibrox, and has not always been available throughout this season so far.

It is a shame, because he has come up with 10 goals in 20 games so far this term (Transfermarkt), but injuries seem to be holding him back.

Nonetheless, it seems as if a lot of Light Blues supporters are losing patience with him as he struggles to keep himself fit for a sustained period of time.

Rangers fans on team news

These Teddy Bears were left fuming as the early team news involving Roofe was shared on Twitter:

“Roofe’s injuries becoming an issue again”

Credit: @BIBRSCShawlands

“Time to sell Roofe.”

Credit: @mendrinkmilk

“Convinced Roofe is made of glass.”

Credit: @jaayfc

“Roofe again”

Credit: @AyeReady87

“Don’t see where Roofe fits into a 4231 and he’s very injury prone… need to start looking at alternatives”

Credit: @Rfc1872I

“Roofe, Helander and Jack all important players for us but all seem to struggle injury wise. It’s gutting.”

Credit: @Stuart1872Rfc

In other news, find out whose display against Lyon was slammed here!

With an away trip to face Cheltenham Town at the weekend on the horizon, Sheffield Wednesday are on a rather uninspiring run of form having drawn their three previous League One outings.

On the chalkboard

Looking ahead to the match at The Jonny-Rocks Stadium, one Owls player that should definitely be in the starting XI on Saturday is 22-year-old midfielder Dennis Adeniran.

Adeniran, who played the full 90 minutes of their 1-1 draw against Lincoln City last weekend, managed to not only score the goal that rescued a point for Darren Moore’s side.

He also managed to complete 26 of the 28 passes (92.9%) he attempted, made one accurate cross, completed two out of the four dribble attempts he made, won ten out of the 18 duels he was involved in and made four interceptions and four tackles, ultimately earning himself a solid overall match rating of 7.5, making him the joint-highest rated Wednesday player on the day according to SofaScore.

This shows just how much of a well-rounded performance he put in for the side in his latest appearance and why we think he should keep his place in the team for the trip to Cheltenham on Saturday.

Also, with Moore claiming that Adeniran would bring “great energy” to the team when they signed him, it seems as though he was right on the money considering how much of an attacking and defensive unit he was for Wednesday against the Imps.

Wednesday signed Adeniran back in July from Everton’s U23 side on a free transfer. Since then, the 22-year-old, who is currently valued at £360k according to Transfermarkt, has made 14 appearances for the Owls across all competitions in which he has managed to rack up three goals and one assist whilst playing in a range of positions on the pitch, highlighting his versatility and why we think he has been a good signing for the club.

For this weekend’s encounter, Adeniran’s inclusion in the starting XI would give Moore’s side to pick up a win rather than yet another draw or even a defeat that could put a dent in Wednesday’s hopes to secure a promotion place back to the Championship by the end of the season.

In other news: Moore must unleash “phenomenal” £1.62m-rated SWFC beast, he could bully Cheltenham – opinion

Aston Villa have been dealt a potential blow in their bid to bring Todd Cantwell to Villa Park.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a recent report by Birmingham Live, who claim that Dean Smith’s appointment as Norwich City’s new manager could prove to be a stumbling block in Aston Villa’s potential move for the 23-year-old, who was heavily linked with a £40m move to Villa Park in the summer.

However, the latest report suggests that, following Smith’s arrival at Carrow Road, the winger could go on to become a central part of the 50-year-old’s plans with the Canaries, something that would appear to all but rule out a January move for the England U21 international.

Huge blow

While it is true that Cantwell has not exactly been in the best of form for Norwich so far this season, having not been included in any of the club’s last six Premier League matchday squads, the 23-year-old has nevertheless proven in previous campaigns that he would make an excellent addition to Steven Gerrard’s first-team squad.

Indeed, over his 33 Championship appearances last term, the £19.8m-rated man scored six goals, registered six assists and created seven big chances for his teammates, returns which saw the youngster earn a highly impressive seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.17.

Furthermore, the £25k-per-week winger also bagged six goals and registered two assists over his 37 Premier League appearances for City back in 2019/20, demonstrating that the youngster undoubtedly has the ability to perform at the highest level that English football has to offer.

And, the potential signing of Cantwell is also something that would appear to go down very well with Villa fans, as, in a poll ran on Football FanCast, the majority of supporters stated their belief that NSWE should do all they can to get a deal over the line for the 23-year-old.

As such, should Smith indeed be unwilling to part with Cantwell in January, it would not only come as a huge blow to Steven Gerrard, it would also look to leave fans of the club rather gutted.

In other news: Lange could land Gerrard’s next Kent at AVFC with “absolutely phenomenal” £80k-p/w gem

Celtic enjoyed a 2-0 win at Motherwell in the Premiership on Saturday afternoon thanks to goals from Jota and David Turnbull.

However, not every player put in the kind of performance that they would have liked, and The Transfer Tavern have picked out the three worst Hoops players based purely on Sofascore statistics (players must feature for at least 45 minutes in order to be considered).

Joe Hart

Statistically, Hart was Celtic’s third worst player on the pitch.

This seems very harsh considering that he managed to keep a clean sheet in between the sticks. However, as a ‘keeper who likes to come out of his goal at times, emphasised by his one successful dribble and one ground duel won (Sofascore), he may have been disappointed to not play any key passes and only have 43 touches of the ball in total.

Sofascore decided to give him an overall rating of seven out of ten.

Liel Abada

Abada was the Celts’ second worst player with a 6.8 rating on Sofascore.

The Israel international lost out on two of his duels and also failed to record a single dribble, key pass or accurate cross, the latter from seven attempts (Sofascore).

Abada was also guilty of losing possession on 12 separate occasions throughout the match, and recorded just 40 touches of the ball in total, the second fewest out of any Bhoys player to have started the match (Sofascore).

Kyogo Furuhashi

Despite his heroics so far this season, Kyogo was statistically the worst player in Ange Postecoglou’s starting XI at Fir Park, with a 6.6 overall rating.

The 26-year-old lost three duels and failed to record a shot on target, dribble or key pass during his 82 minutes on the pitch (Sofascore).

He also had a mere 16 touches of the ball, nine fewer than substitute Nir Bitton, who only featured for 17 minutes (Sofascore). That highlights how isolated the Japan international was up top at times.

In other news, find out who could be back for Celtic in the ‘next couple of weeks’

On Thursday night, David Moyes handed yet another professional debut to one of West Ham’s promising youngsters – something which has been a recurring theme since he returned for a second stint at the club.

The Irons continued their impressive form in the Europa League with another win and clean sheet, taking them way clear at the top of Group H.

Genk threatened early on in the match but the tide turned just before the break when Craig Dawson nodded home from an Aaron Cresswell delivery. The left-back provided again in the second half, this time Issa Diop heading to the net, before Jarrod Bowen wrapped things up with a fine solo strike.

With the game more or less over by the hour mark, the Scotsman made changes to his starting XI, in which young academy gem Dan Chesters came on for his maiden senior appearance.

The 19-year-old midfielder came on for Manuel Lanzini in the 89th minute, joining a whole host of names to make their debut since Moyes’ comeback, including Harrison Ashby, Emmanuel Longelo, Jamal Baptiste, Nathan Trott, Oladapo Afolayan, Aji Alese, Mipo Odubeko and Jeremy Ngakia.

Chesters is an exciting attacking midfielder, who offers pace and creativity in the final third.

West Ham’s official website describe him as ‘a livewire attacking midfielder capable of opening up the tightest of defences’. He is also capable of playing as a no.8, no.10 or out wide.

His impressive form for the U18s earned quite a lofty comparison to one of the Premier League’s very best.

“He’s a bit similar to Jack Grealish, claimed ex-Hammers midfielder Jack Collison to The Athletic.

“He takes people on and he’s lovely on the ball; really nice to watch. He’s one of the most exciting kids to watch in terms of what he can do when the ball’s at his feet.”

Meanwhile, Moyes waxed lyrical about his potential after the game. He told reporters, via football.london: “He has speed, he has trained well with the first team last week, when we were in the international break and he’d been quite impressive.

“We were a little bit short of attacking players today so it gave us a chance to get a couple of young players on the bench. Dan has been doing well and when he came on he showed his endeavour to stop them a couple of times.”

Perhaps he could go on to become the next Joe Cole at the London Stadium. His versatility and skillset certainly provide clues into the two having plenty of similarities.

With the Irons still in every domestic cup competition, we should expect to see Chesters’ name on the teamsheet more often as Moyes looks to deal with a congested workload over the coming weeks and months.

The 58-year-old may have just discovered the club’s next Cole.

AND in other news, 97% pass accuracy, 89 touches: West Ham’s £60k-p/w “freak” stole the show against Genk…

Many Wolves fans have been left buzzing over some contract news involving Adama Traore.

Writing in his latest piece for The Daily Telegraph, John Percy has now revealed that the Midlands club are currently in ‘advanced talks’ over a new deal for the Spain international, and that its signing will be a ‘formality’.

Traore is understood to have ‘remained professional’ throughout the process, and has been left ‘impressed’ with the vision for the future and ‘bought into’ the new philosophy under Bruno Lage.

There is no doubt that the winger is a key player for the Molineux faithful, as exemplified when he gave Manchester United a torrid time earlier on in the season, winning no fewer than 12 of his duels in the game, more than any other player on the pitch, and also ranked highest in terms of successful dribbles (eight) and key passes (four) (Sofascore).

Nonetheless, tying him down to a new deal will be vital for WWFC in terms of planning for their future.

Wolves fans on Traore news

These Wanderers supporters buzzed as the news was shared on Twitter, with one going as far as to claim that it is ‘great news’:

“Awesome. And when @JPercyTelegraph is reporting it, it’s as good as fact”

Credit: @andyroden

“Weekend’s started well”

Credit: @andyturnock

“Class!!!!!! Sanches and Botman in Jan boooooooooooom!”

Credit: @BushellGareth

“What superb news !!! Adama”

Credit: @RobDew8

“Great news!!”

Credit: @WolvesGriffin

“Beautiful sights”

Credit: @sophiaeclayton

In other news, find out whose display against Brentford was blasted here!