All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Bad news struck Wolves back in August when it was reported that Pedro Neto suffered an unfortunate setback in his recovery from injury.

Consequently, it will now see him potentially return to action in February after fracturing his knee cap back in April during Wolves’ 1-0 win at Fulham in the Premier League.

Given how Wolves have only managed to score five goals in their opening seven Premier League games of the season, winning three and losing four, it’s safe to say Bruno Lage’s side could do with Neto’s attacking prowess in their squad at the moment.

Since joining the Midlands club back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Italian club Lazio for a fee of £16.11m, the winger has managed to score ten goals and provide 11 assists in 79 appearances across all competitions. Five of his goals and six of his assists came last season, demonstrating just how important he was for the team.

This has also been proved by the rise in his overall market value.

In December 2019, only a few months after joining the club, Neto’s market value according to Transfermarkt was listed at just £6.3m. Whereas now it’s taken a massive jump to £31.5m, showing an increase in total of £25.2m in under two years, which is mightily impressive.

This shows just how much of an impressive signing he’s been for Wolves and what a great fit he’s been in their squad alongside other attacking players like Adama Traore and Raul Jimenez.

Moving forward, everyone at Wolves will undoubtedly be hoping that the 21-year-old winger, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £50k-per-week according to Spotrac, will not suffer any further setbacks in his recovery. After an inconsistent start to the campaign, they need him back out on the pitch as soon as he can with no possibility of any further damage to his knee as a result.

In our view, given his relatively young age, if Neto can full recover from his injury and regain the attacking power he showed last season, we see no reason why his market value couldn’t go up even further. He is a simply wonderful player.

In other news: 0 goals, 0 assists: Lage must wield the axe on £8.1m-rated Wolves nightmare – opinion

Celtic head into their match this weekend needing an immediate response from what occurred in the Old Firm derby.

The Hoops were beaten by their biggest rivals and, all of a sudden, Ange Postecoglou’s men look as though they lack a bit of confidence again.

However, as the Bhoys get ready to face Ross County on Saturday afternoon, they will do so boosted by three deadline day signings.

Will any of those new faces start today? Here’s our predicted XI…

We anticipate Celtic to make four changes to the side which lost to Rangers two weeks ago.

The first change comes in the centre of defence, where Carl Starfelt – a man with an error in his system – is axed in favour of Cameron Carter-Vickers.

The Tottenham defender was a surprise late arrival on deadline day as Postecoglou managed to secure him on loan.

With Greg Taylor’s fitness unknown after pulling out of the Scotland squad, Josip Juranovic starts again on the left, with Anthony Ralston on the right.

The biggest change is in attack, where Kyogo Furuhashi is forced to drop out. The forward picked up a knee injury on international duty which will rule him for a month at least.

That means there is also a Hoops debut for Giorgos Giakoumakis, who is likely to be charged with leading the line.

There is no Odsonne Edouard anymore either, so he is replaced in the starting XI by Jota, who penned temporary terms from Benfica and could be the third of the Celtic debutants today.

The final change is behind the striker, where Ryan Christie is replaced by Tom Rogic. The former sealed a late move to Bournemouth and is no longer on the wage bill at Parkhead.

David Turnbull is likely to feature in midfield alongside the in-form skipper Callum McGregor.

Celtic have played some excellent attacking football this season, so it will be interesting to see how they fare with a huge change in personnel.

AND in other news, Forget Soro: Celtic must unleash rarely-seen 20 y/o with a “wand of a left foot”…

Liverpool have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of their Premier League clash with Brentford at the Brentford Community Stadium this evening.

What’s the word?

Jurgen Klopp revealed that he is set to be without midfielders Thiago and Naby Keita for the trip to west London after the pair picked up recent fitness issues.

“It’s not 100% clear. It’s a muscle in the calf,” the German said when asked about Thiago’s injury in Friday’s press conference. “It’s an issue, obviously. After the international break probably. I don’t think it would be anything earlier.”

The 54-year-old then addressed Keita’s foot problem which saw him substituted in the midweek victory over Norwich City in the Carabao Cup.

“Nothing serious, but it keeps him out of Brentford, for sure. A little longer maybe, we will see. It’s painful, and we have to see how he deals with it. Not cool. A good pre-season, and played a lot of games but it happens,” Klopp confirmed.

However, it’s not all bad news for Liverpool. First-choice right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to return following a short illness, while striker Roberto Firmino has resumed training and is in contention to feature.

Speaking to liverpoolfc.com at the AXA Training Centre on Thursday afternoon, Klopp said: “Trent was not injured, Trent was a little bit ill. He’s back in training, trained yesterday, and will be fine.

“Bobby trained already for two or three days, so he is back in contention, let me say it like this. We used him a little bit as a ‘joker’ (in training).”

Jurgen Klopp will be gutted

Thiago and Keita’s enforced absences will leave Klopp without three of his central midfielders following the dislocated ankle suffered by Harvey Elliott earlier in the month.

As a result, the former Borussia Dortmund boss is likely to be feeling gutted as his team’s fast start to 2021/22 threatens to be derailed by another string of injury issues.

Victory against Brentford would make it five consecutive wins in all competitions for Liverpool, but their task has been made significantly harder due to their growing list of absentees.

In other news… Bought for £4.4m, now worth £27m: Liverpool sealed transfer masterclass with “sensational” gem

Former Newcastle United man Steve Howey reckons there’s absolutely no reason why Nuno Espirito Santo shouldn’t play Harry Kane against Manchester City on Sunday.

The England striker hasn’t played competitively since the Euro 2020 final against Italy and is involved in a row with Spurs after missing training last week in a desperate bid to for a move to City.

Kane was meant to return last Monday, but reportedly missed training, although he came out four days later on Instagram and squashed those claims by suggesting that he would never refuse to train.

Kane has been at Hotspur Way quarantining since last Saturday, which means he’d only have had a couple of days to integrate with the rest of the squad before the champions visit north London this weekend.

But despite Kane’s no-show to training and lack of match sharpness having missed all five pre-season matches, Howey believes that Santo should play him.

He exclusively told Football FanCast:

“He comes across as the ultimate pro, so why would you keep out your talisman? Will Kane want to play? Yes. But he will be thinking what happens if he gets injured.

“But if you’re the manager, unless you’ve been told otherwise, I’m going to play my best player.”

An update has emerged on Sunderland’s pursuit of Exeter right-back Josh Key.

What’s the talk?

Sky Sports reporter Tom White has revealed that the League One side have been chasing the defender all summer. The journalist said that the Black Cats have had multiple bids turned down for the 21-year-old and are willing to spend a decent fee on his services.

He told Roker Report, via Chronicle Live: “There was a lot of talk about an Exeter right back, Josh Key, we had a few bids rejected for.”

“I saw a few conspiracy theories going around that the club had leaked that information to try and appease the fans as we hadn’t signed anyone at that stage.

“Well I can assure you that story is absolutely not true, we’ve been in for Josh Key from Exeter all summer and haven’t been able to get him. I don’t know if that deal is off now that we’ve signed [Niall] Huggins but we were absolutely in for him and would spend quite a bit of money on him.”

Fans will be delighted

Sunderland fans will be delighted by this update as it shows that the club have been working their socks off to get a deal done for Key. They have been chasing him throughout the summer and made a number of bids, which means that they are serious about bringing him in, and supporters must be glad to see their club showing ambition in the transfer window.

Whilst their hard work has not paid off as of yet, Kristjaan Speakman still has a week to try and negotiate a deal for the right-back. He has put the legwork in over the summer and is now entering the clutch time of the window, where he needs to earn his corn and secure the 21-year-old’s services for Lee Johnson’s squad.

Recent signing Niall Huggins is currently the only natural right-back option in the squad and he has played one senior match in his career, which came as a substitute in the Premier League for Leeds. This means that Sunderland could end up relying on an inexperienced player if they fail to bring another right-back option into the squad.

Therefore, fans could be buzzing to see a player like Key potentially coming in. The Exter man has started four matches in League Two this season, having played 43 times last term for the club. He averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.82 in the 2020/21 campaign and has started this year with an average of 6.99, winning 4.5 aerial battles and 1.5 tackles per game.

This suggests that he has the quality required to make the step up to League One, as he has been able to stand out with his performances in League Two. Sunderland fans will surely now be hoping that Speakman can work his magic in the final week of the window to bring the 21-year-old to the Stadium of Light to provide competition for Huggins at right-back.

AND in other news, Speakman must sanction Sunderland move for teen starlet tipped to follow in Bukayo Saka’s footsteps…

Former Everton frontman Marcus Bent has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that Ben Godfrey could be the key to the Toffees signing Max Aarons.

The 21-year-old, who came close to making a sensational move to Barcelona 12 months ago, has been on Everton’s radar for some time, with the Merseysiders still searching for a long-term Seamus Coleman replacement.

Aaron won’t turn 22 until January but has already racked up almost 150 senior appearances for Norwich and has achieved to promotions and an impressive season at Premier League level.

Wherever Aarons ends up, he’s more than likely to remain in the topflight after helping the Canaries make an instant return.

Two of Everton’s Premier League rivals in Tottenham and Manchester United are both keen on signing the high-rated full-back, but Rafa Benitez’s side have a slight advantage in Aarons’ former Norwich teammate Godfrey.

The pair not only came through the ranks together at Carrow Road but are also teammates at England Under-21 level.

Bent exclusively told The Transfer Tavern:

“He’s a good, young player, and Everton said that if Ben gets in his ear, they might get him. Hopefully, he will come to Everton, but I don’t think he’d want to be second or third choice.”

Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, writing on Twitter, has made a Tottenham Hotspur transfer claim involving Bordeaux attacking midfielder Yacine Adli.

The Lowdown: Paratici eyeing Spurs overhaul…

Tottenham’s new managing director has already overseen a plethora of transfer activity since his appointment by chairman Daniel Levy.

The Italian has been tasked with developing Spurs’ on-field sporting operations, making three major summer signings so far in Pierluigi Gollini, Cristian Romero and Bryan Gil.

He has also been casting his eye on plenty of attacking targets this summer, with the likes of Dusan Vlahovic, Houssem Aouar, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Simy having all been linked.

Now, Aouna has brought news of another Paratici attacking target in Adli, with an offer on the horizon.

The Latest: Lilywhites offer incoming?

As per the Foot Mercato reporter, writing on Twitter, contact has already been made for Adli as Spurs and Arsenal set their sights on the 21-year-old.

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It is also claimed that an offer from the Lilywhites is ‘coming soon’ alongside their north London rivals – with European giants AC Milan having chased the starlet since May.

“Info: As mentioned in May, Milan is very interested in Yacine Adli,” Aouna reported on social media.

“€12m offer + 10% on resale. Bordeaux demands more money. Discussions still ongoing.

“Contact with Arsenal and Tottenham. Offer coming soon.

“Lille is still interested.”

The Verdict: Adli and Gil…

At just 21, Adli has marked himself out as an exciting prospect and one who made a mark for Bordeaux last season.

Starting 25 Ligue 1 matches, the midfield ace notched five assists and completed 1.5 key passes per 90 in the final third (WhoScored) – more than any Spurs player managed in the English top flight bar Son Heung-min.

Depending on the offer from Spurs, they could be in the mix for a highly talented attacking player as Paratici continues to cast his net far and wide.

Having both Gil and Adli in the ranks would offer Nuno two young talents with bags of creativity and plenty of room to grow into future superstars.

In other news: ‘Yes yes yes’, ‘Buzzing’, ‘Game changer’…Many Tottenham fans erupt as ‘beautiful’ news confirmed, find out more here.

Everton cannot afford to loan out Moise Kean again and need to try make some money from the striker, says the club’s former defender Michael Ball.

After a disappointing 2019/20 campaign, Kean spent last season out on loan at Paris Saint-Germain, where he absolutely thrived.

The 21-year-old scored 17 goals in all competitions for PSG, bettering his tally from his debut campaign with Everton by some distance.

As per the reliable Fabrizio Romano, the French giants are keen to bring Kean back to the Parc des Princes on another loan deal, but Ball has warned Everton need a transfer fee so that they can bring in a new striker.

“Striker for Everton, I think over the last couple of years, we’ve been hoping to bring somebody else in,” the retired full-back told TT.

“The Moise Kean one hasn’t really worked and I think if Moise Kean does leave, I feel he needs to go for a transfer fee. I don’t think we can afford to loan him out for another 12 months or so.”

While there is no denying Kean’s quality, which he has shown at PSG, it just has not worked out for the £31.5m-rated Italy international at Everton.

If he is not going to have a big role under Rafael Benitez, then perhaps Marcel Brands and those dealing with transfers at the club are better off sanctioning something more permanent this time round.

Rafa Benitez has long been pencilled in as the manager that PCP Capital Partners wanted to take the club forward into a better period, but with the Spaniard now being appointed as Everton’s new boss that may throw a spanner in the works as he was the one that got the consortium interested, according to Liam Kennedy from the Shields Gazette.

Benitez was and still is a fan favourite on Tyneside for the work he did both on and off the pitch as he was often found helping out the local food bank in Newcastle, but he also understood what the club meant to the fans, which led to him getting his own flag being spread across the Gallowgate Stand.

PCP Capital Partners would obviously love to be handed the keys to Newcastle United even without Rafa Benitez at the helm, but there is no doubting that he was a huge factor in bringing them to the table to start with, something Kennedy confirmed to Football FanCast:

“Rafa Benitez and his people were really key to bringing PCP Capital Partners to the table at Newcastle United.”

Everyone involved in the potential takeover are eager for it to be pushed through and start pushing Newcastle onto a new beginning, and that will hopefully start with their new kit sponsor which was announced Friday morning as Castore will be designing the Magpies’ kits for the next few seasons.

Castore have also ensured that they will now run both the club store and their online website to ensure that they are offering the best service and products to Newcastle United fans, which is a step in the right direction as the store had previously been run as a Sports Direct shop.

On form and working in tandem together, the effervescent Everton trio of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and James Rodriguez should be one of the most exciting forward lines in the Premier League.

Rafa Benitez would have arrived back in Merseyside excited at the thought of how he can get the best from all three at the same time. All of them are wonderful players on their day but it was rare that each of them were on song at the same time last season.

Calvert-Lewin found the net on 21 occasions but was very rarely supplied by Richarlison, who provided just one assist in the top flight since December. Rodriguez is often the creative hub at Goodison Park but injuries curtailed his first campaign in England.

The club’s top scorer did well to find the net as often as that considering the lack of service he had at times. However, that could improve if Benitez swoops for one of Euro 2020’s star players.

Denmark sensation Mikkel Damsgaard was linked with a switch to Everton last week but the Toffees face competition from West Ham, Leeds, Leicester and Tottenham. A move could also cost in the region of £34m after he found the net twice during the European Championship.

He quickly became Denmark’s star man at the tournament, running rampant down the flanks and scoring a peach of a free-kick which beat Jordan Pickford in the semi-finals.

The Danes were ultimately on the losing side that night against England but Damsgaard produced one of the moments of the tournament in front of a huge Wembley crowd.

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The 21-year-old is less creative than Rodriguez, who has made a living out of supplying goals throughout his career.

However, he could be an enormous upgrade on Richarlison’s creativity. Over the last year, the Brazilian is in the 17th percentile for shot-creating actions in Europe’s top five leagues.

His passing might not be a strong point but taking on a man and fashioning an opportunity is. In the last 365 days, the Everton attacker ranks in the 73rd percentile for successful dribbles which led to the ball ending up in the net.

This is where Damsgaard completely changes the game. Although he ranks in the 40th percentile for shot-creating actions, he is in the 96th percentile for successful dribbles building up to a goal.

That final stat should have a player like Calvert-Lewin rubbing his hands with glee. The England forward was Everton’s top scorer last season and a player like Damsgaard should suit him perfectly – just imagine the Dane rampaging down the flanks and then sliding the ball into the path of Calvert-Lewin.

Benitez’s side could take a number of players out of the game in swashbuckling fashion, and they simply have to secure the 21-year-old’s services.

Described as “phenomenal” by national team colleague Kasper Schmeichel, he could take the Premier League by storm in 2021/22.

AND in other news, Everton present offer to sign 6 ft 4 giant who’s “performed miracles”, Rafa needs him…