This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Tottenham Hotspur have completed the signing of Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon, the club have confirmed.
What’s the word?
The France international has signed a contract at the club until 2025 and becomes the club’s record signing.
Lyon also confirmed the midfielder’s departure on Tuesday and revealed the finances of the deal; Spurs have paid €60m (£53.7m) plus €10m (£8.9m) in add-ons.
The deal comfortably surpasses the £42m paid to Ajax to sign Davinson Sanchez in 2017.
Ndombele becomes Spurs’ second signing of the summer after they also confirmed a deal to sign Jack Clarke from Leeds United on Tuesday. He has been loaned back to the Championship club.
Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
A statement of major intent
Ndombele is a huge signing for the club.
Reports suggest that Mauricio Pochettino placed the France international at the top of his summer wishlist and chairman Daniel Levy has delivered.
Paying over £50m for one player was unthinkable for Spurs just a couple of years ago and now they have a genuinely elite central midfielder.
He replaces Mousa Dembele at a stroke and also sends a message that this Spurs team, that reached the Champions League final last season, is here to stay.
According to reports in Turkey, via The Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa are showing an interest in Galatasaray defender Christian Luyindama.
Indeed, The Birmingham Mail have cited reports in Turkey when claiming that a £10.7m offer has been made for Luyindama.
That said, Aksam, via Sport Witness, have since written that whilst there is no offer currently on the table, Galatasaray would be open to a discussion.
The 25-year-old has only just completed a move to the Turkish giants following a loan spell last season.
Luyindama, who is a DR Congo international, largely operates as a defender, although he has also played in central midfield during his career.
Watch Aston Villa Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
Villa have already made a number of defensive signings this summer and therefore it would be somewhat of a surprise if Luyindama arrived.
The Villa fans have been on social media offering their views on the latest developments and a selection of their reaction can be seen below:
After an encouraging end to the season, Ralph Hasenhuttl now has some decisions to make.
Undoubtedly, Southampton’s form significantly picked up upon the Austrian taking charge as Tom Prentki writes in the Telegraph, but they will certainly need to freshen up to maintain or even improve on their upwards trajectory. Indeed, the last few years have been that bad for fans on the South Coast, who have watched their side fall from one of the most exciting projects in English football to relegation battlers.
To that end, one player the former RB Leipzig boss must decide on is Charlie Austin. After a report £4 million move from QPR via BBC Sport in January 2016, the former Swindon ace has largely failed to build on his once impressive reputation, one that saw him called up into the international scene by Roy Hodgson in 2015.
At the time, the Englishman looked a natural goalscorer in his first Premier League season with QPR, scoring an impressive 18 league goals and assisting another seven, and although the London club were eventually relegated that campaign, Austin appeared to be a striker who could score goals at the top level.
In fact, in his three-and-a-half Premier League seasons with Southampton since, Austin has just the missing a whopping 26 games in the 2016/17 season and 18 the year after.
Obviously, he managed just WhoScored), so it’s fair to say his involvement was limited. So, with a manager famed for his high-pressing, high-intensity tactics as emphasised by Total Football Analysis, it doesn’t appear to be an overly natural fit.
Where Austin failed to impress, though, others stood up and took their chances. Both Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse chipped in with their fair share of goals with nine and seven respectively.
At 29-years-old, Austin has a TransferMarkt valuation of £7.2 million, perhaps a reasonable sum for a player of such little significance in recent times. A sale of that amount would represent close to a 100% profit and would provide the Saints with some additional funds for a player who could actually compete.
With Aston Villa rumoured by the Sun to be interested in Austin earlier this month, the Saints could command the sort of fee the aforementioned analysts value him at, and it’d be decent business considering his impact on proceedings last season.
Southampton fans, would you keep persisting with Austin? Or is his time at the club now done? Comment below!
This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
One of the longest transfer sagas this summer has been that of Harry Maguire’s potential departure to Manchester United.
Earlier this month, they bid £80m for the central defender before it was reported that the transfer was imminent.
Also in the headlines has been Lewis Dunk who has been touted as a possible replacement for the Foxes in a £45m deal.
If the two transfers go through, they’d be huge for all clubs involved, yet Leicester could be forced into making a big change to their play.
Watch Leicester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
On the chalkboard
One of Maguire’s and Leicester’s favoured routes to goal in the past has been from set-pieces.
The centre-back scored against Sweden at the World Cup from a set-play whilst he’s popped up with a further three strikes from these situations in the last two years for Leicester.
Per Understat, he’s scored five times from corners and free-kicks in the Premier League alone throughout his career.
As can be seen below, Maguire likes to drift towards the penalty spot from Leicester’s set-plays, scoring twice and also hitting the post in those sorts of areas.
However, if they land Dunk this summer, this form of attack and route to goal may have to be changed.
According to Understat, the 27-year-old Brighton man scored twice from set plays in 2018/19 but his impact came far closer to the goal.
In fact, his effectiveness in the same place as Maguire was hugely limited, missing all but one of his shots from positions between the six-yard area and the edge of the box.
As a result, if Dunk arrives and Maguire leaves, Brendan Rodgers could find himself instructing his set-piece takers into playing the ball into a different area.
If you think the rumoured £80m for Harry Maguire is too much, check out how much his potential replacement will cost in the video below…
Both of the former’s goals last term came from closer than six-yards out, meaning it may be preferable for Leicester to have in-swinging corners towards the back and front posts.
Not only could Leicester’s defence be changed if they sign Dunk, but so could their attack.
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Vincent Janssen has been the latest victim of Tottenham Hotspur’s striker curse.
The club have allowed the Netherlands international to leave, with Janssen linking up with Mexican side Monterrey.
It could be regarded as a step down for a Premier League striker but he’s been nothing short of terrible in north London.
The Netherlands international was a hot prospect when he arrived at Spurs for a fee of £17m. He had scored 32 goals in 49 games for AZ Alkmaar and, really, looked to be an odds-on bet to provide excellent support for Harry Kane.
In 42 games for Spurs, though, he scored six times.
Compare Janssen with the club’s most recent three striker signings, excluding the Dutchman: Fernando Llorente, Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor.
Llorente netted 13 goals in 66 outings, Soldado scored 16 in 76 and Adebayor, after making his move permanent following an initial loan spell, scored 25 in 91.
Perhaps Kane is actually sucking the life-force out of these players.
Indeed, since his debut in 2011/12, when he played 90 minutes in a Europa League encounter against Hearts, he has scored 164 goals in 253 games.
The quartet of Janssen, Soldado, Adebayor and Llorente made a combined 275 appearances and scored 60 goals. That’s less than half of Kane’s tally alone.
Kane averages a goal every 0.6 games, or one in two, while the other four averaged a goal every 0.2 games or one in five.
Perhaps it is merely that the England captain, who has also scored 22 goals in 39 games internationally, is a goalscoring phenomenon, a genuinely world-class striker who is at the very height of his profession. That is probably true.
Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
And perhaps it is also that Spurs have absolutely lucked out with the development of the 25-year-old because they are frankly atrocious at buying strikers. That can be true too.
Janssen is yet another example of this.
He can score goals and he did, in the Netherlands, but at Spurs, his form deserted him.
He has the ability to resuscitate his career and he will hope to do just that in Mexico.
He is the latest victim of Spurs’ striker crisis; the club had better thank their lucky stars they have Kane on their books.
There are no transfers to speak of yet at Arsenal, as Unai Emery continues to work with his measly transfer budget. And today’s Gunners transfer roundup is all about outgoings. It includes the potential departure of a 21-year-old, the shock news about a star striker and Turkish interest in an international centre-back.
Bielik wants move
According to the Sun, Polish defender Krystian Bielik wants a move away from the Emirates Stadium this summer. The Poland U21 player reportedly believes he has no chance of first-team football with Arsenal next season, and therefore prefers to leave.
Aubameyang “says yes” to United
Italian outlet Tuttosport is reporting that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has “said yes” to a move to Manchester United this summer. United were reportedly planning a £70m bid for the former Borussia Dortmund striker, and it now appears that the Gabonese would be open to the switch.
Fenerbahce after Mustafi
Fenerbahce want Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi according to Turkish outlet Aksam. Mustafi, who joined the club from Valencia in 2016, is on the Super Lig club’s radar, and Fenerbahce will reportedly make an official move in the coming days.
قرر نادي وادي دجلة تغيير مديره الفني بعد إقالة القبرصي نيكوديموس بابافاسيليو، عقب الخسارة من الجونة في الجولة التاسعة من بطولة الدوري المصري.
ويحتل وادي دجلة المركز الأخير في جدول ترتيب المسابقة في الوقت الحالي برصيد 7 نقاط فقط، حيث خاض 10 مباريات فاز في واحدة وخسر 5 وتعادل في 4 مباريات أخرى.
وقام النادي قبل 3 أيام بالإعلان عن مدير فني مفاجئ بتعيين التشيلي ماريو سالاس، لقيادة الفريق في المرحلة المقبلة ومحاولة العودة إلى المسار الصحيح لما له من خبرات تدريبية كبيرة.
اقرأ أيضًا.. محمد شريف: رحلت عن الأهلي بسبب لاسارتي
وتواصل “btolat.com” مع مدرب الأهلي السابق، مارتن لاسارتي، للحديث عن تعيين سالاس كمدرب في وادي دجلة خاصة وأن الأوروجوياني لديه خبرة في الدوري التشيلي ويعرف قدرات المدرب الجديد.
وقال لاسارتي: “سعيد للغاية من أجل ماريو بعد هذه الخطوة”.
وتابع مدرب الأهلي السابق: “سالاس مدرب عظيم يمتلك عقلية الفوز وفاز بالدوري التشيلي من قبل مع نادي أونيفرسيداد كاتوليكا وقدم معهم أداءً رائعًا”.
وأضاف في النهاية: “سالاس مدرب جيدًا جدًا وسيساعد وادي دجلة في العودة للمسار الصحيح رغم صعوبة موقفه في الدوري المصري”. من هو ماريو سالاس مدرب وادي دجلة الجديد؟!
سبق له اللعب في نادي إيفرتون كخط وسط مدافع في الفترة من 1987 وحتى 1993، أما عن مسيرته التدريبية فقد درب فرق قوية في تشيلي مثل كولو كولو وأونيفرسيداد كاتوليكا.
فاز بالدوري التشيلي عام 2016 مع أونيفرسيداد كاتوليكا وكأس السوبر في نفس العام، بالإضافة إلى تتويجه ببطولة الدوري في بيرو مع فريق سبورتنج كريستال عام 2018.
دعونا نرحب بالمدير الفني الجديد التشيلي ماريو سالاس 🤝 Welcome Our New Coach Mario Salas pic.twitter.com/ttPYbZ2bPu — Wadi Degla FC (@wadideglafc) February 1, 2021
Ayoze Perez joins Leicester City from Newcastle United in one of the most surprising deals of the summer to date.
The £30m fee spent by Leicester is questionable considering it’s fair to ask what they’ve actually bought for that price.
That’s not a question of Perez’s ability, as the diminutive playmaker has shown over many years at Newcastle that he possesses both the quality and grit to succeed at Premier League level.
No, the doubts arise more in search of the answer to an even more pertinent question: what are they signing him for?
While boasted qualities that eluded the majority of his less technically gifted teammates, the lingering question that has hung over the Spaniard has always concerned where he fits into the attack.
And with that, it’s difficult to understand why Brendan Rodgers has opted to spend such a huge sum of money to bring him to the King Power Stadium.
Watch Leicester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
The forward has played a variety of different positions, from right to left wing, number 10, second striker and even as a number 9. There’s no doubt he’s got the attributes to succeed in any of these roles, but Leicester are a side who boast tremendous and, crucially, young talent that you’d assume a progressive manager like Rodgers would want to exploit and develop.
Harvey Barnes, James Maddison, Demarai Gray, Mark Albrighton and potentially Youri Tielemans – should he return to Leicester in a reported £40m deal – could be in contention to occupy the starting three spots behind a striker, most likely Jamie Vardy, so it’s difficult to envisage where Perez fits into the squad.
Perhaps he will merely be a squad player but, given the size of his price-tag, it seems that he will be much more than a body to bolster squad depth.
With that said, it might be time for Jamie Vardy to look over his shoulder in fear of his place in the starting XI rather than to watch his teammate thread a through ball into his path.
Soccer Football – Premier League – Leicester City v Arsenal – King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain – April 28, 2019 Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers, Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy and James Maddison celebrate after the match Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single clu
Vardy has typically thrived in a counter-attacking side.
This isn’t a criticism of his ability on the ball, nor his final product or creativity, it’s simply fitting of his finest attributes – his pace and goal scoring instinct.
He thrives when running in behind and exploiting space, running directly at goal, the sort of thing he did relentlessly under Claudio Ranieri. The way Rodgers likes to play, however, won’t necessarily allow for this to happen.
Naturally, it’s pertinent to acknowledge that the Northern Irish manager enabled Vardy to rediscover his form shortly after he replaced Claude Puel. Spaces were suddenly prised open for the lightning-quick forward to exploit and he scored 10 goals in 11 Premier League games to finish the 2018/19 season.
But at 32 years old Vardy is moving towards the back end of his career and a contingency plan is needed to prepare for life after the Foxes legend, one which Perez may well be at the centre of.
Rodgers has been renowned throughout his managerial career in the top flight for playing short, incisive and attractive football.
He led Swansea to the Premier League with it and immediately caught the eye with his brave style, one which was later lauded by Luis Suarez, per Sports Mole, after he accepted the Liverpool job: “They always tried to play football with short-pass combinations and didn’t care what zone of the field they were at.”
He came agonisingly close to winning the Premier League with Liverpool and won a double treble with Celtic while adhering to his possession-based principles. He appears to believe in this approach and is refining it with every year that goes by.
Vardy doesn’t fit the remit as well as the former Newcastle star, which could see the fresh recruit adopting a centre-forward role in the side, where he can carry his team up the pitch, dribble past players, hold up the ball, create and score.
Perez can combine with midfield options effectively as well, and his stats suggest he enjoys this side of the game. Last season he proved to be far more involved with overall team play, registering 779 league passes compared to Vardy’s 416, and averaging 21.05 passes per game to the Englishman’s 12.24.
Perez also completed more key passes per game on average with 1.2, while the former non-league star completed just 0.9. This has been achieved despite playing in a team finishing lower in the table.
The stats points towards a fundamental stylistic difference between the two players, one which will at least offer Rodgers a fresh option in attack.
“It reminds me of a bus seat!” – Watch a damning verdict on Chelsea’s new kit in the video below…
Yes, Perez’s position in attacking midfield certainly contributed to the Newcastle man’s involvement in build-up play, but his side were also adopting a very pragmatic style under Benitez, so it can’t all be explained by positional differences.
Quite frankly, the Spaniard has a very different way of helping his team up the pitch.
Who knows, the two forwards may form a great partnership, and with Leicester in a rebuilding phase, there are certainly times when Vardy’s fantastic strike rate, pace and hunger will be required, but the club’s long-term future under Rodgers looks set to champion neat and complete players like Perez, Maddison and, if Leicester fans’ dreams are turned into reality, Tielemans as well.
It’s hard to see how the Spaniard will displace some of Leicester’s finest young talents, but with Vardy ageing – though showing little sign of it – perhaps this signing adds a weapon to Rodgers’ armoury that could see the veteran phased out.
Tottenham Hotspur have worked tirelessly to install the virtue of patience into their fanbase, but they finally ended a seemingly endless operation by making their first signings since January 2018 earlier this week, as Jack Clarke and Tanguy Ndombele were added to Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.
The £65m fee paid by Spurs is a real statement of intent, and while the Frenchman provides an upgrade in midfield, he also brings with him an adaptability and flexibility that some of the Argentine’s attacking talent haven’t been able to execute as successfully as he might have hoped.
This flexibility involves moving from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-5-2 as effortlessly as possible.
Much has been made about the quality of Spurs’ starting front four. Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Son Heung-min are capable of combining to lethal effect, however, maximising the attacking potential of the quartet is a genuine conundrum for Pochettino.
On occasion, the Argentine has looked to adapt to a 3-5-2 or 3-1-4-2 depending on your perspective, but has suffered defeats to Watford, Liverpool, Ajax in this system, though a convincing 3-0 win at home to Borussia Dortmund proves that it’s not without its merits.
In order to line up this way, creative influences like Eriksen and Alli have been forced to drop and start in a midfield-three, which hasn’t come naturally to them.
Pochettino has often preferred a back-three system when facing elite quality teams – such as Ajax and Borussia Dortmund – suggesting he often champions defensive solidity on the big stage.
The only issue is that Eriksen doesn’t possess the dynamism or defensive instinct to play deeper and Alli doesn’t possess the discipline, which can be forgiven considering his best work is typically conducted in the final third.
This is where the signing of Ndombele could be particularly important.
Eriksen’s future remains in doubt after he stated his desire to “try something new” and, while the Frenchman is by no means a like-for-like signing, he suits Pochettino’s strategy against the top teams.
When the 47-year-old chooses to adopt the 4-2-3-1 system, Ndombele could slot into a midfield two with Sissoko or Winks and provide the Moussa Dembele-esque creativity from deep, with a physical stature and defensive awareness to compliment his attacking instincts.
Soccer Football – Premier League – Watford v Tottenham Hotspur – Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain – September 2, 2018 Tottenham’s Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Kieran Trippier celebrate an own goal their first scored by Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use
However, when those daunting trips to the Etihad and Anfield do come along, the shift to a 3-5-2 can be reverted-to far more easily. Partnering with Winks and Sissoko in a three gives Spurs plenty of dynamism as well as creativity in front of three centre-backs.
Per Whoscored, Ndombele averaged at 1.9 tackles per game in Ligue 1 last season – 0.7 more per game than the defensively astute Sissoko – while slicing his way through the opposition on the front foot with 1.9 dribbles per game, winning 2.1 fouls per game in the process.
It is this rare but coveted ability to contribute to both phases of play with equal proficiency that makes him such an irresistible and game-changing talent.
It’s not only the midfield, though, that the 22-year-old will be improving.
In recent seasons, question marks have been raised over the performances of Danny Rose and Kieran Tripper, two full-backs with plenty of attacking intent. Rose’s perpetual improvement in the most recent campaign has all but restored his reputation amongst the fans towards the end of the most recent campaign but there is still work to be done, while Trippier has plummeted in the opposite direction.
Back-three formations allow the wing-backs far more protection when marauding up the pitch and, with Ndombele’s influence bolstering the effectiveness of that particular system, both England defenders can fully discover their best form once again in north London.
The wing-back’s aggressive forward runs are an asset Spurs will look to exploit regularly as natural wingers like Son and Lucas Moura dart inside to take up more central roles.
The width provided by the wing-backs is essential for Pochettino’s philosophy, but they can only afford to make these runs if the defensive cover is there to support the attacks.
It’s pertinent to note that during Trippier’s stellar World Cup, he played brilliantly in a 3-5-2 formation.
Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
The midfielder’s arrival will only encourage Pochettino to persist more with this formation.
Ndombele is a player Spurs have desperately needed, and is no doubt an upgrade on what they’ve had in the past few seasons.
Not only will he improve the quality in central midfield, he should allow those around him to thrive and improve.
[ad_pod ]Manchester United are targeting Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic as a replacement for Paul Pogba this summer, according to Spanish outlet Marca.The report states that Pogba has already told his teammates he expects to leave Man United this summer, with Real Madrid and Juventus potential destinations.Who is Man Utd’s worst ever player? Bebe? Eric Djemba-Djemba? The fan in the video below actually think it’s one of the Red Devils’ current crop…The Frenchman has spent three seasons in his second spell at the club, emerging as one of the team’s most important players.Last season was a disappointing one for United, but Pogba was one of their stand-outs, scoring 16 times and assisting 11 more goals.Milinkovic-Savic has extensive experience in Serie A with Lazio and last season helped bring success back to the Italian giants by winning the Coppa Italia, scoring in the final against Atalanta.
Some United fans feel the Serbian international’s all-round midfield game makes him an ideal replacement for the want-away Pogba, with these supporters taking to Twitter over the weekend to share their thoughts…