Author: SportEarly
Tottenham sent out-of-favour midfielder Tanguy Ndombele to Napoli last summer and their fans are now anxious of the possibility of seeing him lift the Champions League trophy in Campania. Spurs paid €62m for the French midfielder back in July 2019, making him their record signing. Hopes were high for the player, but he failed to match expectations in the Italian capital and spent six months on loan with Olympique Lyon last year before making his way to Napoli. Ndombele has struggled for consistent minutes under Luciano Spalletti this season, playing just 589 minutes of Serie A action for Napoli, failing to play…
Jarrod Bowen form is a huge positive for West Ham United, and the Hammers star could keep us up single-handedly. The 26-year-old West Ham attacker has been in really poor form on the whole this season. Up until last night, Bowen had bagged only eight goals and three assists in 36 games (Transfermarkt). However, he now has 10 goals to his name after last night’s brace against AEK Larnaca. Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images The left-footed right winger moved to the London Stadium from Hull City in January 2020 for around £18 million (The Daily Mail). Overall, he’s proven to be a great addition for the Hammers. And…
The Mirror claim Fabio Paratici is ‘unlikely’ to suggest Mauricio Pochettino as a replacement for Antonio Conte at Tottenham despite the Argentine remaining on ‘good terms’ with Daniel Levy – despite Pochettino being a favourite. The ex-Southampton and PSG manager is without work since leaving the French champions last summer. It looks as like Conte is set to leave at the end of the season, the turning point being exits in the FA Cup and Champions League. With Pochettino out of work, and the Spurs job potentially becoming available – the links are obvious. A number of reports state that Pochettino would be open to returning to the North…
Joey Barton has spoken of the desire to tie down the Everton defender permanently – and now he’s considering it. Centre-back Lewis Gibson has not ruled out signing for Bristol Rovers permanently when he returns to Everton this summer. The 22-year-old is on a season-long loan with the Gas, but will return to the Toffees after the conclusion of the 2022/23 campaign. Gibson signed a contract extension before joining Rovers, and will seek clarity from the Merseyside club about his long-term future. He joined Newcastle United on a deal that that was rumoured to be up to £6m according to ChronicleLive. Frank Lampard was manager at…
Leeds United manager Javi Gracia has shared his justification for why the side didn’t press as intensely against Brighton as some fans at Elland Road would have liked. Watching Javi Gracia’s Leeds in the last few weeks, it’s clear to see that the Spaniard has made some changes to how the side works without the ball. After two previous managers were very press-heavy in the Premier League, Gracia looks to be resolving Leeds’ defences issues with a more reserved approach. How has Gracia set Leeds up? In an ironic turn, a vocal section of the Leeds fanbase inside Elland Road grew very frustrated very easily…
Newcastle United are on the lookout for talent spotters across the globe as the club expand their scouting network to try and find more top talents for Eddie Howe. Eddie Howe has welcomed Newcastle United’s search for elite scouts across the globe because the club’s success ‘depends on recruitment’. Newcastle have cast the net wide for talent spotters living in or within travelling distance of seven geographical clusters in Europe and South America. These include France; Germany, Holland and Belgium; Spain and Portugal; Italy, Switzerland and Croatia; Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark and Serbia; Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador; and Argentina and…
The Magpies have been long-term admirers of Maddison and had bids for the midfielder rejected by the Foxes in the summer. iNews report that although they failed to sign the 26-year-old on that occasion, they will ‘resurrect’ their interest in signing him this summer. The report suggests that Maddison is ‘unlikely’ to sign a new deal at the King Power Stadium, meaning that he will have just 12 months left on his current contract when the transfer window reopens. Newcastle will aim to take advantage of this and could land Maddison in the summer if they qualify for the Champions League. Whilst failing to secure a place…
Leeds United on brink of 4-year deal to sign Akhomach from Barcelona Leeds United a “very confident” of agreeing a four-year deal with Barcelona teenager Ilias Akhomach, a source close to the player has told LUFCFANZONE. The Catalan giants had wanted to keep hold of the teenage winger, who has also attracted interest from AC Milan, but the Whites appear to be on the brink of securing his signature. LUFCFANZONE, whom Andrea Radrizzani has confirmed have club sources, had previously broken the news on 20 February that Victor Orta’s multiple meetings with the player’s representatives had put the club at the front of the queue to sign…
The Tottenham boss previously suggested he could be sacked after the club’s Champions League exit to AC Milan. Antonio Conte is confident he will not be sacked by Tottenham before the end of the season and has insisted he was joking when he suggested that he could be the case after last week’s Champions League elimination by AC Milan. Speaking after the 0-0 draw with the Serie A champions, Conte said: “I have a contract about to expire and let’s see how the season ends. Maybe they can send me away even earlier. Perhaps the expectations were higher and [the club] may be disappointed.” The Italian is…
The Hammers started the season badly and have never recovered. It’s hard to pick a player who has performed consistently well since the start of the campaign – mainly because there hasn’t been one! Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images The worrying thing is that there has been drastic dips in form for a handful of our best players from last season, including the likes of Declan Rice, Michail Antonio and Tomas Soucek. Arguably the biggest drop off in form has come from Jarrod Bowen though… David Moyes admits West Ham ace hasn’t been himself this season The Scot has been…
Ben Johnson – who the club have held preliminary talks with to date, will enter the final year of his deal at the end of this season, with it understood that talks will then resume once the campaign concludes. Tomas Soucek is in the same position although it remains to be seen if the club decide to extend the Czechs contract in East London. There are also a number of senior players who’s deals expire at the end of this campaign, including Manual Lanzini and Angelo Ogbonna – again it will be decided once the season finishes whether new deals…
The top end of the Premier League looks ever more intriguing. So little consistency amongst so many teams, as we move towards the business end of things. Whilst Arsenal and Manchester City battle it out at the very top end, it is of course the race for top four that Newcastle United fans are focused on. The volatile nature of this race for Champions League places is such, that many people were wanting to write NUFC off as no-hopers for Premier League top four, purely due to their second and third defeats of this PL season that arrived in the…
Tottenham have 11 games of the Premier League season to go as Antonio Conte looks to guide his team to another Champions League finish ahead of Newcastle and Liverpool Starting the month off with cup exits against Sheffield United and AC Milan, Tottenham can round off their fixtures in March on a positive note at Southampton this weekend. Following an important win on home soil against Nottingham Forest last Saturday, the Lilywhites are now only two points behind Manchester United in third after Erik ten Hag’s team could only manage a point against Southampton. Tottenham’s opponents this weekend are indeed the…
According to a report by Inter Live, Leeds United could sell Junior Firpo to Inter Milan for £9 million if they suffer relegation. Simone Inzaghi’s side’s transfer interest surfaced on Tuesday as it was reported that they had an interest in signing Firpo, who signed for the club for a £12.8 (Sky Sports) million fee in 2021. But as Leeds could well be set for relegation at the end of the season, it seems they would be willing to offload Junior Firpo to Inter Milan. Leeds could sell Firpo to Inter Milan if they suffer relegation Despite Javi Gracia’s appointment, which has been slammed by Paul Robinson, things have not really taken a…
According to Sky Sports, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is currently in talks to join Gareth Southgate’s coaching team with England. The 50-year old has been out of work since leaving Burton Albion in 2022 after his second stint with the Staffordshire club. Sky Sports report that he will join England’s coaching setup to replace Chris Powell. Powell’s contract is expired after his role with the team ended after the World Cup. The report claims that Gareth Southgate approached Hasselbaink about the position soon after Powell left the coaching team. Powell reportedly told the England boss he wants to focus on his job…
David Moyes has hit back at claims of a falling out with West Ham star Gianluca Scamacca and insists the Italian is not a bad apple. West Ham fans have been left scratching their heads over the Scamacca situation at present. There has been a sense of deja vu around the Italian and ex Hammers striker Sebastien Haller – the man Scamacca was brought in to replace after an 18-month search. Scamacca’s debut season with West Ham has not worked out for him or the club thus far following his £35m move from Sassuolo. It appears Moyes cannot find – or will not use – a different…
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte ‘has not given up’ on signing Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie for Spurs in the summer. That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who say that the Italian managed ‘knows him perfectly’ from his time in Serie A and is ‘crazy’ about getting a deal over the line. The newspaper explains that Kessie could be on the market this summer after a season in which he has not featured as much as most had expected. He is currently not pushing for a move and ‘feels more adapted’ day by day with the club and the city but the Catalan club could open the door to a move given…
Spanish news outlet Sport have revealed that Clement Lenglet is attracting interest from other Premier League clubs aside from Spurs ahead of the summer transfer window. The report claims that Lenglet will not continue at Barcelona after the end of his loan spell at Tottenham, with the Frenchman having no part in Xavi Hernandez’s future plans. It is explained that the Catalan giants were hoping to negotiate a permanent sale of the defender to Spurs in the summer but talks between the clubs are now at a ‘standstill’ and the move is now ‘in danger’. It is said that Antonio Conte is…
Earlier this week West Ham manager David Moyes was at pains to point out that the recent exclusion of Gianluca Scamacca was a data based decision. According to Moyesie, our £35m man’s ‘physical data’ was not good enough to warrant selection. The Hammers gaffer said, “We know that his physical data has got to be much better than it is. No manager wants to put out a bad team, you want to put out the players who you think are going to win for you, so you are always looking to put your best team out. The general part of his…
The then striker scoring 41 goals in 65 appearances between 1993 and 1995, which got him his move to Liverpool. Nottingham Forest are in action on Friday and Stan Collymore has been addressing his old club’s need for goals and analysing the contribution of one Forest striker in particular. “I watched Chris Wood play against Everton last week and I was really disappointed. “The rules of the game have been tweaked in favour of centre forwards – they’re encouraged to hold the ball up with their back to the goal before turning and running, so there’s an obvious need for…