All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

A number of Liverpool supporters are frustrated that Atletico Madrid will have more time to prepare for their Champions League clash with the Reds.

Jurgen Klopp’s side returned to Premier League action on Saturday lunchtime, making the trip to Watford in what was Claudio Ranieri’s first match in charge.

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The Reds now don’t have much time to rest after the game, however, with a testing trip to Atletico looming on Tuesday night.

Diego Simeone’s side will have a nice rest before the match, with it being confirmed [via Anfield Watch on Twitter] that their La Liga clash with Granada has been postponed, due to their players’ international commitments.

The reigning Spanish champions are in good form, winning three of their last four matches.

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Liverpool fans react to Atletico postponement

These Liverpool fans have reacted angrily to the news on Twitter, suggesting the Premier League could take a leaf out of La Liga’s book.

“Postpone should be banned”

Credit: @Supermarriott88

“They can postpone fixtures just because they got a UCL match??? The league is not serious”

Credit: @bruhstfu6969

“I don’t understand why the Premier league couldn’t do this”

Credit: @icy7_YNWA

“And us? Of course, it’s about money we’ll not get anything from the PL…”

Credit: @Seyjith

“JUST WOW!”

Credit: @zubinofficial

“Absolute farce scheduling when South American qualifiers finish early hours Friday morning & LFC given a 12:30 kick-off Saturday! Alisson & Fabinho probably missing, while over in Spain Real & Atletico Madrid have Sunday games postponed to help them with midweek UCL games…”

Credit: @SportsPaulH

In other news, some Liverpool fans flock to Fabrizio Romano update. Read more here.

The expectations of Aston Villa fans may not have been overly high when their club signed Tyrone Mings for a rather sizeable £20m back in the summer of 2019, however, the centre-back has gone on to prove he was well worth Johan Lange’s considerable gamble.

Indeed, having highly impressed over his 15 Championship appearances while on loan at Villa back in 2018/19, helping his side keep six clean sheets, it certainly appeared as if signing the defender was a smart move by the club, albeit with an inflated transfer fee – with the 28-year-old’s Transfermarkt valuation at the time of his switch to Villa Park being just £4.5m.

However, Mings has gone from strength to strength since joining Villa on a permanent basis, demonstrating he was well worth the fee the Premier League side paid AFC Bournemouth for his services.

Indeed, over his 33 Premier League appearances for the club in their 2019/20 campaign, the £67k-per-week defender played a key role in helping his side avoid relegation, helping his team keep six clean sheets, scoring two goals and registering two assists, in addition to making an average of 0.9 interceptions, 0.5 tackles, 5.7 clearances and winning 3.2 duels per match.

These returns saw the defender average a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.88, ranking him as Dean Smith’s joint fourth-best performer in the top flight of English football.

However, it was over the centre-back’s 36 Premier League fixtures last season in which he truly came into his own, scoring two goals, providing two assists and helping his side keep a whopping 14 clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.1 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 4.7 clearances and winning 4.1 duels per league game.

These metrics saw Mings earn a highly impressive average SofaScore match rating of 6.95, ranking him as Villa’s joint ninth-best player in the top flight, and earning the defender a call up to Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2020 squad.

As such, considering these impressive displays, as well as the fact the England international is now valued at £27m by Transfermarkt, it would indeed appear as if Lange struck gold when signing Mings back in 2019.

In other news: Insider drops claim on “outstanding” £50k-p/w beast, it’ll be music to AVFC fans’ ears

When Rafa Benitez took over as Everton manager, he needed a vibrant start to life at Goodison Park in order to banish the controversy of his appointment.

Not being given much to spend in the transfer market, therefore, would not have helped his cause.

What’s the word?

Fortunately, despite spending a very minimal sum of money over the summer, Everton have started the campaign vibrantly.

The Toffees are just a point off top spot and some of their recent acquisitions have hit the ground running with aplomb.

Another positive is that they’ve been able to shift James Rodriguez from the wage bill. His salary proved a major stumbling point in terms of recruiting new faces but he has finally left on a permanent basis.

Speaking amid his sale, Fabrizio Romano had some exciting news for supporters.

He said on the Here We Go podcast: “Rafa Benitez was confirming that saving James Rodriguez’ salary was important to have more opportunities to plan for January.

“Also to sign one or maybe two new players, so with James leaving for Everton now, they have the opportunity of thinking of something new – they will do it.”

Fans buzzing

The four words ‘they will do it’ have surely sent Everton supporters into a mini-frenzy.

They will be the first to admit that their summer window was a disappointment. The fans are used to seeing massive sums of money spent during their transfer markets so after just £1.7m was shed, concerns were rightfully raised.

However, Benitez has triumphed significantly since becoming the new manager with his signings flourishing.

He has transformed Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend into considerable threats, something that supporters certainly wouldn’t have expected.

The former had found the net on just 13 occasions in 169 outings for Leicester while the latter is someone who’s now in the twilight of his career.

Incredibly, Townsend is now the club’s top-scorer on four strikes and Gray is shining on a regular basis with four goal involvements of his own.

If you combine those shrewd additions with an eye-catching arrival in January, something Romano hints could happen, the Toffees should be in an extremely good position for the second half of the season.

After all, the Toffees are still near the summit of the table despite missing Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin through injury.

Their returns, combined with a set of new signings in a few months time will only make them better. Everton fans should be delighted with ongoing developments at Goodison Park.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Gordon: Everton have a gem in rarely-seen 17 y/o with “great potential”…

Forza Italian Football editor Conor Clancy has urged Euro 2020 star Federico Chiesa to join Chelsea ahead of their Premier League rivals.

Chiesa, who joined Juventus from Serie A rivals Fiorentina for a potential fee of £54million last October, scored two goals in seven appearances as Italy were crowned European champions last month.

According to German media outlet Bild, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea made a move for Chiesa as they seek to build on last season’s Champions League win. The report suggests Juventus rejected the offer, thought to be in the region of €100million, from the west London club.

Premier League rivals Liverpool also failed with a similar bid for the 23-year-old, according to La Repubblica.

Italian media outlet Calciomercato have reported Premier League title holders Manchester City, along with Bayern Munich, are keeping tabs on Chiesa as well.

But Serie A expert Clancy, who has watched Chiesa closely during the early years of his career, believes Chiesa would produce his best form at Stamford Bridge.

He told The Transfer Tavern: “I think he would fit in better at Chelsea.

“Obviously, working with Pep Guardiola at City would be unbelievable for him and Italy. But he is the type of player that you don’t want to be part of a bigger system, which you often see with Guardiola teams.”

Former Leeds United player David Norris believes that Harry Winks would have been a success at Elland Road.

Winks has featured for Tottenham on three occasions this season so far, playing both of Spurs’ UEFA Europa Conference League Qualifying legs against Pacos de Ferreira and also making a substitute appearance in the Premier League against Wolves.

During his time at Spurs Winks has featured 176 times and provides versatility to his game as he has played defensive midfield, central midfield, attacking midfield and out wide off both flanks.

Whilst there has been speculation about his future this summer, The Athletic’s Phil Hay revealed that Leeds rejected the opportunity to bring Harry Winks to Elland Road on loan, but Norris believes that the Tottenham midfielder would have been a success with the Whites.

He said: “I think so yeah, he’s a quality player and we’ve said before that Leeds need a little bit more back-up in that area and with what he’s done at Spurs I would have thought that would have been a good fit, a good move.”

Leeds head into the international break with two points from a possible nine after losing on the opening day of the season to Manchester United, but they have responded with back-to-back draws against Everton and Burnley.

The Whites will be looking to continue on their unbeaten run when club football returns and try to replicate last season’s top-ten finish this campaign.

When Rafa Benitez was appointed as the new manager of Everton it sparked controversy amongst supporters at Goodison Park.

Already frustrated by Carlo Ancelotti’s surprising exit, Toffees fans were incensed that Benitez was the wrong man.

They went as far as posting signs outside his house in protest of his arrival in Merseyside. The reason was a simple one; his association with Liverpool.

Benitez coached the Reds to Champions League glory in 2005 during a six-year stay at Anfield. In the process, he labelled their fiercest rivals a ‘small club.’

The 61-year-old has since apologised for that but he’s not done a great deal since arriving at Everton to calm the waters.

They’ve made mediocre efforts to improve their squad in the transfer window and lost 4-0 to Manchester United in a pre-season friendly last weekend.

However, it’s important to remember just what Benitez has achieved in his managerial career. He is one of the most renowned coaches on the globe and has helped to define certain aspects of modern football.

You only need to look at Xabi Alonso, a footballer who introduced a new role to a tactics board; a creative defensive midfielder.

The Spaniard played 210 times under Benitez, spraying passes in various directions while showing a bullish approach to defending.

He was a remarkably composed footballer but wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty when it mattered.

During the 2014/15 campaign at Bayern Munich, he took a mind-boggling 163.5 touches per game, orchestrating play from deep on a regular basis.

Speaking about his style of play, ex-Bayern director Matthias Sammer once said: “Xabi Alonso has incredible skills, passing and ball control. He has an eye for the game, he knows how to defend and he is physically strong.”

But why is this all relevant to Everton? Well, Benitez could discover his new Alonso this summer in the form of Sander Berge.

The Norwegian is valued at a mighty £35m and has been linked with a move to Goodison throughout the last few months.

He has only played three times for the Blades in 2021 but like Alonso was, he’s a composed footballer who loves a tackle.

Described as the “complete midfielder” by Chris Wilder, he completed 85.6% of his passes in the Premier League last term. Sitting deep and distributing play in the manner Alonso did for Liverpool, Madrid and Bayern, he also produced 1.1 successful tackles per game.

It speaks volumes that it wasn’t Berge’s best season either. His greatest tally for tackles came in 2016 when he recorded 2.1 per match for Valerenga in Norway.

That final statistic is close to Alonso whose career average according to data tracked by WhoScored, stands at 2.9 an outing.

The former Spain international was, of course, a class above. Berge would have to do a lot to be registered in the same category but he’s certainly got similar attributes.

He’d be a fantastic signing for Everton based on the aforementioned traits.

AND in other news, Everton dream of signing “dangerous” £34m-rated gem, he’s perfect for Benitez…

Many Everton fans have been left fuming as some early team news emerged ahead of their away game at Leeds United on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking on his Twitch channel (via The Everton End), James Rodriguez admitted that he will not be playing against Marcelo Bielsa’s team.

There has been a lot of speculation that the Colombia international could still leave before the summer transfer window shuts, as he has even admitted that he does not know where his future lies.

Rodriguez missed a fair chunk of matches in his debut season at Goodison Park, whether that would be because of injury or other reasons, and that has carried on into this campaign, leaving a lot of the Merseyside club’s supporters frustrated that he is not playing enough for them, with some even calling to cut their losses.

Everton fans on Rodriguez news

These Toffees fumed as the news from Rodriguez about him not playing against the Whites was shared on Twitter:

“Just get it over with so we can replace him”

Credit: @roygilly86

“Acting like a toddler. Get rid”

Credit: @OsborneP94

“Complete 180 on this fella now. Be glad to see him gone, he’s like a particularly bad episode of Hollyoaks now.”

Credit: @frannyporter

“I’m not convinced he will ever give Everton 100% even if he does play again so time to move on, no player is bigger than Everton FC!!”

Credit: @steveobluenose

“James is a snake like Ancelotti. Pushed for a move like MMA similar to when he wouldn’t sign for Bayern after a loan spell with them. Benitez probably went along with it to get the £200k a week off the wage bill and enable getting players who want to play for Everton”

Credit: @DidcotSkelly

“Troublemaker this kid”

Credit: @atko1977

In other news, find out which Blues ace is nearing an exit here!

Many Everton fans have been left flocking to a transfer update involving Djed Spence.

As per The Daily Telegraph, the Goodison Park faithful, as well as both West Ham United and Norwich City, are interested in signing the Middlesbrough defender in the summer window.

The right-back was a key player for Boro in the 2020/21 season, playing in no fewer than 40 games in total over all competitions (Transfermarkt), despite being just 20 years of age.

The Merseyside club should be looking for a long-term replacement for Seamus Coleman, and Spence could well fit the bill given his age.

The fact that he is English as well helps add to their home-grown quota, and could prove to be a relatively cheap option for them given that he would be coming up from the EFL Championship.

Everton fans on Spence transfer update

These Toffees supporters flocked to the transfer update as it was shared across Twitter, with one Blue even going as far as to claim that signing Spence would be ‘class’:

“Looks decent to be fair from clips. Tall, powerful and pacey. Uncovering some gems in the Championship are the kind of moves we should be making more of with FFP.”

Credit: @7JonOBrien

“Please be true”

Credit: @danielparry17

“We need to bring in actual talent that doesn’t cost a fortune with a big sell on value .. These are the types of transfers I’m all for .. Still want Dumfries in though”

Credit: @smythy2

“Class”

Credit: @Evertongoats

“You know how much he is worth? Could be a steal this maybe”

Credit: @KarsEfc

“He’d be perfect to sign and loan back…..but we don’t have the dollar for that this summer”

Credit: @MatthewKneale1

In other news, find out what transfer update has Evertonians fuming here!

Italian football expert Conor Clancy believes that Juventus defender Merih Demiral is up for grabs this summer.

Journalist Nicolo Schira reported in June that Demiral’s agents had spoken to Tottenham and that Juventus were asking for €40million for the defender, but also included that Everton had asked about him.

Demiral had a couple of injury problems last season and with that, he was limited to only making 15 appearances in Serie A for Juventus.

He is also competing for a starting berth with Matthijs De Ligt and the Italian centre-half pairing, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, with the latter, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano, set to sign a new contract with Juventus until 2023.

With a plethora of talent amongst their defensive ranks, Demiral may have to move away to get more game time, and with rumoured interest in his signature this summer, Conor Clancy exclusively told Football FanCast: “I really rate him, I think as a defender he’s got the potential to have it all, he’s really, really good.

“When he played for Juve regularly, he was excellent, then an injury kind of messed him up and he’s not recovered since. I do think he needs a move, I do think he wants a move and with careful management, he could go somewhere and be an incredible defender again, but it’s all gone a bit stale for him at Juve unfortunately, so yeah, I think he’s up for grabs.”

Tottenham are targeting the centre-half position as an area they need to strengthen this summer. Toby Alderweireld has left to join Al-Duhail, while Spurs being linked with Atalanta defender Cristian Romero, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Spurs are interested in a deal to bring Youssef En-Nesyri to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Spanish media outlet Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness), who claim that Spurs have joined West Ham United in monitoring the situation of the Sevilla centre-forward ahead of a potential move in the summer transfer window.

It is reported that Julen Lopetegui’s side require a big-money sale of one of their more valuable players in order to fund their own transfer business, and that, if the LaLiga side fail to sell Jules Kounde, they could be tempted into parting ways with the Morocco international.

However, En-Nesyri himself is not thought to be sold on the idea of a switch to Tottenham in the current transfer window, and is instead hoping that “one of the greats” will make a move for him ahead of next season.

Nuno would love him

While it would appear that a Tottenham move for En-Nesyri would be a difficult deal to get over the line this summer, it is undeniable that the 24-year-old would make a fantastic addition to Nuno Espirito Santo’s attacking options next season, as well as generally being a player the Portuguese boss would love to have at the club.

Indeed, the £49k-per-week man scored 18 goals and set up six big chances over 38 LaLiga appearances for Lopetegui’s side last season, as well as taking an average of 2.1 shots and making 0.4 key passes per league fixture.

These metrics saw the striker earn an impressive average SofaScore match rating of 6.98, ranking him as Sevilla’s eighth-best player in the Spanish top-flight, playing a key role in his team securing a Champions League spot via a fourth-place finish in LaLiga.

However, it was not only in domestic competition that En-Nesyri impressed, with the 24-year-old also bagging six Champions League goals over eight appearances in the tournament, with his displays earning him an average SofaScore rating of 7.33 – the third-highest rating of any Sevilla player.

As such, with a clinical season in Spain behind him, the centre-forward Euan McTear claimed was “like Benzema” would certainly appear to be a signing Nuno would love to get done this summer, particularly as Harry Kane has been heavily linked with a move away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

However, with the £36m-rated man appearing to not be overly enthused by a move to Spurs, perhaps the 47-year-old Tottenham boss should turn his focus elsewhere in the summer transfer window.

In other news: Spurs dealt big blow over “important” £51.5m target, Levy will be fuming