All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Celtic are playing the waiting game over any possible deal for Airdrie winger Thomas Robert.

According to the Daily Record, the Hoops will hold off on offering the 20-year-old a contract at Parkhead until a director of football and manager are put in place.

Robert’s Celtic trial

The French winger, son of former Newcastle star Laurent, had a trial at Lennoxtown recently after first being linked with Celtic back in December.

Head of recruitment Nick Hammond watched Robert in action against East Fife towards the end of 2020, but it seems as if Celtic will now delay over a potential summer swoop.

The latest report adds that fellow Premiership sides Dundee United and Aberdeen are now also keeping tabs on the youngster ahead of the summer window and could step in to beat the Hoops to a deal.

Transfer Tavern take

To us, this latest development is a cause for concern in regards to any move for Robert.

With Aberdeen and Dundee United keen, Celtic’s vacant off-field roles could come back to haunt them, should either side make a concrete move.

Karamoko Dembele is also reportedly set to leave the club in the summer, so bringing in Robert to replace the teenager could be a shrewd call in the long run. However, it looks as if they may have to act fast.

In other news: Club in talks with Celtic over deal for £7,500-a-week ace, find out more here. 

Manchester United’s interest in signing Raphael Varane is reportedly growing with the French World Cup winner set to reject a new contract offer from Real Madrid.

What’s the word?

That is according to the Manchester Evening News, and the reigning La Liga champions are reportedly willing to let the 27-year-old leave for a fee this summer, as opposed to losing him on a free transfer later down the line.

United legend Gary Neville is a big fan of Varane and described him as an “amazing player”, one who he ranks ahead of Liverpool colossus Virgil van Dijk.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seemingly remains keen to add another experienced centre-half to his squad, and Varane certainly fits the bill.

Get it done

Varane is rated at £63 million and been an almost ever-present figure in Zinedine Zidane’s squad this season.

He has played in 24 of Madrid’s 25 La Liga fixtures to date and acquired an impressive average match rating of 7.13 by SofaScore this season.

Los Blancos have kept 11 clean sheets with Varane in the side, and Zidane’s men boast the third-best defensive record this season with 20 goals conceded in 25 matches.

United have been linked with Varane for a number of years, and Ed Woodward was reportedly ready to sanction a £100 million move for him after the World Cup.

But now it remains more important than ever for the Red Devils to sign a player of Varane’s calibre, which has been highlighted by their porous defence this season.

They have conceded 32 goals in 27 Premier League games to date, more than any other side in the top five at time of writing, and the established partnership between Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof has come under plenty of scrutiny.

There are also rumours that Eric Bailly could be tied down to a longer contract ahead of being sold for a higher price, which has all highlighted the need for increased stability in the defence.

And in other news, Kylian Mbappe has interest in an Old Trafford move

It would be fair to surmise that Jesse Lingard’s recent loan move to Manchester United has been pivotal in his career.

The Red Devils midfielder moved to West Ham United in the January transfer window in an effort to revive his stuttering career.

Having not made a single Premier League appearance for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2020/21, though, he has enjoyed an instant impact in the capital, bagging four goals and providing two assists.

Former Manchester United manager and current Irons boss David Moyes has hailed the 28-year-old’s “quality” due to his exciting performances for his adoptive employers.

Despite the terms of his loan deal ruling him out for the teams’ meeting on Sunday night, Lingard could fire a stark reminder to Solskjaer about his importance to not only West Ham but also to the Red Devils.

Since the £9m-rated winger arrived in London, the Hammers have only lost one match, with Lingard’s goals alone being worth four points already. Without him, Moyes’ men would more than likely not be in contention for the top four.

In fact, since Lingard arrived, the Hammers’ goalscoring rate has increased from 1.6 per game to 1.8.

It is that form which has triggered reminders of Lingard’s thrilling 2017/18 season under Jose Mourinho. Throughout that campaign, he was a key performer as the Red Devils finished second in the table, scoring eight goals and providing six assists in the process.

His goals throughout the campaign were actually worth seven points to the Red Devils. Without Lingard, they would have finished as low as fourth.

In not lining up for the opposition, Lingard could actually show Solskjaer that he is deserving of a first team place at United should his teammates struggle to create opportunities to score, such has been his impact on the Hammers.

He could find it tough to break in once again once he returns to Old Trafford, but his form could convince Solskjaer that the Red Devils were slightly too quick to jettison him.

In more news, a swoop for AS Roma’s Mancini could see a current Red Devils star thrive…

With over 200 games for Celtic, Tom Rogic has played a key role in the club’s domestic success over these past few seasons.

But this campaign has seen the Australia international really struggle to match anywhere near the kind of form that he’s shown previously – he’s managed just one solitary goal in 18 appearances and hasn’t even completed the full 90 minutes in the Scottish Premiership.

It is a far cry from his 2016/2017 season when he bagged 12 goals and provided six assists in all competitions, and his lack of form should have Neil Lennon act immediately.

Against Hibernian last time out in the Scottish Premiership, he was hugely disappointing. Having been restored to the starting line-up following a raft of enforced changes, Rogic let his big opportunity slip through his hands.

Playing in that all important number ten role, the Australian just couldn’t provide the Hoops with any sort of creativity or cutting edge. He provided no key passes whatsoever, a stat made worse by the fact that both of Celtic’s full-backs on the day, Diego Laxalt and Jeremie Frimpong, managed one each.

Rogic also had just the one shot on target, something that holding midfielder Ismaila Soro matched. It was no surprise that in the 67th minute, and the scores still locked level at 0-0, he was taken off for a Celtic youngster in Ewan Henderson.

Glasgow Live gave him a match rating of 5, saying that whilst he had “some nice touches here and there”, he was “sloppy on the ball for the most part”.

And former Aberdeen striker Noel Whelan admitted that Rogic just hasn’t been near his usual self this season, saying: “Rogic has struggled this season, he really has. He used to be the player you could rely on to produce a moment of magic, to do something special.

“But we haven’t seen much of that recently, even though the whole team has been terrible. You look at him and he’s a shadow of his former self, like quite a few of them. He’s not fit to wear that famous jersey, and he’s not the only one.”

When it comes to choosing the team for Saturday afternoon’s clash against Livingston, Lennon shouldn’t be putting Rogic into the starting line-up. The midfielder’s time as a bona-fide star is well and truly up.

Meanwhile, Celtic face a transfer battle for this young striker…

It could be looking more and more unlikely that Carlos Vinicius’ stay with Tottenham Hotspur will become a permanent one in the summer after he failed to get on the pitch against West Brom last weekend.

After making his first start of the Premier League season in the 1-0 defeat against Chelsea recently, the Brazilian was relegated to the bench for the visit of the Baggies, with Harry Kane selected ahead of him, despite having only just recovered from injury.

Whilst the decision paid off, with Kane scoring Spurs’ opening goal in the 2-0 win, it is slightly worrying that the on-loan Benfica man didn’t feature at all in the 90 minutes, even though Mourinho’s side were comfortable in the second half.

In fact, 16-year-old Dane Scarlett was brought on ahead of Vinicius with Kane staying on for the whole game, which suggests that the 25-year-old might not be in Mourinho’s good books at this moment in time.

Whilst the Brazilian has impressed with his Europa League and FA Cup appearances this season, he has been limited to just one start and five substitute appearances in the Premier League, with no goals or assists to his name.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-and-rumours” title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours, injury latest and more!”]

Although it was always unlikely that he would be able to usurp Kane from Mourinho’s starting eleven, you would have perhaps expected him to have more opportunities in the top-flight, especially with Kane having spent the last couple of weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

The £18 million-rated striker was prolific last season with Benfica, contributing 18 goals and five assists in Liga NOS, but he has been unable to replicate that form in England’s top-flight, and he may well be fighting to save his future with the North London club after being snubbed against West Brom.

Mourinho did suggest in a recent press conference that Vinicius and Kane could play together up top but certainly so far, he has arguably not shown enough to convince the Portuguese manager, and Daniel Levy, that he is worth paying the £40 million required to make his move permanent in the summer.

And, in other news… £80k-p/w Spurs gem showed he can still be key under Mourinho with superb WBA display

All of a sudden, the positivity is rolling back to the green and white half of Glasgow.

The Hoops have now won four games on the bounce and amongst that, they took home the Scottish Cup following a win over Hearts.

Heading into a transfer window, the Hoops are building up ahead of steam nicely.

What’s the word?

Celtic can be under no illusions that they’re still having a disastrous season. Their victory against Hearts last weekend cannot mask that and in January, they need to address a number of issues.

That starts with their horrific defence, one that conceded a mammoth 19 goals in six Europa League games.

It’s no secret that the Bhoys could do with a new goalkeeper and they may have found their answer in someone already playing in Scotland.

That’s because according to The Daily Mail, Celtic are interested in signing Dundee United stopper Benjamin Siegrist.

The Swiss has been placed on their list of targets ahead of January and it is thought that they’ve already scouted the 28-year-old on a number of occasions.

Siegrist’s agent Dr Thomas Kraft said: “There is interest in him from clubs in the Bundesliga and the Dutch Eredivisie.

“Celtic have also scouted him several times, that is true. But today, at this moment, we have no official offer from Celtic. Will Benjamin leave Dundee United in January? It depends on the financial situation at United. You would have to ask the club, it’s difficult for me to say.”

Sign the thing

This would be a brilliant piece of shrewd business from Nick Hammond and Celtic.

The Hoops landed Vasilis Barkas for a haul of £5m in the summer but it’s hard to argue that he’s been a perfect signing. His succession of individual errors against AC Milan have summed up a torrid start to his Hoops career, one where he’s been dislodged by two different ‘keepers.

First, it was the turn of Scott Bain but he was again rather error-prone, proving to be a disaster when Celtic shipped four goals in Prague. On top of that, Conor Hazard has been inconsistent.

He kept the club’s first clean sheet since early November against Kilmarnock but was at fault in normal time during the Scottish cup final. Hazard did, of course, save two penalties in the shoot out but they could do with a more reliable senior goalkeeper.

In Siegrist, they’d have that. The Dundee United stopper has had an excellent campaign, keeping five clean sheets in the process. “Benjamin has had an extraordinary season and the last match against Hibernian he produced a high-level performance,” his agent told The Daily Mail.

It’s important to look at his colossal height of 6 foot 4 too, something that comes close to matching the frame of Fraser Forster. The Englishman was a goliath between the sticks last season and it’s clear Celtic are missing someone of his presence.

Siegrist could help to finally solve this void.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Celtic tipped to replace Lennon with manager who has 29.5% win rate…

To say Celtic are in a spot of bother would be putting things lightly.

The Hoops are 21 points behind rivals Rangers and are seemingly sinking without a trace in the SPFL. Thus, change is surely needed.

On the chalkboard

One of the few bright sparks this season, though, has been Kristoffer Ajer. The Norwegian defender has been a lynchpin at the heart of the defence but unfortunately, his future could be in doubt.

His contract expires in the summer of 2022 and if Celtic can’t sort out a new deal, he will need to leave in the summer if the Hoops want to secure a fee for his services.

Both AC Milan and Nice have reportedly shown interest in the defender’s services so it wouldn’t be a great surprise if he did indeed depart from Glasgow.

Considering Ajer has missed just two league outings this term – both through self-isolation – it would be a bitter pill to swallow if he exits.

The solution

Celtic have already missed out on two of their defensive targets this month. Mark McKenzie joined Genk and Filip Benkovic went and signed on loan for OH Leuven in Belgium.

Though, one player on their radar is 6 foot 6 centre-back Declan Gallagher. The Motherwell defender is an imperious battler and if they can land the centre-half in January, it could well give Neil Lennon the excuse he needs to cash in on Ajer.

Gallagher, who has been capped seven times by Scotland, is 29 and would bring invaluable experience to a Celtic defence that has made some schoolboy errors this term.

You only need to look at Shane Duffy – someone who completed just 37% of his passes in the first half against Livingston and had a massive breakdown in communication with his defensive partner in the Scottish Cup final.

But why could Gallagher’s arrival allow the Bhoys to sell Ajer? Well, he’s better in the air than the Celtic defender and in terms of their tackling percentages, they’re incredibly alike.

The Motherwell skipped has won a mammoth 4.3 aerial duels per game in the SPFL this term. That’s compared to the 3.3 won by Ajer. The Norway international, meanwhile, wins 1.5 tackles per match – a tally that’s just 0.1 above Gallagher.

In terms of those statistics, the Scot certainly wouldn’t be a bad signing or replacement for Ajer.

A source previously told the Daily Record: “He is desperate to play for Celtic and in the current climate, he would be a brilliant signing.”

Considering the club’s plight, something like that cannot be ignored, especially with fears over Ajer’s future lingering. Gallagher would be a supreme addition to Celtic’s struggling backline.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Lennon: Desmond can revive Celtic by hiring “meticulous” 43 y/o manager…

With Celtic considerably off the pace in the SPFL at the moment, perhaps the transfer window is approaching at just the right time.

We are now only five weeks away from seeing the window open its doors but will Neil Lennon even be in charge then? Time will tell.

What’s the word?

If Lennon is still at the helm then he’ll have a lot of work to do in order to presumably bridge what will still be a big gap between Celtic and their arch-rivals Rangers.

We’ve seen players like Siriki Dembele linked with a move to the club but a fresh story revolves around someone already in Glasgow; Diego Laxalt.

The left-back signed on loan for the 2020/21 season in the summer but there is a strong possibility that he could complete a permanent switch to Parkhead.

AC Milan currently owns the Uruguayan but according to Italian outlet PianetaMilan, he could be Celtic’s man on one condition.

They suggest that Milan will look to use Laxalt as a bargaining chip in order to lure Kristoffer Ajer to the San Siro in a swap deal.

Reportedly, Celtic’s relationship with the Serie A giants is healthy so a deal could well be pursued.

Long-term Tierney successor

Judging by Celtic’s defensive record this season Ajer won’t be as great a loss as we first envisaged when rumours of a move to Milan first start swirling last summer.

The 22-year-old has played 13 times in the SPFL this term but has conceded 13 goals in the process – that’s ten more than Rangers.

Thus, selling him to Milan and getting Laxalt in return would be a phenomenal piece of business.

Since Kieran Tierney left for Arsenal in 2019, the Bhoys haven’t really found a natural successor on the left-hand side.

However, their current option in that third of the pitch offers so much to the side and shares great similarities with Tierney.

The Scot was always a pillar of consistency, combining speed and energy with an unrelenting attitude. Does that sound familiar? Of course it does – you only need to look at Laxalt.

The Uruguay international is quick and has demonstrated excellent ability both defensively and offensively this season.

“I like him a lot. He gets about and puts a tackle in and I like that. He has that never-say-die attitude which is a very good sign. It looks like he will prove to be a great signing,” Frank McAvennie said earlier this year.

The plaudits have been continuous for the 27-year-old. Lennon commented: “Diego has been an excellent addition, a superb asset to the squad. He’s very fit and he’s a great defender. He gives us good balance on the left. He’s aggressive in his play and in his passing.”

Aggressive and never-say-die are the exact qualities that Tierney displayed in the famous green and white.

Laxalt really does feel like the natural successor Celtic have been crying out for.

In other news, Celtic could FINALLY find their replacement for Scott Sinclair…

Sergio Reguilon will be key to Jose Mourinho beating his former employer Chelsea when Tottenham Hotspur visit Stamford Bridge for Sunday’s London derby.

Reguilon has been a favourite for Mourinho since signing the Spain international from Real Madrid for £32million this summer, with the defender starting five of Spurs’ last seven top-flight fixtures.

Mourinho has seen the 23-year-old record two assists, as well, with Reguilon teeing Harry Kane up to score at home to West Ham United and Gareth Bale to net in this month’s 2-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.

Reguilon had his work cut out to help Spurs better Manchester City in north London last weekend as Pep Guardiola’s Citizens ran riot but with no end product, as the defender was forced into 10 duels and making three clearances, three successful tackles, an interception and blocking one shot, per SofaScore.

He won five of his eight ground battles and once in the air, showing the £48,077-per-week gem’s abilities at the back are as strong as former Spain coach Robert Moreno once lauded him for being in attack.

“He has so much power and when he goes forward, he is unstoppable. He oozes energy and he reminds me of when Dani Carvajal was starting out,” Moreno said, via quotes by BBC Sport.

Mourinho will need to rely on Reguilon being as strong in defence against Chelsea this weekend as he was at home to Manchester City, with Frank Lampard’s Stamford Bridge natives prone to favour attacking moves on their right-hand channel.

Chelsea ranked joint-fourth in the Premier League for attacking moves on their right-flank this term heading into matchday 10, with only Sheffield United (42%), Wolverhampton Wanderers (42%) and Leeds (39%) more one-sided than the Blues (38%), per WhoScored.

Lampard’s men fell to 15th in the top-flight for attacking moves on the left-hand side of the field (37%) and were one of six clubs who focused a quarter of their attacks through the middle of the pitch.

Their preference to attack the zone Reguilon will occupy rises to 39% when playing at home, too, ditching central attacks (23%) more often while remaining at 37% on the left.

Another top-draw defensive display from Reguilon on Sunday will be what Mourinho needs to win against his former employer and record only Spurs’ second top-flight win at Stamford Bridge since February 1990.

AND in other news, Spurs are in the hunt for a gem who “can do everything” and might not cost Daniel Levy a penny.

Two of Scotland’s unbeaten sides go head-to-head this afternoon as defending champions Celtic welcome their arch-rivals to Parkhead for the lunchtime kickoff.

Usually one of the most anticipated games of the season, the Old Firm derby will be played without supporters in attendance, though the clash is nicely poised as Rangers come to town sitting top of the table.

Hoops boss Neil Lennon has been left with plenty of decisions to make following a detrimental international break as many of his key men will miss this match.

So here’s the line-up we’re predicting for the 421st Old Firm battle…

Celtic could be forced to make as many as four changes with both Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie – two names usually first on the team sheet – ruled out for COVID-related reasons.

The same goes for Hatem Abd Elhamed and Nir Bitton whilst James Forrest is a doubt due to injury.

It means we’re likely to see a back three of Kristoffer Ajer, Shane Duffy and Christopher Jullien who’ll sit in front of Vasilis Barkas for the first time in over a month.

Diego Laxalt may have to wait for his debut – it would be a mighty risk for Lennon to throw him into a game of this calibre straight away, so Greg Taylor keeps his place. As does Jeremie Frimpong on the other flank.

Hoops skipper Scott Brown should return to the starting XI after being rested last time out in their 5-0 drubbing of St Johnstone. He could well replace Olivier Ntcham, which means David Turnbull survives as Christie’s replacement alongside fellow Scotland international Callum McGregor.

Without Edouard, Lennon has a big call to make – Moi Elyounoussi or Leigh Griffiths? We think the 49-year-old could opt for the latter as he’s an out-and-out striker.

He will surely pair the returning Albian Ajeti in the attack.

AND in other news, Celtic chief Peter Lawwell must make £40k-p/w monster his TOP priority in 2021…