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Liverpool must bring in a centre-back this month, regardless of whether it’s a long-term signing or not to give the players confidence.

Centre-back required

Those were the words of former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer, who reacted to the Reds’ recent poor run in all competitions.

In 2021, Liverpool have won just once from five attempts and have scored six goals, with key defenders Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez ruled out with season-ending knee injuries.

On top of this, Joel Matip continues to struggle with his own personal fitness issues – leaving manager Jurgen Klopp with no established centre-halves at his disposal.

Speaking exclusively to Football Transfer Tavern, Palmer believes that Liverpool must prioritise bringing in a centre-back this month, regardless of the financial implications.

“Liverpool are not keeping clean sheets. They’re not out of the Premier League title race so they need to get a centre-back in until Van Dijk gets back. They need to do that because that gives (the team a) basis,” he said.

“People are looking at the front three and saying, ‘Oh, they’re not performing anymore’ but you see, if you remember last year when they won the league, they played at Southampton, I remember that game specifically because that was typical of their performances in the league that season where it was a strong first half defensive display by Liverpool to keep them in the game. Mane scores a goal out of nothing, just before half time, and then they go on to win the game comfortably.

“But it’s that basis that you need to keep clean sheets and Liverpool are not keeping clean sheets. So they need to do that now. They’ve either got to go for a loan or a short term signing and get somebody in so they can get a platform, then the rest of the players now can start believing that ‘yes, we’re going to keep clean sheets. Now. We’ve got the front three, we’re going to score goals.’”

Transfer Tavern Verdict

Palmer is spot on. While Klopp has dropped subtle hints to the club’s owners FSG about the possibility of signing a defender, it is something that the Reds desperately need.

Liverpool are making the same mistake as Manchester City last season, with Aymeric Laporte’s injury, no Vincent Kompany replacement and Fernandinho having to step in. It seems all too familiar and it looks like lessons that haven’t been learned from that.

With the transfer deadline on Monday, Liverpool do not have long to make a move but Palmer thinks they need to if they want a chance at retaining their title.

In other news, James Pearce provides silver lining regarding Jordan Henderson’s latest setback.

Yerry Mina offered Carlo Ancelotti further reasons to look away from the Everton defender, after producing a torturous display as Colombia were beaten 3-0 in their World Cup qualifier with Uruguay on Friday night.

Ancelotti had opted to bench the former FC Barcelona centre-half for Everton’s final Premier League fixture before the November international break, with the Italian instead favouring a starting role for Mason Holgate against Manchester United upon his return from a toe injury.

Mina had opened each of the Toffees’ previous seven top-flight fixtures alongside Michael Keane and helped the Blues to their only clean sheet on the opening day of the season, marking the 26-year-old’s longest run in the starting line-up under Ancelotti to date.

But Mina may now have to wait for his next chance to impress at Goodison Park, as the £27million Marco Silva signing offered what El Tiempo described as a performance to be forgotten against Uruguay after seeing red for two yellow card fouls.

The Colombian outlet tore into Mina for his efforts at home to Uruguay, as the 26-year-old’s struggles ensured Oscar Tabarez’s team were able to play below their best and still leave the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Melendez with all three points.

Popular Colombian football commentator Ivan Mejia also had some choice words for Mina, taking to Twitter to claim: “Mina, keep organizing the little dance. Fortunately, this torture was over, it had not been played so bad for a long time.”

Uruguay’s win moved Luis Suarez’s side two points clear of Colombia in the CONMEBOL table, with Mina and James Rodriguez’s country falling to seventh place and facing a five-point margin to leaders Brazil.

Mina’s struggles at home to Uruguay were capitalised by his late sending off for a second yellow card, but his performance was worrisome before referee Fernando Rapallini reached for his back pocket.

The 26-cap centre-half failed to register a single successful tackle up against the likes of Luis Suarez and Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani, while losing two of his four ground duels, three of his six aerial duels, misplacing 13 of his 57 passes and losing possession 13 times, per SofaScore.

Mina only committed one foul that did not see Rapallini reach for a card, but his two clearances and one interception were fewer than defensive partner Jeison Murillo achieved, with the Celta Vigo man clearing danger on three occasions and making two interceptions.

Ancelotti would have hoped to see Mina respond from his omission at home to Manchester United, but instead saw the centre-half let himself and his country down.

AND in other news, Marcel Brands holds a key advantage in Everton’s hunt for Carlo Ancelotti’s £13m target.

اختار خالد جلال المدير الفني لفريق البنك الأهلي 23 لاعبًا للدخول في معسكر مغلق اليوم الأحد، بأحد فنادق القاهرة إستعدادا لمواجهة الزمالك ضمن منافسات الدوري المصري الممتاز.

ويستضيف الزمالك نظيره البنك الأهلي، غدا الإثنين، على ملعب استاد القاهرة الدولي، ضمن مواجهات الأسبوع الخامس من عمر المسابقة المحلية.

وشهدت القائمة غياب فادي فريد بسبب حصوله على الإنذار الثالث في مباراة سيراميكا وإيقافه مباراة واحدة، وعودة أسامة فيصل مهاجم الفريق الذي غاب عن المباراة الماضية بسبب الإصابة.

طالع أيضا.. قائمة الزمالك لمباراة البنك الأهلي في الدوري.. غياب أشرف بن شرقي قائمة البنك الأهلي لمباراة الزمالك في الدوري

في حراسة المرمى: أحمد السعدني ومحمود الزنفلي.

خط الدفاع: أحمد ياسين وأمير مدحت ومحمد دبش وأحمد العش وعاصم صلاح وإسحاق يعقوبو وأسامة ابراهيم ومحمد مصطفي ميدو وطارق مصيلحي.

الوسط: محمد فتحي ومعروف يوسف و أحمد سعيد ومحمود سيد و محمد هلال وشادي رضوان ومحمد بسيوني ومحمود قاعود و موسي دياوارا وأحمد ياسر ومحمد حامد.

في الهجوم: أسامة فيصل.

MatériaMais Notícias

Na disputa com o Fluminense pelo zagueiro Renato Chaves, o Santos deu um passo importante para vencer o páreo. Atrapalhado por uma dívida de 2014, em que o Peixe não pagou à Macaca pelo empréstimo de Rildo, a diretoria alvinegra fez um acordo com a cúpula da equipe campineira e acredita que pode fechar negócio.

No trato, ficou combinado que o Santos deverá quitar os cerca de R$ 600 mil em dez parcelas. Já a respeito da proposta para comprar o defensor, o Peixe conseguiu pechinchar e pagar em prestações.

A Macaca aceita receber um valor de aproximadamente R$ 4,5 milhões em 24 meses para ceder os direitos econômicos de Renato.

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O beque foi uma indicação do técnico Dorival Júnior, que agradou à diretoria do Santos pelo fato de que Renato pode até ser vendido no futuro, já que tem 25 anos.

Apesar de ter a concorrência do Fluminense, o Peixe acredita estar na frente, pois tem boa relação com a empresa que cuida da carreira do jogador e ouviu que há preferência em atuar no próprio clube da Vila Belmiro. Por outro lado, o Flu fez uma proposta a vista, e também acredita que vai levar a melhor.

Devido ao interesse mútuo e da sondagem do Santos a Gum, dirigentes de Alvinegro e Tricolor carioca chegaram a conversar e até a cogitar que o Santos desistisse de Renato para ter Gum como recompensa, o que foi descartado pelo Peixe. No entanto, se o time das Laranjeiras levar a melhor, o Alvinegro será “obrigado” a aceitar Gum para não perder mais tempo.

Em contato com dirigentes da Ponte Preta e também com o Fluminense, o Santos espera ter uma definição do que acontecerá ainda nesta segunda. A exigência para ter Gum é pagar metade do salário do beque, enquanto o Fluminense pagaria a outra parte.

The Aston Villa train just doesn’t seem like stopping anytime soon, does it?

Dean Smith’s side have started the new Premier League campaign like a house on fire, and after demolishing reigning champions Liverpool 7-2 in one of the most historic results of the modern era, they made it four wins from four against Leicester on Sunday.

The Foxes had made a good opening to the season as well, and the clash at the King Power Stadium would surely have been seen as an early marker of whether either side can be the team to break into the top six – Brendan Rodgers’ side, of course, did it last year.

With nothing to separate the two sides for the majority of the 90 minutes, up stepped new signing Ross Barkley to fire home the winner for Villa in injury-time, giving them all three points and sending them second in the table – only Everton sit above them, having played a game more.

But whilst Barkley proved to be the match-winner, it was Jack Grealish who once again led from the front. The Villa talisman may not have got himself on the score-sheet or be the man to set up the decisive goal – that fell to John McGinn – but he was the one who continually looked to create openings for his team, whether by his driving runs or superb vision.

As the England international has probably come to expect now, he was kicked from pillar to post, and it was no surprise to see that he was fouled a game-high of five times.

But despite the rough treatment, Grealish rolled up his socks – not literally of course – and took the game to Leicester more determined than ever, and in the remarkable 27 total duels that he contested over the 90 minutes, he won 17 of them.

He also provided four key passes and created one official big chance, and on another day, might have seen his teammates reward him with an assist through some better finishing.

In the end, Villa got their hard-earned three points, and no-one symbolised that resilient display more than their main man.

And in other news, this Villa transfer target is set for a move elsewhere.

According to A Bola, Tottenham have made contact with Benfica over a potential summer move for Pizzi.

What’s the word?

Spurs have had a busy start to the transfer window already, bringing in the likes of Joe Hart and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in particular to boost their first-team squad.

Now, Portuguese publication A Bola (via Sport Witness) claim that Pizzi is on a list of potential recruits for Jose Mourinho’s side this summer, and that the right-winger could be available for around €20m (£18m).

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The report claims that the price tag has alerted Spurs and Mourinho, and that it has prompted them to make contact with Benfica – however, an official bid has not been made just yet.

A major upgrade on Erik Lamela

Despite playing on the right-hand side for Benfica, Pizzi enjoyed an extraordinary season in front of goal for Benfica during the 2019/2020 campaign.

He scored a quite incredible 30 goals, and provided a further 19 assists in just 51 games across all competitions, and it’s the kind of numbers of that really puts Spurs’ own Erik Lamela to shame.

The Argentine, who played the most of his 35 games last season from that right flank (18), scored just twice and set up only two more from that position. Most of Spurs’ attacking quality came from the opposite side, with the likes of Heung-min Son often outshining him.

Pizzi could offer the Lilywhites a genuine goal-scoring threat, and lighten the burden on the likes of Son and Harry Kane to score the bulk of Spurs’ goals.

And as a fellow Portuguese native, Mourinho would surely love to work with one of his country’s finest attackers. The Benfica star’s ability to not just play on the right, but all across midfield and even as a number ten is the kind of versatility that would no doubt appeal to the current Tottenham boss.

Lille have been pursuing the signing of Alfredo Morelos quite openly and for a while, it seemed like the Ligue 1 outfit was actually getting really close to sealing the deal. However, following their signing of Gent’s Jonathan David, Rangers seem to be out of the woods for now.

Not only that but the president of the French club, Gerard Lopez, joined talkSPORT and discussed the whole situation with the Colombian striker and their £16m pursuit of his signature.

Here’s what he said for the aforementioned outlet: ‘We have (bid £16m). He’s obviously a good player. We had a primary target who was Jonathan David and who we got. He’s locked into a certain system with a number of players already around him. We know we have a lot of talent. We have lots of offensive material and we’ve hit the pause button at this stage.’

This will, of course, come as huge relief for Steven Gerrard as it seems like Lille have indeed decided to stop their chase for now, reassess and then decide what to do next. It has to be said that Lopez never confirmed they will stop the pursuit indefinitely so it is likely the French club does indeed come back for Morelos somewhere further down the line.

However, at this point, it seems like Rangers are safe and their star man up front will be staying at Ibrox for at least a while longer.

For how long though? That remains to be seen.

Verdict

It does feel like Gerrard was already preparing for life without Morelos in the squad. After all, Rangers had already secured Kemar Roofe from Anderlecht and Cedric Itten from FC St Gallen prior to this revelation and the duo seems like an attempt to plug a huge Morelos-sized hole in the team.

Now, however, it seems that the Colombian will indeed stay at the club.

As Jose Mourinho heads into his first summer transfer window in charge, all eyes will be on how the Portuguese man chooses to strengthen his Tottenham squad.

One of the main areas of concern will surely be on how he can better add some firepower to the north Londoners, with Spurs having been out-scored by all of the top five in the Premier League this season.

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And according to Telefoot’s Julian Maynard, the Lilywhites have their eyes set on Lille attacker Jonathan Ikone, with the 22-year-old potentially leaving the French side should a significant offer come in.

After hearing about the links to Ikone, Spurs fans flooded to Twitter to share their reactions.

A couple of supporters pointed towards QPR starlet Eberechi Eze as a better option than Ikone, with one fan even calling him the “better prospect”.

Some Spurs fans revealed their frustrations at potentially signing another player from Ligue 1, and pointed to how it’s not really been a successful hunting ground for them – the likes of Clinton N’Jie and Tanguy Ndombele in particular perhaps bringing up some bad memories.

Able to play all across the front-line and just behind the striker too, Ikone could add some versatility to Spurs’ attacking options.

Whilst four goals and seven assists in 36 games for Lille doesn’t sound like a great return, at just 22, Ikone still has plenty of time to grow into a star at Tottenham.

But judging by the reaction of some of these Spurs fans, it’s not a signing that would get a lot of people excited.

Southampton are ready to steal a march on their Premier League rivals by signing Kyle Walker-Peters from Tottenham Hotspur this summer. 

Walker-Peters, 23, has made a huge impact at St Mary’s, playing in every single minute of Southampton’s last four games, helping the Saints beat Watford and Manchester City while drawing with Everton and Manchester United.

According to The Sun, as per @thespursweb, Tottenham are trying to flog Walker-Peters for £10m to raise some much-needed funds.

Ralph Hasenhuttl wants to wrap up a deal as quickly as possible, amid interest from several teams in the top flight.

Spurs are set to sanction a transfer for the youngster, as Jose Mourinho has ruled out any chances of the academy product returning to north London in the summer.

Walker-Peters didn’t do himself any favours after appearing to take a pot-shot at the Portuguese in an interview with the Saints’ official website.

The Lilywhites lack cover for Serge Aurier but Mourinho has decided to look elsewhere.

Daniel Levy has made it clear he will not be spending “rivers of money” in the summer, meaning Mourinho will mostly have to resort to sorting out swap deals, signing free agents and hunting for bargains in the transfer market.

Walker-Peters has been in sensational form for the Saints but finds the way back to his parent club shut.

The Portuguese has identified Southampton’s former captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as his top priority this summer, and he could use the funds raised to cover some of the costs.

However, it is worth pointing out Hojbjerg won’t come cheap, as he will cost up to £35m, via The Times.

Tottenham fans, do you think Daniel Levy should let Kyle Walker-Peters leave? Let us know down below!

Lots of Newcastle United fans have hailed Miguel Almiron after comments made from him in the Tyneside club’s ‘Back To Business’ feature (via the Magpies’ website) were shared on the Toon’s official Twitter page.

As per the outlet, Almiron and his team-mates have not played since the season was suspended in March following the coronavirus outbreak, but they reported back last week for the first phase of training, where the players worked in small groups with no contact, before the squad were able to train together for the first time with tackling permitted.

The 26-year-old touched upon his time in quarantine and admitted that he is really happy to get back into training and see the rest of the players, among other topics. Indeed, Almiron is the Magpies’ top scorer in all competitions in this campaign so far with six, perhaps one of several reasons as to why the supporters have been lauding him.

The £14.4m-valued ace has also showed his versatility by playing in a number of positions for his team this term, according to Transfermarkt.

These fans hailed the Paraguayan international on Twitter:

Geordies, what have you made of Almiron’s season so far? Comment below with your views!