Leeds United are interested in signing Chelsea youngster Lewis Baker, according to The Mirror’s live transfer blog (28/06, 18:20).
What’s the story?
The 23-year-old midfielder has been on the books for Chelsea since he was a schoolboy, and has spent the last few seasons on loan, most notably at Vitesse and Middlesbrough.
Baker made 12 appearances for the Boro last season, scoring once in the Championship.
Now according to The Mirror, Leeds are looking to sign the central midfielder on a permanent basis but if Chelsea refuse to sell they would also be interested in loaning the youngster.
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Is he worth it?
Baker is another of the many Chelsea youth players who have spent their entire career on loan and will find it near impossible to break into the first team.
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The midfielder clearly has talent, but he hasn’t shown enough of it yet in English football, especially if Leeds have to fork out something close to £4.95million, his value on Transfermarkt.
He did impress during his spell at Vitesse, scoring 15 goals and registering six assists in the two seasons he spent at the Dutch club.
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The best option for Leeds would be a loan move for Baker with an option to buy, because he represents an expensive risk if they choose to buy him up front.
That way they could give him the time he needs to show what he can offer in the Championship.
In our poll on Tuesday, we asked Manchester United fans who they thought should partner Eric Bailly at the heart of the United defence.
The 23-year-old Frenchman is slowly returning from an ankle injury which has kept him out since November, having played just under 10 minutes of action against Chelsea on Sunday, but it remains to be seen who manager Jose Mourinho will partner him with for the remainder of the season.
Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling have been Mourinho’s go-to men for United’s last few games, with the Swede and the England international getting the nod for Sunday’s win over Chelsea, the draw with Sevilla in the Champions League and the victory over Huddersfield in the FA Cup fifth round.
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Phil Jones has been out of favour, meanwhile, since he left Matt Ritchie unmarked for Newcastle’s winner in a 1-0 defeat on February 10th.
Chris Smalling’s place is not thought to be secure though, with reports emerging after the January 31st defeat to Tottenham that the defender defied Mourinho’s tactical instructions.
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It’s not surprising, then, that Lindelof is United fans’ most popular choice to pair with Bailly, with 47% of fans choosing the £22.5m-rated centre-half.
Who first dreamed up the notion of the release clause? Perhaps it was a ploy adopted from the business sector, perhaps it was invented by Mr. R. Clause himself.Either way, the release clause adds an interesting dynamic to the transfer market – a simple-yet-effective method of saying ‘If you want him that badly, this is how much you’ll have to pay. Don’t bother negotiating’Indeed, many release clauses are extortionate, especially in regards to younger players, but that’s precisely the point. Nether the less, the Premier League has never shied away from activating them throughout the years Âand just to prove it, here’s FIVE Arsenal are reportedly prepared to meet when the transfer market reopens in January.
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AYMERIC LAPORTE – £34m
Laporte from Athletic to Arsenal
Rumours of Arsenal activating Aymeric Laporte’s seismic £34millon release clause in January have already hit the tabloids:
That’s certainly an audacious sum for a 20 year-old who has only broken his 100 league appearances milestone this season. But the Athletic Bilbao prodigy is considered to be one of the most exciting defensive prospects in European football, whilst Arsenal desperately require added bodies at the back after obliging 5 foot 10 full-back Nacho Monreal to fill in at centre-half against Hull City last weekend. Indeed, the centre-back’s performances over the last few seasons, as detailed below, have shown great promise and progression:
And he’s currently leading La Liga’s charts for interceptions:
Once again, the France U21’s release clause is certainly excessive – the Gunners paid just £1million more for Alexis Sanchez this summer. But it seems like a wise enough investment, and just in case you need further convincing, here’s a look at Laporte in action:
//www.youtube.com/embed/vXqN7EieWVs?rel=0
PACO ALCACER – £14.5m
Football – Sevilla v Valencia – UEFA Europa League Semi Final First Leg – Sanchez Pizjuan, Sevilla, Spain – 24/4/14Sevilla’s Diogo Figueiras and Paco Alcacer of Valencia in actionMandatory Credit: Action Images / Carl RecineLivepicEDITORIAL USE ONLY.
Arsenal may have snapped up former Manchester United star Danny Welbeck on deadline day, but their strikeforce is hardly exemplary when compared to the quality and depth at Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United. One solution comes in the form of Valencia trailblazer Paco Alcacer, whose £14.5million release clause is viewed as so cheap in his native Spain that one publication have dubbed him ‘the bargain of Europe.’ Indeed, in the current climate, that figure is remarkably cheap considering how potent the 21 year-old has been over the last twelve months, as shown below:
And that impressive form in front of goal has seen Alcacer muscle his way to the forefront of Vincente del Bosque’s plans for the national team – the Spaniard has claimed four caps since his debut in August, netting thrice along the way. Here’s a look at the 5 foot 11 forward in action:
//www.youtube.com/embed/RCKK3deKD2w?rel=0
Fernando Torres-esque dare I say, demonstrating no particular defining attribute but a strong, varied all-round game. Arsenal have already been linked with Alcacer in the tabloids, along with Chelsea, but rumour has it Valencia are about to increase their starlet’s release clause to a whopping £40million:
JULIAN DRAXLER – £37million
Football – Chelsea v FC Schalke 04 – UEFA Champions League Group Stage Matchday Four Group E – Stamford Bridge, London, England – 13/14 – 6/11/13Julian Draxler – FC Schalke Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Jason CairnduffEDITORIAL USE ONLY.
The last thing Arsenal need right now is yet another attacking midfielder, but Arsene Wenger remains persistent in his pursuit of Bundesliga prodigy Julian Draxler.
The Schalke starlet was reportedly subject to a Gunners bid last January, and he’s been linked with an Emirates switch once again ahead of the coming transfer window:
£37million would constitute the second-largest transfer spend in Arsenal history, but the 21 year-old already appears worth the punt – take this incredible assist to Raul for example:
A creative forward with exceptional dribbling skills, a lethal eye for goal and an unusual 6 foot 2 frame, the German international is reminiscent of a young Zinedine Zidane. Here’s a look at his top five strikes in the Bundesliga:
//www.youtube.com/embed/wnImymrd_60?rel=0
He’s started the current campaign strongly too, netting twice in six league outings – including this goal against Hertha Berlin:
But whether the fans and the board could condone Arsene Wenger investing yet another incredible sum in an attacking midfielder remains to be seen.
WILLIAM CARVALHO – £37million
Arsenal’s midfield is in intrinsic need of some added balance and physicality – even Arsene Wenger has called for a signing “like Vieira or Petit” -and it appears the man to provide it could be Sporting Lisbon star William Carvalho. According to Portuguese publication A Bola, the Gunners failed in a deadline day bid for the 22 year-old, whilst other sources claim Wenger’s long-term interest will be revived in January:
The Portugal international is an absolute beast, measuring in at 6 foot 2 and weighing about 14 stone. That gives him an incredibly imposing physique which, combined with a simple-yet-effective play-breaking style, is quickly drawing the attention of the European elite. Here’s a look at Carvalho in action:
//www.youtube.com/embed/A8jRQbn1LzE?rel=0
And his stats from the World Cup:
£37million is a huge investment, but it would at least be in a department of the Arsenal first team that desperately requires it. There are suggestions the Gunners could eventually sign Carvalho for significantly cheaper however, after rejecting a new contract at Estadio Jose Alvalade last month.
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Munir El-Haddadi – £9.4m
Football – Celtic v FC Barcelona – UEFA Youth League – Cappielow, Greenock, Scotland – 1/10/13Barcelona’s Munir El Haddadi (L) in actionMandatory Credit: Action Images / Lee SmithLivepicEDITORIAL USE ONLY.
Representing the significantly cheaper end of the release clause spectrum is Barcelona youngster Munir El-Haddadi, linked with an Arsenal move back in September:
The 19 year-old has already demonstrated great promise in finding one goal and one assist in seven appearances for Barcelona’s senior side – including this goal against Elche:
This strike for the B team wasn’t too bad either:
Indeed, the 5 foot 9 forward is already looking like the next La Masia product who could make the grade at top level; Vincente del Bosque wasted no time in rewarding El-Haddadi with his first cap for Spain back in September.
The £9.4million release clause appears well worth the punt, but Barcelona are already planning to offer their latest prodigy a new deal, being currently on a youth team contract, that will see his buy-out fee rise to around €55million.
West Brom manager Steve Clarke believes his side can dream of European qualification following their 2-1 victory over Chelsea.
The result moved the Baggies up to fourth position in the Premier League, just a single point behind the current European champions.
Clarke believes that his side can now think of qualification for continental competition, but conceded they must work hard to keep up their form:
“At the moment, we are in the right position to think about Europe – but we go from game to game.” He told SkySports.
“That is boring I know, but I think this weekend we’ll let the supporters dream a little bit.
“The team are certainly in a very good moment, but within the camp we’ll keep our feet on the ground.
“I think people have been taking notice of us for quite a few weeks now. We are aware of that, they can take notice if they want, but we work from game to game.”
Since taking the hot-seat at the Hawthorns from Roy Hodgson, Clarke has instilled a more attacking philosophy.
The ex-Liverpool assistant is happy with the results of his style:
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“I wanted to try and make supporters go home happy at the weekend after watching a team who have played attractive football and tried to play football the right way and get positive results.
“We’ll go chasing three points and, if we keep doing what we are doing, it can be a good season for us.
“We closed the gap on Chelsea and managed to put a few more points between some teams that are below us.”
According to ESPN, West Ham are one of many teams interested in signing Huddersfield Town midfielder Aaron Mooy this summer. The midfield ranks at the London Stadium were lacking in sufficient quality for much of last season, and they may have just received a boost in their quest for the Australia international as reports suggest that Manchester City will not seek to re-sign the 27-year-old.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, reports earlier in the week suggested that Pep Guardiola’s side were considering triggering a buy-back clause in Mooy’s contract to lure him to the Etihad Stadium this summer, but that now offer seems to be off the table.
And with West Ham clearly in need of greater options and quality in the middle of the park, the door has been left open for manager Manuel Pellegrini to seal a deal for the £9 million-rated ace (as per Transfermarkt), who would undoubtedly be an upgrade on Cheikhou Kouyate.
Ultimately, the Senegal international struggled for form for much of the 2017/18 Premier League season, although the lack of genuine alternatives saw the 28-year-old turn out 33 times in the league for the East London club.
And while Pedro Obiang spent a decent chunk of the campaign out with injury, he offered a great deal more in the middle of the park then Kouyate when fit, while Mark Noble’s consistency in the midfield seriously helped a Hammers side that were fighting relegation for much of the season.
Thus, it’s clear that further strength is needed in that department, and Huddersfield’s Mooy would certainly bring just that.
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The 27-year-old has embarked upon a wonderful two years at the John Smith’s Stadium, first of all in helping them win promotion to the Premier League, and then playing a vital role in keeping David Wagner’s side in the top-flight against all the odds.
And following a decent World Cup with Australia, even though they bowed out of the competition in the group stages, the midfielder continues to underline his incredible ability in the middle of the park – there’s a reason City were reportedly keen on luring him back to the North West.
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And having played as a number ten earlier in his career before slowly but surely finding himself flourishing in deeper roles, it is in Mooy’s nature to try and get forward and show his class in the attacking third of the pitch as well, alongside his ability to break up play in front of the back four – thus, he’d add a huge amount to the Hammers midfield.
As such, with Kouyate struggling for form for much of last season, Pellegrini simply must seek an upgrade on the 28-year-old, and reports that City aren’t seeking to re-sign Mooy has thus left the door open for West Ham to bring the Australian star to the London Stadium.
Newcastle United’s reported January target Kevin Gameiro, valued at £18m according to Transfermarkt, started and scored in Atletico Madrid’s 4-1 win against FC Copenhagen in the last 32 of the Europa League on Thursday night, and despite his success in that competition the Magpies should still consider making a move for him in the summer – if they stay up.
The Express were one of a number of media outlets claiming that the Tyneside outfit were lining up a deal to bring the Frenchman to St James’ Park during the January transfer window, as Rafa Benitez was desperate to sign a striker before the deadline.
A move never materialised though, and despite the fact that he started alongside Antoine Griezmann and scored against the Danish outfit on Thursday, he has been an unused substitute in their previous three La Liga matches.
That suggests that Gameiro, whose contract is due to expire in 2020, is still relatively out of favour under Diego Simeone for the La Liga giants, and an exit could still be on the cards for him in the summer.
With Islam Slimani only on loan from Leicester City until the end of the season and no permanent deal on the table for the 29-year-old as of yet, Benitez may well be looking for a new striker once again in the summer if his side retain their Premier League status, and rekindling a move for Gameiro could be an attractive option.
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The Frenchman showed the quality he has in his locker on Thursday and with Sevilla previously, and he could prove to be a succcess in the Premier League given the ability that he clearly has.
Tottenham Hotspur paid Roma a hefty £25.8 Million fee for Erik Lamela last year after the promising 22 year old Argentinian winger made a lot of waves in his career with two impressive seasons in Italy.
Having spent his youth at Argentinian side River plate he went on to attract a lot of attention from the European media after scoring a bag full of goals for the youth team in 2004 as a 12 year old. He created similar waves in Europe to his compatriot Lionel Messi who went on to play for Barcelona and has become the best player in the world.
He made his senior début in June 2009 and went on to score four goals in thirty-seven appearances for the first-team before making a move to Italian side Roma, where he spent another two seasons and scored nineteen goals in sixty-two appearances. He caught the eye of many clubs and continued to show a lot of promise as a youngster not only for his club but at international level; to date his has made seven appearances for his country and has an international senior goal to his name already. He had a fantastic spell in Rome earning himself a five year contract with them and playing some top class football which saw him create and score some vital goals in very important games for the Italian side.
Lamela, best known for his sublime dribbling and passing ability, looked like he would be a great addition for any top team and eventually found his way to Tottenham, who paid quite a large but justified price tag for the whiz kid who himself said he wanted to follow in Maradona’s footsteps. After add-ons he became (at the time) the most expensive player in the club’s history, breaking records which had been set earlier in the same transfer window by Paulinho and Soldado – it was a famously expensive summer for the North London side who spent a whopping £100 Million on players and completely revamped their squad. Erik went on to make his debut for Spurs as a 75th minute substitute against Arsenal who beat his new side on the day in a one nil victory then went on to register his first start for the side in the Europa League and got his first assist, providing a goal for Jermain Defoe in a three nil victory over Tromso IL at White Hart Lane. Early signs showed a lot of promise for the youngster and it looked like he would slot in well and continue impressing with his football for his new club, but that never seemed to fall into place for him with Villas-Boas not giving him a Premier League start and saying that the player would have to compete for his place in the starting line up and wasn’t producing half of what he was capable of producing. Even under care taker boss Tim Sherwood, the player couldn’t really find a consistent starting place in the team making the odd start here and there before a back injury terminated his season early.
The player didn’t live up to his price tag in his first season with Tottenham, and it must have been a frustrating period in the youngster’s career in England, not just for him but for the fans as well who would have expected big things from someone who carried such a hefty price tag.
This season however, he is under yet another new manager with Pochettino and he looks to have fitted in perfectly to his new manager’s team and plans, with his first start of the season coming as early as the first game of the season against West Ham before appearing off the bench against AEL away, providing assists for Soldado and Harry Kane and two further assists in the following game where his side demolished Premiership new boys QPR.
He finally looks like he is justifying his big transfer fee, and I think that under his new manager he is going to keep on shining and improving game by game. The gaffer has already stated that he will be giving the player his chance to prove what quality he possesses and he wants his whole team to play exciting football, saying this in a recent interview : “For me, it is about exciting football, pressing high, playing with flair – this is our philosophy that we want to get down. We want to put all these things in place.” And it seems that Lamela is the perfect candidate to bring that sort of football to the table, as he has been known for it so far in his career wherever he has played and early signs so far this season show a lot of promising times lay ahead for him and his club.
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I think that Spurs fans will be very pleased with what they have got with Lamela and will enjoy seeing him perform on the pitch. His contribution this season will certainly be a vast improvement on last season’s and he could well help the team to find the back of the net and get the goals that count in aiming for that golden fourth place finish in May.
Draw specialists Stoke and Sunderland played out a dull goalless draw at the Britannia Stadium that did nothing to improve either clubs league position.
The Potters have now drawn six of their nine matches this season, the same number as Martin O’Neill’s side who have played a game less, and remain entrenched in the mid-section of the table.
Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet made a number of crucial saves to ensure the Black Cats return to Wearside with a point but they have won just once in 16 games, a run stretching back to last season.
A stunning double stop from Mignolet was the highlight of the first half, as he did brilliantly to turn Charlie Adam’s free kick onto the bar before diving to keep out Ryan Shawcross’ followup.
Opposite number Asmir Begovic enjoyed a trouble free afternoon in the home goal as Sunderland continued their struggles on the road, with their last away success coming at the Britannia on 4 February.
The Bosnian did have to be on his toes to cut out Craig Gardner’s low cross before Jack Colback could make contact but rarely had to exert himself. Play was held up for five minutes after the break as Marc Wilson recieved treatment for a shin injury before being stretchered off and replaced by Andy Wilkinson.
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The visitors threatened towards the end through and thought they should have been awarded a penalty after Steven Fletcher’s shot struck Robert Huth on the arm, but referee Mark Halsey was having none of it.
Huth then drew another fabulous save from Mignolet before Michael Kightly squandered a good opportunity to snatch victory for Stoke deep into injury time.
Nottingham Forest boss Aitor Karanka is attempting to shape a team that can challenge for Premier League promotion this season.
Numerous transfer targets have entered the fray, and one of those was Aston Villa’s Alan Hutton, who was due to become a free agent next month.
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For months it seemed that the defender’s time at Villa Park was coming to an end, which appeared to have alerted Forest.
The Nottingham Post reported on Tuesday that the Reds had offered Hutton a two-year contract, and all indications were that a deal could go through.
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However, in a big twist on Thursday, Villa announced via their official website that the full-back has signed a one-year contract extension.
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This means that Forest are back to square one, but the blow was softened by the news that Portuguese pair Joao Carvalho and Diogo Goncalves have put pen to paper.
Some fans, though, were left frustrated by the failed Hutton pursuit, while others feel that it is no great loss.
The 23-year-old is a striker who is currently enjoying his second spell with the Russian side, Rubin Kazan. Indeed, the forward spent three seasons with Rostov – Kazan’s rivals in the Russian Premier League. During his time with Rostov, the forward amassed a commendable total of 25 goals in 77 appearances.
Additionally, he is incredibly popular with Iran’s national team. Despite his age, Azmoun is Iran’s fifth highest goalscorer of all time. In 30 appearances for his country, the Iranian has scored a stunning 22 goals.
What would he bring?
The forward is primarily regarded for his proficiency when competing in aerial duels. Moreover, he is an incredibly capable finisher.
He is renowned for being a threat when set-pieces are being played, and he has also displayed a tendency to dribble and produce intelligent flick-ons.
While he may not be of sufficient quality to start for Liverpool, he would certainly be a useful option for Klopp to bring on from the bench.
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Considering Azmoun’s age, he is far from reaching the pinnacle of his career, and a move for the forward could be a useful investment from the Reds’ perspective.