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Miguel Almiron has dropped a quite worrying claim on his future at Newcastle United.

Speaking to Paraguayan radio station ABC Cardinal, the attacking midfield player said: “I would like to play in a team that fights more”.

Newcastle should be worried about Almiron

The fact that Almiron has suggested that the Magpies team does not fight enough should be a very big worry for the St. James’ Park faithful.

With the North East club lurking toward the bottom of the table in the Premier League and in serious danger of finding themselves relegated down to the EFL Championship, the least that the players can do is show some sort of fight to stay up.

If this continues to be the case, then the Paraguay international may want to look elsewhere for a new club, which would no doubt be detrimental to Steve Bruce’s side.

Almiron has scored five goals and made a further three assists in 30 games in total over all competitions across the 2020/21 term so far (Transfermarkt), and is certainly one of the Tyneside club’s better players going forward.

Alan Shearer even went as far to claim that the 27-year-old was ‘magnificent’ in a 3-2 home win over Southampton in the top flight back in February.

Nonetheless, the Toon Army will surely be worried by his latest comments.

In other news, find out what big double injury boost NUFC have received here!

Rob Lee spoke exclusively to Football FanCast about Karl Darlow’s future and he has no doubt the 30-year-old will be a number one for another Premier League club.

Steve Bruce made it clear who his number one is by bringing in Martin Dubravka for Darlow despite the latter not putting a foot wrong this season and performing out of his skin.

Darlow has a very respectable 6.79 rating on WhoScored and considering Newcastle have conceded the second-most goals this season, it highlights how good he’s been and no Newcastle fan would like to think where they’d be without his heroics this campaign.

Losing his starting will be a huge blow, and you have to wonder whether it could be the final nail in the coffin for the former Nottingham Forest shot-stopper.

He’s had to bide his time since Dubravka arrived and settle for cup appearances and with the Slovakian taking his spot back, he may see it as his time to move on.

Lee told Football FanCast he can’t see why Darlow would stay to be a backup keeper when he’s got the ability to be a number one keeper in the Premier League.

Lee spoke glowingly when asked if Darlow would slot into another Premier League club: “Yeah, without a doubt. He’s been one of the top goalkeepers in the league.”

He added: “I think a lot of clubs will be after him based on his form. He’s obviously on the verge of earning an England call up I would say and deservedly so.

“I won’t be surprised if he leaves.”

Darlow has proved himself to be an excellent shot-stopper this season, however, Bruce appears to trust Dubravka more.

He’s 30-years old now and entering his peak years for a goalkeeper, would he waste those years sitting on Newcastle’s bench after the season he’s had?

Celtic would be taking a huge ‘gamble’ if they appoint Enzo Maresca as their new manager, according to Kevin Phillips.

The Hoops are weighing up the candidates for Neil Lennon’s permanent replacement after the Northern Irishman resigned in February.

Maresca has been one name mentioned as a potential successor, with Italian journalist Nicolo Schira even claiming he was Celtic’s ‘first target’ for the job.

Phillips explains why Maresca may not fit the bill

However, Phillips – the English Premier League’s Golden Boot winner in 1999/2000 – has issued a warning.

He pointed out that there is a requirement for immediate success at Parkhead and that swiftly dethroning Rangers may be too big an ask for Maresca, currently in charge of Manchester City’s under-23s.

“It would be a risk because Celtic need to be challenging next year at the very minimum. They really need to win the league,” Phillips told Football Insider.

“To take a young manager, who has no experience of Scottish football or managing a first team is a big ask.

“Rangers are flying so I think Maresca would be a big risk. If it was a long-term rebuild and they hadn’t won the title in years then maybe. It would be like when Rangers appointed Gerrard.

“But next season Celtic need to be challenging for the league at the very least. Maresca would be a gamble.”

Enzo Maresca’s credentials

As Phillips mentioned, Maresca has not taken charge of a team at senior level before, but he has been an assistant coach at Sevilla and West Ham (Transfermarkt). He worked under Premier League-winning manager Manuel Pellegrini at the London Stadium during the 2018/19 season.

The 41-year-old Italian is doing an excellent job with Man City’s youth side. They are two points clear at the top of Premier League 2 with a game in hand and their goal difference of +30 dwarfs that of the teams below them.

The big question, of course, is whether he can make the step-up to senior football management.

Transfer Tavern verdict

As much as Rangers’ celebrations are a galling sight for Celtic fans after watching their side win nine consecutive titles, perhaps they could actually afford to exercise some patience.

The Gers will take some catching regardless – they’re 20 points ahead with six games remaining and they haven’t lost a league game all season.

Perhaps the Hoops should be willing to accept a little more short-term pain for long-term gain. After all, their Glasgow rivals have bought into a project with a previously unproven coach in the form of Steven Gerrard, and the signs are very promising for him. Maybe Celtic could have similar success if they take a punt on Maresca.

In other news, this former Celtic player is reportedly interested in the job.

He’s eligible to make his Crystal Palace debut on Saturday, which will be music to the ears of Roy Hodgson heading into Saturday’s Premier League clash with Wolves.

Visa issues have kept Jean-Philippe Mateta waiting for a highly-anticipated Premier League debut, but he may now get the chance to show what he can do after Hodgson confirmed he will be available for selection.

“He’ll train with us on Thursday and Friday,” Hodgson said. “He now has his visa which was a slight problem we needed to sort out but he now has that. He will certainly be in the squad for Saturday and I’ll make a decision whether he starts or not.”

The target man, 23, has scored 10 goals in 17 games in all competitions this season, including seven in the Bundesliga and a hat-trick against Freiburg in November.

Hodgson could not hide his delight at the opportunity to work with Mateta, saying: “we’re very pleased to have him here, we’ve chased him for a period of time and luckily the club have been able to strike a deal with Mainz and we have him now for the next 18 months on loan at least, which is fantastic.”

The loan signing, therefore, must come straight into the starting line-up on Saturday as he could be the man to hit Wolves where it hurts the most.

On the Chalkboard

Nuno Espirito Santo’s men just haven’t looked the same without Raul Jimenez as they find themselves in 14th place, level with Palace on 23 points apiece, albeit with a game in-hand over Hodgson’s side.

The Eagles can climb above them with a victory and Mateta could prove he can be Palace’s main man by helping them pick up all three points.

You only have to look at the numbers to understand why Steve Parish parted ways with £2.5m for his signature – seven goals in 15 top-flight appearances, taking his total goal contributions for the season to eleven if you count the solitary assist as well, as per Transfermarkt.

He’s already bettered his slight tally of three goals from last season and racked up nearly the same amount of minutes.

Whilst Michy Batshuayi recently ended his goal drought stretching back to Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Ajax in the Champions League two years ago, it was a case of far too little, too late from the Belgian striker, who has been nothing short of disappointing since he returned to Selhurst Park from Stamford Bridge.

With Palace’s lack of an effective frontman upfront, Mateta should be deployed as the lone striker as he has shown he can hold up play and bring others into the game. On average, he wins 1.8 aerial duels and 1.7 ground duels per game, winning 3.5 duels overall, which is at least double that of Batshuayi (1.3), per SofaScore.

In layman’s terms, this means that he is both good in the air and good with the ball at his feet, whilst he add a natural goal threat through the middle of the pitch, as he takes 1.9 shots per game, via WhoScored. For context, this would place him third on the leaderboard topped by a certain Wilfried Zaha himself.

It’s this kind of work rate that could make the £9m-rated ace such a valuable asset for Hodgson’s side, given their struggles in front of goal this season.

Zaha has worked very hard, with nine goals in 18 games, but he can’t be expected to shoulder the burden by himself. Even he could benefit from playing alongside a striker like Mateta as part of a front two, as the pair could combine to cause Wolves all sorts of problems at the back.

There’s no doubting the fact that Mateta, who is still unproven in the Premier League, should be one of the first names on the team sheet.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace can sign their next Scott Dann in Stoke City’s Nathan Collins…

When it rains, it pours.

That’s what Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg quickly found out on Wednesday evening after the north London outfit were dumped out of the FA Cup by Everton in extra time.

And uncharacteristically, the Danish powerhouse was way off it at Goodison Park.

As Football FanCast outlined last month, the 25-year-old dubbed a ‘captain without the armband’ has arguably been Tottenham’s signing of the season so far but last night he was shocking in every sense.

Only Hugo Lloris (6.0) received a worse rating than Hojbjerg (6.1) as per SofaScore ratings, and it’s easy to see why.

The £27m-rated midfielder endured an absolute horror show – he was sloppy in possession for the Toffees’ opener as he gave the ball away in a dangerous position only for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to slot home and then he committed the all too familiar sin of conceding a penalty by clumsily tripping up the talismanic striker.

Hojbjerg was also dribbled past a whopping five times, more than anyone else on the pitch. He’s usually a hard man to bypass in that engine room having averaged 2.7 tackles per game as well as only being dribbled past 1.8 times per match in the Premier League, via WhoScored.

He was even careless with the ball, losing possession 20 times, which was the second-most of any Spurs player on the night. Again, this is awfully unlike the Denmark international as that’s double his average (10.8) for the top-flight campaign so far.

It’s no wonder the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick graded his performance a 4/10 in his post-match ratings column, and he dubbed him ‘sloppy and uncharacteristic.’

Everything usually runs through Hojbjerg in the middle of the pitch – his match-high 135 touches would certainly reinforce that – but he was far too weak as he also won only 58% of his duels, often losing out to the Toffees’ playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson and his supporting cast, Tom Davies and Abdoulaye Doucoure, whom all graded 6.8 or better as per SofaScore ratings.

As evident above, it was quite a nightmare for Hojbjerg – rare, but totally unneeded.

AND in other news, this £18m-rated liability badly let Mourinho down…

Leeds United have had a rather topsy-turvy festive period where they’ve been both praised and criticised in equal measure.

Thus, a transfer window could be exactly what they need to settle themselves down a little.

What’s the word?

Leeds’ 1-0 win over Burnley was a resolute display that demonstrated the enormous character within Marcelo Bielsa’s side. They bounced back from a 6-2 thumping against Manchester United with that victory before they demolished West Brom 5-0.

However, their insistence on playing attacking football against the big boys meant they tasted defeat once more against Spurs.

Perhaps they could do with a striker who can make things stick and hold the play up to make that work? Well, in their latest transfer target they could find exactly that.

According to Football Insider, Leeds are interested in signing towering Mainz striker Jean-Philippe-Mateta.

Victor Orta and his recruitment team are said to be tracking the Frenchman who is valued at £13.5m via Transfermarkt.

He has appeared on the radar of a number of Premier League clubs so United will need to pounce quickly if they want him at Elland Road.

Disaster for Orta

Mateta is certainly an eye-catching player. Standing at a colossal 6 foot 4, he knows how to win a header and put himself about. He also knows how to score goals.

The 23-year-old has netted seven times in 14 Bundesliga outings this term but that doesn’t necessarily bode well.

After all, a number of strikers have come to English football from Germany in recent years and really failed to make the grade.

You only need to look at the impact Sebastien Haller has had since joining West Ham from Frankfurt for £45m. The fellow Frenchman has found the net on just 14 occasions in 53 outings.

An ever better example can be found with Joelinton. Signed for £40m, he has beaten a Premier League goalkeeper on only three occasions.

They both came to England after impressive campaigns where they both scored double figures but they have clearly found life over here far more challenging.

Of course, Mateta may have better adaptability but in terms of being a physical presence, he is very similar to Haller and Joelinton.

Radrizzani will have every right to be fuming if his money is spent on the Mainz attacker. Leeds can surely do better.

AND in other news, Leeds eye swoop for £16k-p/w flop, Orta could repeat their Jean-Kevin Augustin howler…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former footballer and current pundit Carlton Palmer has been discussing reported Liverpool transfer target David Alaba.

The Reds have been heavily linked with a move for the Austrian international, who looks set to leave Bayern Munich in the summer when his contract expires.

Although Real Madrid are seemingly favourites to sign the 28-year-old defender, recent reports have suggested that Jurgen Klopp’s side are still considering a swoop for the versatile defender and given his performances in recent seasons for Bayern, he would surely prove to be an excellent addition to the Liverpool side.

Liverpool’s lack of squad depth in defence has been exposed in recent weeks in the absence of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, and the signing of someone such as Alaba, who has featured at centre-back, left-back and defensive-midfield in his career, would go a long way towards preventing Klopp from having to use youngsters such as Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips in the Premier League again in the future.

Here’s what Palmer had to say about Alaba when speaking exclusively to FFC:

“The player I would take, all day long, is the boy from Bayern Munich, Alaba. He’s perfect, he’s 28-years-old, he’s a proven international player, he’s out of contact. He’s not one you’re taking just because you’re in the transfer window and you need to sign someone.

“You’re taking him for the long-term. You’re not just taking him as a centre-back because he can play anywhere across the back four. I think it’s happy days, you get him out of there for £13/14 million. And if you get him out of there for £13/14 million in today’s market for a player like that, who wasn’t in the last year of his contract, he’d be worth £35/40 million. I think they’ll try and get it done this window.”

Palmer clearly feels that, whilst he’s out of contract in the summer, Alaba should be brought in for a cut-price fee now, as he could help ease Klopp’s defensive issues with the Reds.

Certainly, £13/14 million would be a small price to pay if it helps Liverpool retain the title this season, rather than slipping out of the Champions League places, as recent performances suggest this is a real possibility unless changes are made.

And, in other news… Liverpool should sign “technically outstanding” teenager, he’s better than Elliott

Pablo Fornals let David Moyes down miserably as West Ham were beaten 3-1 at home by Manchester United in Saturday night’s Premier League showdown.

The hosts made a lightning start with United vulnerable across the field throughout the first-half, as the Irons sought to capitalise on the opportunity of moving third with a win.

Tomas Soucek made the Hammers’ pressure pay just before the break with the go-ahead goal for his second of the season, but the Red Devils improved in the second period to flip the script through strikes from Paul Pogba, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford.

Moyes had named a mostly unchanged line-up from the side which beat Aston Villa on Monday night with striker Sebastien Haller the only alteration, coming in for the injured Michail Antonio after a second hamstring strain of the season.

Fornals, rated at up to €40m (£36m) by Football Observatory, has opened all 11 of the east London outfit’s Premier League fixtures this term, yet departed the action in the 75th-minute on Saturday having failed to add a third goal or assist to his record.

Moyes has previously urged the £67,308-per-week Spaniard to offer a greater level of creativity at the London Stadium, feeling Fornals struggles to match his energy with the level of output needed.

“Pablo has done really well, he is a really likeable boy and he works incredibly hard for the team,” he said.

“We are always demanding more from him because we want him to contribute with assists and goals and he has been doing that. He’s been more involved, and I have to say, his energy and enthusiasm in training is incredible and we really like him.”

Fornals failed to end his drought at home to Manchester United, despite West Ham holding the advantage throughout the first half and the early periods of the second, to now be four games without a goal and seven without an assist.

The 24-year-old had plenty of chances to break Dean Henderson’s goal line, with the Red Devils’ shot-stopper called into action in the second minute to scurry away danger as the ball fell for a snapshot at the near post.

A Fornals header near the half-hour mark again left Henderson scrambling before the ball rippled the side netting from a tight angle, before enjoying his best chance of the half with a delicate effort aimed towards the bottom left only to see the ball rattle the post.

Fornals would walk off the pitch to be replaced by Said Benrahma in the second half as West Ham chased an equalising goal before Rashford settled the tie, having registered a total of three attempts on goal and one off the woodwork, per SofaScore, but having missed two big chances to score.

The £24million Manuel Pellegrini signing further let Moyes down with three unsuccessful dribble attempts, completed just 14 of 23 passes, delivered just one cross that was inaccurate, was caught offside once, lost possession 17 times and lost eight of nine duels.

Fornals’ sole successful duel came from one in six on the ground, helping the Hammers to drop to seventh in the table and could end the weekend as low as 12th depending on results elsewhere.

AND in other news, West Ham are at risk of losing out on a £1.2m bargain talent in a deal previously considered a “formality”.

Sheffield Wednesday boss Tony Pulis finally secured his first victory in charge of the Owls this afternoon, and he has central defender Tom Lees to thank for it.

The veteran glanced home at the far post from a free-kick from skipper Barry Bannan in the 67th minute in the game’s only goal at Hillsborough Stadium.

As a result, the three points moved the Yorkshiremen off the foot of the Championship table, nudging ahead of Wycombe Wanderers on goal difference.

Coventry did try to snag a late equaliser, but heroics from returning 36-year-old goalkeeper Keiren Westwood delivered the Owls their first win in nine outings.

Both Lees and Westwood had a key influence in the result, but another Wednesday man shone above all – Joey Pelupessy.

The Dutch defensive midfielder absolutely dominated the visitors in the middle of the park, bringing home a 7.3 rating by SofaScore.

He won ten of his 12 duels (83%), both aerially and on the ground, made a squad-high five tackles, and only lost possession four times from 31 touches as he proved to be a hard man to combat.

YorkshireLive’s Dom Howson waxed lyrical over the 27-year-old in his post-match ratings, having him a 7/10. He said:

“Worked his socks off in the midfield engine room and kept things simple in possession.”

Pelupessy was also 100% accurate in his long balls, made one key pass and put in one interception.

Overall, it was the divisive powerhouse that completely ran things for Pulis.

By comparison, Lees was rather wasteful with the ball, making just 45% of his passes on top of losing possession 14 times, via SofaScore, so the goal perhaps masked his showing somewhat.

The £450k-rated Jos Luhulay signing is out of contract in the summer, so Pulis may need to dish out fresh terms sooner rather than later, especially if Pelupessy can keep that up in 2021.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Windass reacts to latest Sheffield Wednesday blow…

David Moyes must shoulder the full blame for Jack Wilshere leaving West Ham United as a free agent this summer, after the midfielder stated his anger at being frozen out at the London Stadium.

What’s the word?

Wilshere has revealed in an interview with BBC Sport how he felt there were no roads left to explore other than heading through the exit door this summer, as he could not face the prospect of another year on the sidelines with no realistic optimism of featuring.

The 28-year-old joined the Irons in 2018 following the expiration of his contract with Arsenal, but only managed to earn 19 first-team games in claret and blue as he continued to suffer with ankle and groin injuries.

Wilshere is adamant that he had more to offer Moyes following the restart in June, having returned to a level of fitness after a groin strain that the former England international felt deserved more than just 35 minutes as a substitute over two appearances in nine games.

“When I came back after lockdown, having worked so hard to get back to a good level of fitness and was training every day, it just didn’t feel like my opportunity was ever going to come. And, of course, it didn’t,” the boyhood Irons fan said.

“I didn’t like it, but we were in the middle of a relegation battle, so I understood the team had to come first. But when we came back for pre-season, it was the same again. I thought everyone would be given a fresh chance and a clean slate to impress but it never happened for me.”

Wilshere ultimately agreed to mutually terminate his £100,000-per-week contract a year early, a decision the free agent believes was necessary for his career.

“People will say what they want and footballers get paid well, but there is nothing more draining and saps your confidence more than when you know you are not going to play, that no matter what you do in training, or what the other players are doing, even if you lose 3-0, you are not going to get an opportunity,” he added.

“I didn’t want to be around that and in that environment.”

Moyes must shoulder the blame

If Wilshere was fit enough to contend for places in the tail end of last season, then Moyes must shoulder the full blame for the midfielder feeling the need to terminate his contract so he can salvage what could be the twilight years of a career blighted by injuries.

Moyes was within his right to only favour the 28-year-old from the bench during Project Restart as West Ham lost just once in the final seven Premier League games, but the chance of a clean slate should have at least been offered come pre-season rather than continuing to freeze the 34-cap international out.

Wilshere’s talents have forever been known since he broke through into the Arsenal first-team, and had it not been for the seemingly relentless injuries then who knows what sort of player the midfielder Steven Gerrard tipped to become England captain would have become.

Moyes can always point to Arsene Wenger’s fears over Wilshere failing to fulfil his full potential due to the injuries in attempting to justify why he overlooked the midfielder so often, but the former Arsenal boss also offered the reasons why he deserved opportunities.

“I’m sad about this injury because Jack is a great player with a great football brain,” Wenger said in 2017, via quotes by The Guardian, after Wilshere suffered a hairline fracture to his left fibula whilst on loan with AFC Bournemouth.

“His career has been stopped by many injuries. At the top level, the most important thing is consistency. When a player has been out for a while, the game is of such an intensity that it always takes you a while to get your confidence back.

“You have to be consistently present. When you look at all the players who are at the top level in the world like Cristiano Ronaldo, these guys play 50 or 60 games a year. They have the luck of not being stopped by injuries. You’re always sad when a guy of Jack’s quality is stopped by problems.”

Moyes, though, did not seem to have that same patience when it came to Wilshere, and thus the blame for the midfielder’s exit this summer rests solely on the Scottish coach’s shoulders.

AND in other news, West Ham are at risk of a tense future with the departure of a popular backroom figure.