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Many a name will strike fear into the ears of Everton supporters throughout the country, including the great Fernando Torres.

He wasn’t entirely prolific in the Merseyside derby but still found the net four times against the Goodison Park outfit throughout his spell in English football.

It was the new Everton boss, Rafa Benitez, who brought him to the Premier League and helped him to become a legend in his homeland.

Torres rose through the ranks at Atletico Madrid and after signing for Liverpool back in 2007 for £20m, he wrote his name into Anfield folklore.

Torres didn’t win a trophy with the Reds but bagged 81 goals in 142 outings for them. Under Benitez, he was simply magical, scoring 87 times in 160 matches after enjoying his tutelage at Chelsea as well.

The duo were a wonderful combination and since managing the Spaniard, the head coach has had the privilege of managing some of the best to grace the game from a striking perspective.

Who becomes his next great find remains to be seen but the 61-year-old could discover his new El Nino by signing Diego Rossi.

The 23-year-old is currently playing his football in MLS for Los Angeles FC where he’s become one of the most frightening forwards in North America.

Rossi has scored 58 times in 116 games, form that has seen him linked with a move to Everton.

But why is he like Torres? Well, not only is he ruthless in front of goal but he possesses immense pace, the type of speed that really made the Spaniard stand out during his initial years in England.

Rossi has already been compared to Luis Suarez and has earned some phenomenal reviews.

Speaking after the Uruguayan first signed for LA, Nicolas Lodeiro said: “Diego is a great soccer player, with a lot of talent and a bright future. He’s a young striker with a lot of speed and good technique.”

Lodeiro added: “[Diego is] a nightmare for the defence because he can play as a forward or as winger. His versatility to hit the ball and to assist his teammates, makes him a very dangerous weapon.”

Torres’ creativity was by no means his strongest facet but like Rossi, he could also supply his teammates with goals.

In fact, their assist record is not too dissimilar. The LA forward has created 22 assists in 116 games for the American side while Torres provided 20 for Liverpool in 142 outings.

Athletic, quick and technically astute, the 23-year-old would be an excellent signing for Everton. Benitez must ensure he becomes his next greatest striker.

AND in other news, Brands can strike gold by completing Everton swoop for “excellent” £124k-p/w “monster”…

Joelinton will not join another club this summer if they are unwilling to match his current wages, warns former Newcastle United defender Steve Howey.

Joelinton joined Newcastle from Hoffenheim back in 2019 in a club record £40m deal but has failed to live up to expectations.

The Brazilian forward scored just two goals in his debut Premier League season before netting four last term.

Considering that, it probably would not be a shock if Newcastle tried to cut their losses soon. However, Howey thinks that is easier said than done, believing Joelinton’s wages could be a problem.

Speaking exclusively to TT about the 24-year-old’s future, the ex-Newcastle player said:

“If the manager goes to Joelinton and says, ‘Listen, the club want to try and offload you,’ it’s not great news that you get from the manager. 

“But the player, because he’s got his contract, if the club that want to buy him are not prepared to match his wage or even better it, then he doesn’t move. The power’s with the player.”

Newcastle certainly find themselves in a tricky position with Joelinton, who still has a contract until 2025 and is reportedly their top earner at £85,000-a-week.

Offloading him is not going to be easy, so you would expect him to still be at St. James’ Park next season. From a Newcastle perspective, hopefully he can turn things around.

Barcelona have joined Manchester City in the race for Espanyol striker Mateo Fernandez, as cited by @City_Xtra.

Initially reported by Alan Nixon last month, the Citizens were said to be plotting a move for the dual national [The Sun]. Born in Spain, his family hail from the United Kingdom and he could be tempted to switch to England in the near future [The Sun].

Joining Espanyol in 2020, he is known for his ability to convert in front of goal, physical strength and technical ability, which would suit Pep Guardiola’s style of football [Euro Football Rumours].

Needing to replace record goalscorer Sergio Aguero after he completed his move to Barcelona [FC Barcelona], the Blues may view Fernandez as a long-term investment worth making.

However, news of the Catalan giants joining the race hasn’t gone down well with some of the City faithful. Taking to Twitter, loads of City fans are fuming over these latest developments.

City fans react

Reacting to @City_Xtra, here are what some Manchester City fans had to say on Barcelona’s reported interest in Fernandez, with the Catalan club recently signing both Aguero and Eric Garcia from the Premier League champions.

“At this point we are buying Barca and make them part of CFG”

Credit: @citygram_bg

“Barca is our new Man U”Credit: @onemilli19″Ummm, you do you Txiki?”Credit: @MCFCWVP”This club is becoming a liability now”Credit: @McfcNathan0″Not the transfers we want to hear.”Credit: @Achillaes”I am going to hate Barcelona if they snatch even this player.”Credit: @FarhanManCityIn other news, City eye a shock move for a £10m-valued target

Newcastle United are interested in swooping for Liverpool defender Nat Phillips, as reported by The Sun.

The Lowdown: Newcastle gear up for the 2021/22 season

As Steve Bruce refines his squad ahead of 2021/22, much intrigue will surround how the Magpies plan to build on their 12th place finish in the Premier League last season [BBC].

As of recently, Newcastle United have been linked with the likes of Kristoffer Ajer and Marc Guehi respectively, as they look to strengthen their depth in central defence.

However, they now seem to have turned their attention towards the 24-year-old as they look towards the new campaign.

The Latest: Magpies interested in Phillips swoop; may cost around £10 million

Presently, the Geordies are said to be courting Phillips in a deal that could total around £10 million [Sun]. This has become common knowledge after journalist Alan Nixon signified that the North East giants would have around £50 million to spend this summer on transfers [Sun].

In recent times, Burnley have also been accredited with keeping an eye on the 6ft 3in stopper [Lancashire Live]. Previously, Swansea City came close to signing the Reds defender on loan [Football League World].

The Verdict: Phillips would be a very astute prospective signing for Newcastle United

Without doubt, Phillips would be a welcome addition to the fold at Newcastle United. Coming out of nowhere due to a mass injury crisis for The Reds, he made 20 appearances in 2020/21 as he helped Liverpool to UEFA Champions League qualification [Transfermarkt].

Once labelled “brilliant” by manager Jurgen Klopp [Liverpool FC], the Englishman showed his domineering nature last year winning 5.6 aerial duels on average per game for Liverpool [WhoScored], the highest successful aerial tussle rate of anyone in the entire Reds’ squad [WhoScored].

Fitting the Steve Bruce philosophy, there is every chance that the Englishman could be a rousing success on Tyneside due to his aggressive nature and likeability as a player. Newcastle United should be pushing the boat out to acquire Phillips ahead of the new campaign.

In other news, Newcastle United face a potential blow in their pursuit of a reported target.

Noel Whelan has offered his verdict on Tottenham’s reported pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Miralem Pjanic…

What’s the talk?

The one-time Premier League forward has suggested that the Lilywhites could land an upgrade on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg by bringing the 31-year-old to the club this summer.

Spurs are reportedly interested in a potential deal to bring the Bosnia international to north London ahead of next season, with Fabio Paratici exploring the possibility of signing him on a season-long loan from Barcelona, and Whelan believes it would be a good piece of business.

He told Football Insider: “I don’t think the Tottenham fans are that overwhelmed by Hojbjerg right now.

“He needs a lot of work as well in pre-season. He’s done okay in the European Championships but Pjanic is a different level to me. That’s why he’s been at Barcelona.

“I think the biggest factor is experience. You need players you can trust. The experienced players that know how to control the game, dictate a game.

“Someone who’s going to be a presence on the training ground and in the changing room, to bring that calmness and that experience to a team.”

Once silenced Poch

Tottenham fans may well remember Pjanic from his performance against the club in the Champions League for Juventus in 2018. The Italian giants knocked Spurs out of the competition with a 2-1 win at Wembley to win 4-3 on aggregate.

The Bosnian played the full 90 minutes in the heart of Juventus’ midfield that night as he won one aerial battle and two tackles and completed 85% of his passes, helping to silence Mauricio Pochettino’s side by stopping their attacks through the middle and dictating the play for his own team.

Therefore, Spurs fans will already know that he has the quality to perform on the biggest stage and could adapt well to playing in the Premier League. As Whelan referenced, the 31-year-old is vastly experienced at the top level and has played more than 400 times across Serie A, Ligue 1 and La Liga for Lyon, Roma, Juventus and Barcelona throughout his career.

His technical quality is not in doubt, with former Roma coach Rudi Garcia once hailing the genius of Pjanic over a dead-ball after the Bosnian scored a free-kick in the Serie A, highlighting his ability on the ball.

Garcia said: “I am very happy for Adem Ljajic, and I knew at the break we’d probably struggle on set plays. Other than those, we weren’t really allowing any chances.

“How did we resolve the situation? Gave Pjanic the ball and watched him score a genius free kick.”

The £18m-rated magician has an excellent career average WhoScored rating of 7.13, a score no Tottenham midfielder was able to get near in the Premier League last season. Attacking trio Heung-Min Son, Harry Kane and Gareth Bale were the only players who achieved a higher rating throughout the entire squad.

This suggests that Pjanic could be a brilliant addition to Tottenham’s squad and that is why Paratici must sanction a loan swoop for the Barcelona man.

AND in other news, Paratici facing Spurs disaster over “fantastic” £100k-p/w beast, Nuno will be livid…

Alan Nixon believes Roy Keane is desperate to become Celtic’s new manager.

The Lowdown: Keane’s previous links

Keane, a former Champions League winner as a player, has been linked with the vacant role in recent months.

The 49-year-old was in talks with the Hoops board in March and was back in the frame for the job a few weeks later.

Eddie Howe appeared to be Keane’s main rival for the job back then, however, a move for the Englishman fell through on Friday, with the Hoops now thought to be in advanced talks with Ange Postecoglou.

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The Latest: Nixon’s claim on Keane

Nixon was asked about the possibility of Keane landing the job over Postecoglou on Twitter by a Celtic fan on Saturday evening.

The Sun writer replied, dropping a huge three-word claim by believing Keane ‘wants it badly’. However, according to Nixon, the Hoops hierarchy don’t want him.

“Keane wants it badly. But people in power there don’t want him. Shame. Would have been fun.”

The Verdict: Hoops making the right call

Even though Keane seemingly wants to return to management after 10 years away, we think Celtic are making the correct decision by having no interest in giving him the job.

Martin O’Neill appears to be in Dermot Desmond’s ear, staking his claim for Keane to get the job, but it seems even the opinion of a Hoops hero hasn’t persuaded the owner to change his mind.

Celtic have held extensive talks with Postecoglou and have submitted an offer for the Yokohama F. Marinos boss, who was coy on a move to Scotland on Sunday.

Postecoglou has only had a three-month break from management over the last 12 years, so that experience could be a key factor in Celtic looking at him over the Irishman, who has simply been out of the dugout for too long to trust as a reliable option.

In other news: Anthony Joseph shares three factors why Eddie Howe move fell through, find out more here. 

Manchester United will be without one first-team star when they head to Italy this evening…

What’s the latest?

The Red Devils face AS Roma in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final tie, and arguably they already have one foot in the final, having won 6-2 at Old Trafford last week.

However, United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won’t be able to call upon Daniel James after ruling him out ahead of tonight’s kick-off.

He told reporters, via the club’s official website:

“We didn’t get any injuries at the weekend. We trained well after that but Dan James is not available. He’s still out for a little while.”

Gutting blow

This will come as an annoying blow to the Manchester giants, even if they are in a very strong position.

It would be a massive surprise to see the Serie A outfit turn around a four-goal lead, especially after their capitulation in the first leg, so to not have a player that was in line to start this sort of encounter is certainly a setback.

James has started three of United’s last six league games, when fit and has emerged as an interesting option on the wing in the recent absence of Anthony Martial, who also remains out.

The 23-year-old did not feature in the 6-2 whitewash but was named on the bench, and given Solskjaer is likely to rotate his squad tonight, James would have undoubtedly been in line to start the match.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/the-latest-man-united-transfer-rumours-and-news-from-old-trafford-fofana-solskjaer-van-de-beek-wwodward” title=”The latest Man United transfer rumours and news from Old Trafford…”]

He has featured in all but one of their Europa League matches since exiting the Champions League group stages earlier this year, starting five of seven outings, as per Transfermarkt.

Solskjaer may be understandably angry to not have him available here.

Furthermore, United’s crucial game with Liverpool on Sunday was postponed due to a fan demonstration inside and outside the ground, as well as at the team’s hotel.

That game will now be played in a week’s time, meaning they’ll have four games in the space of a week, making the need for rotation tonight all that more important so not having James available is a huge blow.

Without the Welshman, Solskjaer will now frustratingly need to turn to one of his usual starters, one that he would have probably liked to have seen rested ahead of a tough week against Aston Villa, top-of-the-table rivals Leicester City, and now their Merseyside enemies.

In his absence, we could see teenage starlet Anthony Elanga, who could make his senior debut after being named in the 24-man squad, feature whilst Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood and Juan Mata will also make the trip.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Pundit claims Man Utd youngster can be the best in the world…

Manchester City fell to a 3-2 defeat on Tuesday night, with Pep Guardiola’s side blowing a 2-0 lead against the Seagulls.

Ilkay Gundogan gave the Citizens an early lead but Joao Cancelo’s early red card made things difficult for the champions at the Amex Stadium as Brighton came from behind to seal a win in front of their fans.

It had seemed as if City would be able to see out the victory when Phil Foden scored a superb solo goal to make it 2-0 but the hosts quickly got one back through Leandro Trossard, and then went on to win the game thanks to goals from Adam Webster and Dan Burn.

Although Cancelo will have to take a lot of the blame for the defeat, his red card looked to be very harsh, and at 2-0, you would’ve hoped that the City team would have enough experience and quality to see the game out, even with ten men.

Unfortunately, there were plenty of poor performers on Tuesday night, which will give Guardiola plenty to think about ahead of the Champions League final later this month.

One man who disappointed against Graham Potter’s side was Bernardo Silva, with SofaScore rating him a 5.9/10 for his performance, which was the worst of any City player to feature other than Cancelo.

During the game, the Portugal international would have just 34 touches of the ball, completing 17 passes, which was the fewest of any Man City player to play at least 45 minutes, including Ederson.

Considering he has averaged 52.8 passes per game in the Premier League this season, it was clear that he was nowhere near involved as much as usual against Brighton and clearly struggled with the intensity of playing with 10 men.

The former AS Monaco man would fail in both of his dribble attempts during the game, whilst he failed to register a single shot at the Amex.

He would also win just three of his 11 duels and would lose possession on 11 occasions against Potter’s side, which emphasises that the Brighton players simply had the better of him throughout.

The “exceptional” 26-year-old will have to produce much better if he wants to keep his place in the side for the game against Chelsea later this month.

And, in other news… Guardiola handed huge potential boost with “unbelievable” gem, City fans will be buzzing

Despite winning May’s player of the month award and scoring seven goals in seven games and eight goals in 11 starts, former Newcastle United defender Steve Howey has exclusively told Football FanCast that he would not pay £30 million for Joe Willock.

Willock won the last player of the month award after scoring four goals in four games and after saying an emotional farewell, there has been mixed speculation regarding the midfielder’s future at the Emirates.

There is an expectation on Tyneside that the Magpies are still likely to lodge a £20 million bid for Willock despite Mikel Arteta claiming that the Gunners will plan for the future with Willock.

Newcastle have not had a player like him since Georginio Wijnaldum as none of their other midfielders have a willingness to get forward and score goals, however Howey does not believe Steve Bruce should blow £30 million on the 21-year old:

“He’s impressed me massively but I wouldn’t spend £30 million on him even though I do think that he did superbly well at Newcastle.”

Depending on which reports you trust then it appears that Arsenal are wanting to either receive £20 million or £30 million for their academy graduate and with Steve Bruce’s budget reportedly being £10 million, it paints a bleak picture.

Willock was Bruce’s one and only signing last January when he joined on deadline day and with not many people expecting too much from him, he netted on his debut against Southampton and never looked back.

Manchester City have regularly been linked with Sassuolo midfielder Manuel Locatelli in recent months and his recent admission about wanting to join a top club could certainly work in the Citizens’ favour this summer if they make an official approach for the Italian.

Fabrizio Romano suggested on his Here We Go podcast earlier this year that City want to lure the midfielder to the Etihad Stadium this summer as he continues to impress in Serie A and with the Italian national side.

It now seems as if the 23-year-old is keen to depart I Neroverdi this summer, as he recently admitted to Corriere dello Sport (via Romano on Twitter): “I feel ready for a top club and also joining a foreign club is a potential option for me, why not? When there are opportunities, I will think about my future”.

Locatelli’s agent has previously confirmed Manchester City’s interest in his client, so perhaps the Citizens are the foreign club he mentions in his quote?

In 26 Serie A appearances so far this season, the Italian has contributed three goals and one assist, averaging an impressive 7.09 WhoScored rating for his performances, which rates him as Roberto De Zerbi’s second-best player in the Italian top flight so far this season.

Locatelli has also produced two superb performances for Italy in World Cup qualifying, scoring in the 2-0 win against Bulgaria before contributing an assist in the 2-0 win against Lithuania.

With Sassuolo currently occupying eighth place in Serie A, it seems unlikely that Locatelli will be playing European football any time soon if he stays where he is, and his performances in recent seasons certainly justify him getting a chance at a club such as Manchester City.

With Fernandinho likely to leave in the summer when his contract expires, City will need to add some squad depth in midfield, and the £31.5m-rated Locatelli could prove to be the ideal option for Pep Guardiola’s side this summer.

In other news… Forget Foden: “Extraordinary” Man City beast who completed five dribbles ran the show against Dortmund