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Carlo Ancelotti could discover Everton’s next box-to-box star in River Plate midfielder Nicolas de la Cruz, only a year after signing Abdoulaye Doucoure from Watford.

De la Cruz, while speaking with Sport 890 earlier this week, via ESPN, revealed he is open to leaving his Argentine side during the European summer transfer window, despite only just penning a new contract that runs through to December 2022.

The 23-year-old was due to be a free agent in a matter of months’ time but has put pen to paper on new terms to secure his immediate future, after seeing the coronavirus pandemic put any transfer hopes on hold last year.

De la Cruz expects to be inundated with offers in June regardless of his new contract, having been linked with a move to Europe earlier in the year with Marca citing Everton and Manchester City as potential destinations in England or Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon.

The Uruguay international is a fundamental piece of River Plate’s midfield, starting 30 of his 31 appearances throughout the 2019/2020 season outside of injuries. He has also opened four and scored three goals in Los Millonarios’ fixtures during the 2020/21 campaign so far.

He is untested outside of South America, having only played for his boyhood side Liverpool before joining River Plate in 2017, but has frequently demonstrated his potential in the Copa Libertadores.

During the 2020 edition of the competition, De la Cruz started all 11 of his appearances and was listed in the Team of the Week on four occasions, per SofaScore. He further contributed three goals from 2.5 shots per game and two assists from 2.8 key passes a game, while missing five big chances and creating five clear-cut chances to score.

The £16m-rated enforcer was a brute defending Los Millonarios’ goal, as well, offering 1.6 successful tackles, along with 1.1 interceptions and winning a mammoth 5.5 ground duels a game.

Only Allan (3.42) and Doucoure (1.78) have won as many successful tackles per game in the Premier League this season among Everton’s midfielders, while Tom Davies (1.5), Doucoure (1.26) and Allan (1.1) offer a similar or higher amount of interceptions.

Allan is further the only Toffees engine room member to win as many or more ground duels (6.58), with double the amount of second-ranked Davies (3.19). No Everton midfielder offers more than one shot per game, while Gylfi Sigurdsson (who is first for shots with 0.91) offers the most key passes (1).

If Everton were to put their interest into action and move to sign De la Cruz in the summer, Ancelotti’s coaching techniques could see the Italian turn the four-cap international into his next Doucoure.

The Blues landed Doucoure from Watford last summer for £20m and have seen the Frenchman quickly establish himself at Goodison Park, while earning rave reviews for his “remarkable fitness” and “non-stop” running.

Doucoure says he’s learning a lot from working under Ancelotti, too, as the ex-Chelsea and SSC Napoli head coach is a “great” manager to work with.

“I always dreamed to play under a great manager like Carlo Ancelotti,” Doucoure told EvertonTV. “He’s one of the nicest guys in the world of football. He’s given me a lot of confidence and a lot of advice and I’m very happy to play under him.

“I think it’s one of the best times to be an Everton player. I think a lot of players would want to be in that team and I’m very happy to be in that team.”

De la Cruz may be more of a rough diamond, but his exploits in South America suggest he could be a Doucoure 2.0 on Merseyside under Ancelotti’s tutelage.

AND in other news, Everton are likely to sell a £6.5m-rated dud this summer after pricing him out of a January move…

As Celtic’s Albian Ajeti claimed a ball from Scott Brown, turned his man and then buried an opportunity last Tuesday, he looked every bit a £4.5m player.

Truth be told, that’s very rarely been the case for the striker since he signed from West Ham last summer.

Though, just as he finds his shooting boots again, he’s been ruled out of this weekend’s clash by the dreaded Scottish FA.

Ajeti felt contact from Kilmarnock goalkeeper Colin Doyle and went down inside the area. Odsonne Edouard stepped up and slammed home the resulting spot-kick. However, the Scottish FA have now retrospectively banned the Swiss striker after a panel watched back the footage.

They believe that the forward conned referee Kevin Clancy in the way he fell to the ground. Celtic sources are reportedly astonished by the turn of events and for Neil Lennon, he is also aggrieved.

He reacted to the news by saying: “The keeper has made contact, he has gone down, the referee has given a penalty. I don’t see any simulation. Simulation is where there is no contact. There is obvious contact, you can see that quite clearly.”

The Hoops have appealed against the ban and will fight his cause in a hearing next Monday. However, he will miss their clash with Motherwell this afternoon.

It leaves Lennon with quite the dilemma. Ajeti earned a rare start on Tuesday and took it with hands. He was particularly lively and not only did he win the penalty, but he scored a tremendous fourth for Celtic.

Thus, it will represent a hefty blow for the Bhoys as they strive to bridge the gap to Rangers. The manager will now have to decide whether to bring Leigh Griffiths back into the fray or play Edouard up top on his own.

Lennon has fluttered between both systems in recent weeks. Griffiths and Edouard struck up a solid partnership in the 2-0 win over Hamilton – both scoring – but the former played just 45 minutes when they suffered defeat to St Mirren.

The Scot was on the bench when Celtic beat Killie but didn’t play any part in the game. Whether he returns to the starting XI is firmly in Lennon’s hands. He now has a big decision to make.

AND in other news, £7m Celtic brute could become a real star if Desmond hires “very demanding” 62 y/o…

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Mesmo sem técnico, o trabalho não para no Fluminense. Na manhã deste sábado, os jogadores realizaram uma atividade técnica em campo reduzido nas Laranjeiras. A única ausência foi a do capitão Fred, que ficou na academia do clube fazendo um trabalho físico específico.

Com o final de semana sem jogo – o Fluminense só volta a entrar em campo na quarta-feira, quando enfrenta o Friburguense – o auxiliar técnico Marcão, que comandou a atividade, colocou os atletas para correrem. Debaixo de um intenso sol, o time fez um treinamento físico, seguido pela atividade técnica com toques rápidos, onde o elenco foi dividido em três. Por último, uma atividade rápida de cruzamento e finalizações entre os atletas tricolores.

Outro destaque da atividade na manhã deste sábado foi o atacante Richarlison, que subiu ao campo de muletas e assistiu os companheiros. Com uma fratura no pé esquerdo, o atacante tem tido boa recuperação da cirurgia feita e deve iniciar o processo de transição para a academia já na próxima semana.

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Leeds United will be looking to resurrect their Premier League form with a couple of positive results over upcoming opponents Newcastle United and Leicester City.

The Whites have hit a dip recently and are coming off the back of three consecutive defeats. Their shock exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Crawley Town seems to have knocked the team for six. They stumbled against Brighton last time out, with the Seagulls just doing enough to grab all three points through an early Neal Maupay goal.

In their last ten outings, Leeds have shipped a worrying 18 goals, with big defeats including their 6-2 loss to Manchester United clearly having a knock on their confidence too. But now they must brush themselves off and look to recreate the same magic that saw them beat West Brom 5-0 and hold Manchester City to a draw.

With Newcastle up first, they will be confident they can mirror the reverse result of their 5-2 win a few weeks ago. However, Leicester are a much tougher side and could cause some damage, although the news of Jamie Vardy’s injury may ease their worries slightly.

The leading scorer for the Foxes is set to miss ‘a few weeks’ of Premier League action due to needing a hernia operation, according to The Independent. Whilst this is devastating news for Leicester, Leeds can use his absence to their advantage and look to take home all three points.

As it stands, Marcelo Bielsa is having to field a makeshift centre-back partnership of Liam Cooper and Luke Ayling. Both Robin Koch and Diego Llorente are out of action, leaving very few options in the Leeds ranks.

Vardy has scored 11 goals so far this season and is the fourth-highest scorer in the Premier League, via BBC Sport. His goalscoring ability can seriously damage the opposition and he would undoubtedly have been relishing the challenge to exploit Leeds’ defensive frailties.

But with him out of the picture, the Whites won’t have as much to deal with defensively and should find it a little easier to defend without the influence of the English goal machine.

In other news, Robin Koch gives Leeds fans huge boost with latest Instagram post…

Tottenham Hotspur’s perennially injured star Erik Lamela is set for a return in January, according to reports, but maybe it’s time to finally offload the long-serving wage thief…

Injured again

The 28-year-old has been on the treatment table since early November, the latest of a successive string of injuries dating back to his maiden season in 2014/15.

He’s had everything from back trouble to hip pain, to his latest problem, a calf issue.

Jose Mourinho claimed earlier in the week that the Argentine winger had been doing work in the gym before training on the pitches after the camera had left.

He added: “We have lots of games coming up and in January and hopefully Lamela will be back for that.”

Time to go?

It’s going to be a tall ask for Lamela to even break into the first-team fold let alone the starting XI at the minute.

Heung-min Son is truly undroppable on the left flank whilst Steven Bergwijn is being preferred to Gareth Bale, who himself is a very worthy option to start matches.

There’s also Lucas Moura who has been getting the preference in the Europa League, a competition that’ll now break for a bit before the knockout stages.

It is very hard to envisage where the £25m Andre Villas-Boas signing fits in.

Lamela is thought to be among the highest-earners in north London, bringing home a cool £85k-per-week, and this would simply be a waste of money to have sitting on the bench or in the stands, so perhaps, it’s time to cash in.

Throughout last season, the winger’s future was thrown into doubt amid a lack of game time under Mourinho, so it’s clear to see that the issue of him not justifying his wage has long been a problem.

Earlier in the current campaign, Graeme Souness launched a scathing attack on the Spurs man, calling him “pathetic” for getting Anthony Martial sent off during their 6-1 drubbing of Manchester United.

Whilst the Portuguese boss has dubbed him an “amazing guy,” though, despite this, it’s still time to get rid of the injury-prone disaster.

Indeed Lamela appears to be robbing Daniel Levy and ENIC blind right now and should be moved on to garner some vital funds in January.

AND in other news, Worse than Davies: Anonymous £36m-rated Spurs lightweight let Mourinho down yet again…

David Moyes must stop Conor Hourihane from unleashing his “wand of a left foot” when West Ham United host Aston Villa on Monday night following an injury for Ross Barkley.

What’s the word?

According to the Express and Star, Villa are likely to be without Barkley for their next two Premier League fixtures after the Chelsea loanee sustained a hamstring injury in the first minute of Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion.

Barkley underwent scans to assess the extent of the blow, which revealed the damage is not too serious, but will miss his side’s trip to east London and the following home clash with Newcastle United.

Dean Smith will be hoping Barkley can recover in time for next month’s Midlands Derby with Wolverhampton Wanderers, having seen the £19.35m-rated man net once and provide an assist in six Premier League appearances since his summer move.

One of Hourihane or Bertrand Traore is expected to replace Barkley in the side to face West Ham, after each came off the bench to earn minutes in defeat to Brighton with Traore replacing Barkley and Hourihane given his first action since September.

Must contain Hourihane

Hourihane was the man to make way when Villa finalised their capture of Barkley this summer, but Smith is noted to still regard the Republic of Ireland international as an important player.

Yet Hourihane had been left an unused substitute in Villa’s last five top-flight fixtures before his 75th-minute introduction against Brighton, despite netting once and assisting once in a 3-0 win over Fulham in September.

No doubt Hourihane will have been frustrated to have been benched after a strong start to the campaign, and will be looking to use Barkley’s hamstring injury as his chance to shine after going through a similar situation last season.

Smith noted last November how Hourihane “wasn’t happy” when left out of the side, but saw the best possible response when the 29-year-old struck a sublime effort to seal victory over Newcastle before teeing up Anwar El Ghazi to score.

Hourihane’s strike saw Toon boss Steve Bruce wax lyrical over his former player, and reveal why Moyes will need to contain him should the 24-cap ace be the one Smith favours on Monday.

“Conor, with two pieces of magic, which we all know he is capable of, has scored a great goal and then played in a great ball for the other,” Bruce noted, via quotes by FourFourTwo. “With Conor’s wand of a left foot he ends up scoring one and makes another.”

Hourihane would end the 2019/20 campaign with three goals and five assists in 27 Premier League appearances, and currently boasts more key balls (5) than Traore (2) and with the Birmingham-based outfit’s fourth-most per game (1.7).

Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek will no doubt have their work cut out to keep Hourihane quiet and allow for the centre-halves to contain the Villan’s free-scoring Ollie Watkins and tailismanic midfielder Jack Grealish.

AND in other news, West Ham can ease David Moyes’ fear by signing an “exemplary” gem who may not cost David Sullivan anything.

كشف أحمد الشناوي المحلل التحكيمي، مدى صحة قرارات الحكم محمد عادل في مباراة القمة بين الأهلي والزمالك التي أقيمت مساء الجمعة.

الأهلي انتصر على الزمالك بخمسة أهداف مقابل ثلاثة، ضمن منافسات الجولة الثالثة من عمر بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

وقال الشناوي خلال تصريحات عبر قناة “أون تايم سبورتس”: “طارق حامد كان يستحق الإنذار الذي حصل عليه بسبب التهور”.

وتابع: “ركلة الجزاء الثانية للأهلي صحيحة، وقرار الحكم صحيح والفار أكد عليه، ولكن المشكلة سبب الإعادة، وهو أن أبو جبل غادر خط المرمى قبل التنفيذ من معلول، الفار تدخل في هذا الأمر فقط، لكن دخول اللاعبين في الصندوق قرار الحكم وحده”.

وأضاف: “في تنفيذها مرة أخرى كان هناك كرة في الملعب، ولكنها غير مؤثرة في سير الفرصة، وكان لابد أن يتم معاقبة المدير الفني لنادي الزمالك طالما لم يعرف أحد من ألقى بالكرة الأخرى في الملعب خلال عملية التنفيذ”.

طالع | عبد الحفيظ: الأهلي “شرب قهوة” بسبب كارتيرون.. وتصريحاته أتت بالعكس

وأكمل: “ركلة جزاء الزمالك صحيحة، والقرار صحيح من الحكم”.

كما أشاد سمير عثمان المحلل التحكيمي بحكم مباراة القمة محمد عادل، مشيرًا إلى أنه كان ممتازًا في اللقاء.

وأردف: “ركلة جزاء الأهلي الأولى صحيحة تمامًا”.

David Moyes is wrong to overlook West Ham United forward Said Benrahma for Saturday’s Premier League clash with London rivals Fulham after hinting at the Algerian being shackled to the bench once more.

Benrahma joined the Hammers on a season-long loan costing £5million this summer, but has so far featured for just one minute of regular time having entered the action as a late substitute against Liverpool last weekend.

Moyes felt heading into the Irons’ trip to Anfield that Benrahma needed additional time to gain match fitness having been deemed out of shape seven days prior, when the Scottish coach opted to omit the 25-year-old from his 18-man matchday squad that drew with Manchester City.

Hopes of seeing Benrahma make his first start in claret and blue against Fulham on Saturday have been dealt a major blow, though, with Moyes stating at his pre-game press conference that the Brentford loanee who West Ham will sign permanently for £20m next year is still not yet 100 per cent match fit.

“We have got a squad of players now, good competition and Said is part of that,” Moyes noted, via quotes by football.london. “He got an introduction the other day, he is getting closer to match fitness, so we are pleased with how he’s getting on.

“We will see exactly what stage he is at but yes, he will be in and around the squad again.”

Benrahma struggled to make an impact upon being thrust into the action moments after Diogo Jota fired Liverpool into the lead last weekend, with the five-time Algeria international only managing four touches.

Yet Moyes is wrong to seemingly overlook starting the attacker who played a role in 27 goals last season (17 scored, 10 assisted), as Benrahma has already shown this term the damage he can do against Fulham.

Before departing Brentford for the London Stadium, Benrahma played an instrumental role in helping the Bees to beat Fulham 3-0 in the Carabao Cup, as he offered a Man of the Match display featuring two goals, a key ball and nine successful dribbles from 10 attempts, per SofaScore.

He further won 12 of his total 13 ground duels with a 92% success rate, was fouled once, offered two tackles, one interception and one accurate long ball, while attempting two crosses.

Benrahma was less successful in beating Fulham in the Championship Play-Off Final in August, as the Cottagers won 2-1, but the Algerian was still able to offer three shots, four successful dribbles, took 70 touches and won 10 of his 18 ground duels.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank once hailed Benrahma for giving everything to the cause, too, having sparked top-flight interest just months into his time in Greater London upon arriving from OGC Nice.

“He wants to give everything to improve his performance,” said Frank, via quotes by Le Buteur.

Moyes will be hoping to see Benrahma offer that same level of attacking threat now that he is in the Premier League, and where better to start than by starting against a side he has experience of terrorising.

AND in other news, David Moyes has been backed to bring the “perfect” £10m bonus to West Ham in January.

David Moyes’ rumoured plans to land further signings from the Czech Republic could see West Ham United unearth another dynamo in Sparta Prague striker Lukas Julis.

What’s the word?

According to Claret & Hugh, Moyes is planning to continue exploring the Czech Republic for potential signings after being impressed by how Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek have taken to the Premier League.

The Irons paid £19.1million to turn Soucek’s loan permanent this summer after a successful six-months in east London, in which the midfielder scored three times in the post-lockdown period and has since started all six Premier League fixtures this term.

Coufal latter followed Soucek’s path by joining the Hammers in the closing stages of the transfer window for £5.4m, and has gone on to earn three starts in three along with Moyes’ admiration.

“I thought Vladimir was brilliant [against Leicester City],” Moyes told West Ham’s official website. “The biggest thing about him is his experience, his knowledge. That was the reason we thought he would be helpful for us at this time.

“We saw someone who had played in a lot of big games – Champions League games – and who plays for his country. He also came really highly recommended from Tomas [Soucek], so that helped us make our minds up.”

Moyes now intends to explore the Czech Republic for a striker and a centre-half after missing out on former Slavia Prague ace Michal Frydrych, who joined Wisla Krakow for £750,000.

Antonio 2.0: Lukas Julis

In Moyes’ search for a new striker from the Fortuna Liga, the West Ham boss would be well advised to consider the division’s top-goalscorer Julis who has bagged six in six for Sparta Prague – two more than any other player in the Czech top-flight thus far.

Julis has scored in all but one of his appearances to date, as his efforts help to fire Sparta Prague to the top of the league after an unbeaten start.

His form continues a strong run in front of the goal from the tail end of last term, when the 25-year-old hit six in nine Liga fixtures while on a half-season loan with SK Sigma Olomouc before returning to the Generali Ceska Pojistovna Arena.

The former Czech Republic U21s international’s talents saw Julis lauded by Sigma Sporting Director Ladislav Minar upon his arrival, who told Denik: “Compared to our players, his mobility is a bit greater. The boys are not so typologically different, but we believe that a certain mobility will help us.”

Julis’ mobility at the top of the attack would be a welcome trait at the London Stadium, where Moyes lauds the input of Michail Antonio for the Englishman offers a fierce workrate the Scot does not feel he gets from Sebastien Haller.

But Antonio and Haller are the only senior strikers at West Ham presently, strengthening Moyes’ need for another offensive dynamo, and would be supported well by the £405,000-rated Julis if the Chrudim-born forward is targeted in 2021.

AND in other news, David Moyes needs a “terrific” West Ham man he expects “much more” from to step up now more than ever.

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Contratado pelo Grêmio em junho do ano passado, Giuliano completará 50 jogos pelo Tricolor no Campeonato Brasileiro, nesta quarta-feira, contra o Fluminense, em partida válida pela 35ª rodada. Com cansaço muscular, o meia foi poupado dos treinos de quarta, o que não deve ser problema para que ele esteja em campo esta noite.

Com o meio-campista em campo, os gremistas obtiveram 25 vitórias, 10 empates e 14 derrotas. Neste período, no Brasileirão, o jogador, que veio do Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, da Ucrânia, marcou sete gols e deu nove passes para gols de seus companheiros de time.

Somando-se todos os jogos da temporada, Giuliano é o vice-artilheiro do Grêmio com 11 gols marcados em 55 jogos. Além disso, deu 13 passes para gols. Neste Brasileirão, o meia jogou 32 jogos dos 34 possíveis até aqui, marcando seis gols e dando sete passes para tentos de seus companheiros.

O Grêmio é o terceiro colocado na tabela de classificação do Campeonato Brasileiro, com 59 pontos ganhos, praticamente garantido na disputa da Copa Libertadores da América do ano que vem.

Nascido em Curitiba, Giuliano foi revelado pelo Paraná e teve passagem destacada pelo Internacional, onde conquistou o título da Copa Libertadores de 2010. O meia, de 25 anos, tem passagens por seleções brasileiras de base e também pela Seleção principal do Brasil.