Tag Futebol

Liverpool are ready to trigger a £125m release clause to sign a free-scoring striker over Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak.

Isak helps Newcastle to EFL Cup final win over Liverpool

The Reds suffered Wembley heartbreak in the final of the EFL Cup against Newcastle, with Arne Slot’s side losing 2-0 to the Magpies.

A Dan Burn header on the stroke of half-time was followed up by an effort from Isak in the second half, with Federico Chiesa’s late goal only proving to be a consolation.

Slot can axe Jota for Liverpool teen who's a "better finisher than Nunez"

Liverpool are planning for significant changes in the transfer market this summer.

1 ByAngus Sinclair Mar 19, 2025

There has been talk of FSG signing a new striker this summer, and Fabrizio Romano has recently claimed that Liverpool have made contact with Isak’s representatives. However, Arsenal are also keen on the Sweden international, who is valued at up to £160m.

“Newcastle keep insisting in private and in public that they want to keep Alexander Isak. They hope to be in the Champions League next season but, in any case, they want to keep Alexander Isak at the club, so that’s the message from Newcastle. But I keep telling you that big, big, massive proposals will come to the table for Alexander Isak because Arsenal will be there, Arsenal want Isak.

“[Benjamin] Sesko is the other name on the list but, for sure, Isak and Sesko are the main names. Liverpool are also there for Alexander Isak, they already made some contacts with people close to the player, so both clubs are interested in Alexander Isak. For Arsenal, he is the absolute top target. For Liverpool, he’s one of names they are considering in that position.”

Another attacker on the Reds’ radar is Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez.

There have been reports that Liverpool were lining up a club-record bid to sign the former Man City star, and a new update has now emerged.

Liverpool ready to trigger £125m clause to sign Julian Alvarez

According to a report from Spain, Liverpool are planning to spend €300m (£250m) on three new signings this summer. The three players in question are Alvarez, attacking midfielder Xavi Simons and centre-back Alessandro Bastoni.

Alvarez looks set to be the most expensive of the trio, with the report claiming that Liverpool are ‘prepared to pay’ his €150m (£125m) release clause.

It is added that the Argentine’s ‘ability to play in various attacking positions makes him an ideal fit for Slot’, and it looks as if a £125m move is on the cards.

The Atletico Madrid man has impressed in his first season under Diego Simeone, scoring 23 goals and registering five assists in 44 appearances, taking his career tally to 144 goals.

River Plate

122

54

31

Man City

103

36

17

Atletico Madrid

44

23

5

Argentina

42

11

2

However, a swift return to England could be on the cards for the 25-year-old, especially following this exciting update.

Liverpool may have made contact with a European club over the signing of their “monster in the making” in the January transfer window, with a summer move to Anfield still possible.

Latest Liverpool news

The Reds suffered a rare off day on Sunday afternoon, crashing out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage, following a 1-0 defeat away to Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle.

In the grand scheme of things, the result was no disaster for Liverpool, with Arne Slot ringing the changes at Home Park, ahead of a vital Premier League clash with Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday evening. Still, being eliminated from any competition is never ideal for momentum and confidence.

In terms of Red-related transfer news, the Merseysiders are believed to be pushing to complete the signing of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong this summer. The 27-year-old could be made surplus to requirements at the end of the season, so Slot may look to pounce.

Feyenoord centre-back David Hancko, who Slot knows well from their time working together, has also been linked with a move to Liverpool, being seen as a possible long-term heir to Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defence. He has started 20 league games his season, averaging 2.8 clearances and 1.6 aerial duel wins per match.

Liverpool contacted club over defensive signings

According to a new update from Jornal de Noticias [via Sport Witness], Liverpool contacted Benfica over the potential signing of defenders Alvaro Carreras and Tomas Araujo in the January window, although it isn’t specified who the Reds wanted out of the two.

While the Reds were unable to sign the left-back and centre-back, respectively, a summer deal still looks possible for one or the other. Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are also mentioned in the report with an interest in either defender.

A new left-back is essential for Liverpool in the summer, considering Andy Robertson turns 31 soon and Kostas Tsimikas arguably isn’t the long-term answer in that position. In Carreras, the Reds could have an ideal option to bring in, having already become such a key player for Benfica, making 49 appearances to date.

The 21-year-old has a £41.5m release clause in his contract, which seems relatively cheap in the modern game, and football talent scout Jacek Kulig described him as a “monster in the making” recently, further highlighting his talent.

Bournemouth ace Milos Kerkez is the same age and arguably looks like the strongest target, mainly because he already has Premier League experience, but the Benfica man could be right near the top of the list, too.

Meanwhile, centre-back also has to be an area of focus for Liverpool, considering Virgil van Dijk isn’t getting any younger and Ibrahima Konate is injury-prone, and Araujo stands out as an exciting signing.

Time to upgrade: Slot must sell 4/10 Liverpool dud who won just 44% duels

Liverpool were dumped out the FA Cup by giant-killing Plymouth.

By
Angus Sinclair

Feb 10, 2025

The 22-year-old is already an influential figure for Benfica, averaging 2.2 aerial wins per game in the Primeira Liga this season, and completing 86.% of his passes in the Champions League. He would be a long-term acquisition who could also battle to be a starter from the off.

Aston Villa snuck through to the next round of the FA Cup last night after getting the better of Ange Postecoglou’s out-of-form Tottenham Hotspur side 2-1.

On another occasion, Unai Emery’s Villans might well have cruised to victory instead of being made to hang on at the end courtesy of a goal from Spurs debutant Mathys Tel, with the hosts registering a bumper seven shots on target across the duration of the entertaining clash.

Thankfully, Villa got the ball rolling early on when homegrown product Jacob Ramsey caught Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky cold, with Ramsey one of many faces for the hosts that can walk away from the Cup win with their heads held high.

Standout Aston Villa performers vs Spurs

The natural place to start here is with Ramsey’s fortuitous goal within the first minute of the match, with the Villa starlet lashing an effort towards the Czech ‘keeper’s net that somehow trickled in.

Away from this perfectly timed opener, there were also the likes of Donyell Malen and Leon Bailey who looked equally as lively in attack with a combined five shots amassed between them, on top of Morgan Rogers stylishly stealing the show from the number ten spot once more.

Rogers would ultimately seal the win with a tap-in deep into the second 45 minutes, with his performance on the night more than deserving of another standout moment in the Villa Park spotlight, considering the on-fire 22-year-old accumulated four key passes, two successful dribbles and won six duels away from this simple finish finding the back of the net.

Whilst there would have been frustrations that Villa leaked a late goal, the main mood around the stadium at full-time would have been one of joy and optimism, especially with the star-studded substitutes bench Emery can now call upon after a busy transfer deadline day.

Performance in Numbers

Want data and stats? Football FanCast's Performance in Numbers series provides you with the latest match analysis from across Europe.

Aston Villa star has already shown glimpses of Grealish

Obviously, there was a lot of fanfare surrounding Marcus Rashford’s late introduction into the contest, but Marco Asensio would end up leaving more of a lasting mark on Villa supporters than the Manchester United loanee.

Indeed, Asensio very much showed off his ex-Real Madrid pedigree with a cool and assured 24-minute cameo, amazingly not misplacing any of his 15 passes which was undoubtedly the standout statistic.

Minutes played

24

Touches

20

Accurate passes

15/15

Key passes

1

Dribbles

1

Crosses

2

Duels won

2/3

Possession lost

2

Interceptions

1

Tackles

1

Birmingham Live journalist John Townley gifted the skilful Spaniard a high 8/10 post-match rating despite the 29-year-old barely being on the pitch, stating that his brief showing gave the Villa masses something to ‘cheer’ about late on with more ‘flicks and tricks’ to come as he establishes himself in England.

Asensio will hope he goes down remembered as an exciting player in the West Midlands in a similar manner to Jack Grealish with the Spain international’s cameo certainly showing a few shades of the Midlands native. The backheel to set free Rogers at one stage (footage above) was simply marvellous.

Both Asensio and Grealish certainly share similar traits with both players in question regularly leaving defenders in a spin courtesy of a whole array of flashy moves down the wing, with the end product also there to justify the immense trickery.

PSG

47

7

11

Real Madrid

286

61

32

At his previous two esteemed employers, Asensio has managed to pick up an impressive 111 goals and assists from 333 appearances, with Grealish helping himself to a hefty 32 goals and 41 assists when hitting the 200-plus game mark at Villa Park.

Emery will hope Asensio can explode into life like this – away from these promising beginnings in Birmingham – to show off his PSG and Madrid best.

The options the ex-Arsenal manager has at his disposal now in attack are very impressive as the Villans potentially eye up a FA Cup success as well as a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Cost £0, now worth 2x more than Malen: Aston Villa hit gold with magic ace

The Villa star has been impressive under Emery.

ByJoe Nuttall Feb 8, 2025

Broadcast commentators confirm there was an issue during the DRS process after West Indies reviewed the on-field not-out decision

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2023A clarification has been issued regarding Ravindra Jadeja’s dismissal in India’s first innings of the second Test in Port-of-Spain, with broadcast commentators saying during the tea analysis show that the correct decision was made by the TV umpire despite “a glitch” during the DRS process.India were 360 for 5 in the 104th over when Kemar Roach offered a ball wide outside off stump. Jadeja took the bait, driving away from his body, and turned around to see the wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva go up in immediate celebration. Jadeja was expressionless. And so was the on-field umpire Marais Erasmus.West Indies challenged the on-field decision of not out and DRS came into play, starting with the spin-vision replay, which showed bat and ball were close together. The TV umpire Michael Gough then asked for the assistance of UltraEdge.The replay that came up, however, seemed to be for a different shot that Jadeja played. The actual ball was wide outside off stump and Jadeja was playing away from his body. At the point where the ball passed the outside edge of his bat, his bat was quite visibly away from his pad. But in the replay where UltraEdge showed a clear spike, Jadeja’s bat was so close to front pad that his inside edge flicks it. Furthermore, the shot he was playing in the UltraEdge replay seemed to be a straight-bat shot. The actual shot that put Jadeja in trouble was more of an extra-cover drive.Umpire Gough was satisfied that there was an edge and asked the on-field umpire Erasmus to reverse his decision. Jadeja was dismissed for 61 off 152 balls and walked off without protest.Later on, while on air with Curtly Ambrose and Samuel Badree, Daren Ganga offered a clarification while speaking to visuals of the correct replay of the wicket delivery. “This is the actual replay and the ball part. There was no contact with bat on pad,” he said, while the replay was shown on the broadcast. “This is the correct UltraEdge. And the right decision was made in the end, that is the most important thing.”Just to clear that issue up and basically set the record straight, no fault of the umpires or the system, it’s just a glitch that took place.”