Wednesday newspapers (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

"BBC Chelsea are prepared to reject Fulham's interest in Albania striker Armando Broja, 22, in January. (Evening Standard) Arsenal are willing to let England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale leave at the end of the season but will not let the 25-year-old go in the January transfer window. (90min) Dutch midfielder Donny van de Beek, 26, says he will make a January move away from Manchester United if he does not start playing more games, revealing that a summer move to Real Sociedad fell through. (Diario AS, via Sky Sports) Manchester United are hoping to strengthen in four positions in January, including in defensive midfield with concerns over 27-year-old Morocco midfielder Sofyan Amrabat's season so far. (Guardian) Tottenham are ready to rival Manchester United and Liverpool for the signature of Nice's 23-year-old France defender Jean-Clair Todibo. (Evening Standard) Everton have delayed new contract talks with manager Sean Dyche because of the uncertainty created by the club's 10-point deduction. (Mail) Tottenham want to sign Portuguese winger Jota, 24, on loan from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad. (Times - subscription required) Paris St-Germain are ready to sell Hugo Ekitike in January, with Newcastle, West Ham and Crystal Palace among a number of Premier League sides to have previously expressed an interest in the 21-year-old French striker. (Sun) France defender Raphael Varane, 30, and England midfielder Mason Mount, 24, are among the Manchester United players at risk of being replaced. (Guardian, via Express) Bayern Munich have discussed the possibility of signing Varane from Manchester United but do not think a deal is realistic. (Sky Germany - in German) Tottenham are interested in Blackburn Rovers' England midfielder Adam Wharton, 19. (90min) Ukraine and Chelsea striker Mykhailo Mudryk, 22, wants the club to sign his former Shakhtar Donetsk and national team mate Georgiy Sudakov, 21, in the January transfer window with the two striking up a strong partnership during their time together in Ukraine. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian) England Under-17 forward Mason Cotcher has been training with Arsenal's first-team squad after leaving Sunderland but the Gunners face competition from Rangers for the 17-year-old's signature. (Telegraph - subscription required) Manchester United are interested in 29-year-old Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel but the Serie A club will only sell the Italian for £30m. (Il Messaggero, via Football Italia) Germany striker Timo Werner, 27, is prepared to stay at RB Leipzig and fight for his place in the side rather than move to Manchester United in January. (Metro) Chelsea do not have an agreement in place with Corinthians for 18-year-old midfielder Gabriel Moscardo and a move for the Brazilian is not imminent. (Fabrizio Romano) Paris St-Germain and a number of other Premier League clubs are keen on Moscardo with Corinthians holding out for a deal worth £26m. (ESPN) Borussia Dortmund winger Donyell Malen, 24, remains a key target for Liverpool with manager Jurgen Klopp a big admirer of the Netherlands international. (Bild, via Teamtalk) Arsenal are considering a January move for Slovenia and RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko, 20. (Football Transfers) Real Betis have not given up hope of persuading Argentina midfielder Guido Rodriguez, 29, to reject Manchester United and Barcelona and stay with the Seville club. (Marca - in Spanish) Sky Paper Talk EVENING STANDARD Tottenham have joined the race to sign Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo, as they prepare to enter the transfer market for a new centre-back in January. Chelsea are prepared to snub Fulham's interest in striker Armando Broja in January. THE GUARDIAN Manchester United are aiming to strengthen in four positions in January, with concerns over Sofyan Amrabat's indifferent start prompting the club to consider a move for a defensive midfielder. DAILY MAIL Everton intend to discuss a contract extension with Sean Dyche - but the uncertainty caused by their 10-point deduction has delayed formal talks. A group of 295 former rugby union players will take the next step in their claim for damages against the game's governing bodies at the High Court in London on Friday. LIV Golf has reportedly offered Jon Rahm its biggest deal to date in an attempt to lure the Masters champion away from the PGA Tour. The FA Cup and Women's Super League are likely to be used for the trial of sin-bins for tactical fouls and dissent after IFAB approved such experiments at a meeting on Tuesday. Gareth Southgate's agent Terry Byrne is suing the FA for millions of pounds over the early termination of a deal to manage England players' commercial appearances which was due to run until 2030. DAILY TELEGRAPH Reading are in advanced talks with Genevra Associates, an investment group based in Luxembourg, over a takeover of the stricken League One club. A plan to divert Roman Abramovich's £2.34bn Chelsea sale fund to Israel rather than Ukraine was discussed, and turned down, in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack. Paris have decided to double the price of tickets on their Metro system while the Olympic Games are taking place next summer, although residents will be shielded from the rise. Tom Daley has been returned to British Swimming's World Class programme for diving ahead of the Paris Olympics and will receive Lottery funding for his fifth appearance in the sporting spectacular. THE TIMES Zach Mercer has installed an oxygen chamber at his home to speed up recovery from ankle surgery that has hampered the Gloucester No 8's efforts to make England's Six Nations squad. England prop Bevan Rodd is seeking specialist advice after scans revealed a ""pea-sized"" break in his big toe which is threatening his Champions Cup campaign with Sale and possibly Six Nations availability. Nike and Alberto Salazar, the disgraced former athletics coach, have settled a $20m lawsuit with track runner Mary Cain who said she suffered physical and emotional abuse while working with him at the company's headquarters in Oregon. THE SUN Paris Saint-Germain are ready to sell forward Hugo Ekitike in January - putting Premier League clubs on red alert. Dr Ian Mitchell will remain in his position as head of performance psychology with Wales until their Euro 2024 playoff campaign concludes. Former AFC Wimbledon managing director Danny Macklin has been hit with an FA misconduct charge for alleged sexist abuse while he was with the League Two club. Steve Cooper has told his Nottingham Forest players to stop swapping shirts with opposing players at half-time after Murillo was spotted doing so with fellow Brazilian Lucas Paqueta against West Ham. Quicker offside calls from VAR will be trialled during the Club World Cup, in which Manchester City will be Europe's representatives as Champions League winners. DAILY MIRROR Alejandro Garnacho's brother has dismissed any suggestion that Lionel Messi unfollowed the Manchester United player on Instagram, by claiming he never followed him in the first place. Sir Alex Ferguson has snapped up a £1.2m house in a Cheshire village which will see him move in close to son Darren and his grandchildren. DAILY EXPRESS Paris Saint-Germain might have stolen a march on Chelsea in the battle to sign much-hyped Corinthians wonderkid Gabriel Moscardo. Carlo Ancelotti has received an offer from a Premier League club to become their manager next season, according to a report in Spain which rules out that club being Manchester City or his former clubs Chelsea and Everton. The Women's Super League and Championship will break free from the FA after the two tiers unanimously agreed to be governed by a new, independent body from next season. DAILY RECORD Travelling Celtic supporters were targeted by Lazio yobs in frightening scenes with UEFA set to take a dim view after flares were lobbed at visiting supporters before one was fired back into the home end. SCOTTISH SUN Celtic and Rangers had the most expensive Champions League tickets for away fans in Europe on average, according to a study. OS Earthy strikes late to earn U21s draw with Lyon West Ham United U21s 1-1 Olympique Lyonnais U21s Premier League International Cup, Chigwell Construction Stadium, Tuesday 28 November 2023 West Ham United U21s left it very late to claim a deserved share of the spoils in their 1-1 Premier League International Cup draw with Olympique Lyonnais U21s. The French side thought they had secured all three points in east London thanks to Romain Perret’s penalty, which the striker confidently dispatched on 88 minutes. Going behind so late seemed harsh on Steve Potts’ Irons, who had more than played their part in a well-contested contest at Chigwell Construction Stadium, but the hosts would get their reward in the final minute of added time. Kaelan Casey’s header fell kindly into the path of midfielder George Earthy, who sweetly struck on the half-volley to level the game in the closing exchanges. The Hammers and Lyon sat in first and second spot, respectively, in Group B heading into Tuesday’s fixture, and it was the French youngsters who enjoyed the best of the opening exchanges in east London. Moussa Kante struck the near post with a low effort from a narrow angle, before Luizao was forced to gallantly clear the follow-up off the line. More good work from Chesters led to another West Ham chance, with Gideon Kodua lashing a strike on target, before Marshall had the best chance of the first half for the home side. The No9’s sliding attempt was expertly stopped by Pereira. Having grown into the first half, the Hammers sought to make their pressure count in the second with quick combination play. Dan Chesters and Gideon Kodua linked up well, only for the latter to send a first-time shot over the bar. The two teams exchanged opportunities as El Djebali and Djibrail Dib tested Joseph Anang in the West Ham goal, while Marshall forced Pereira into two excellent saves, including one fantastic, reactive stop. It seemed, for all of West Ham’s hard work, the points would be heading back to France with Lyon when a penalty was awarded to the visitors; Junior Robison being adjudged to have fouled Dib in the area. Forward Perret took the resulting spot-kick, confidently dinking the ball down the middle to give Lyon the lead. Desperate to secure a point, West Ham went on the offensive but thought their best chance had slipped by when Kodua fired a well-taken volley agonisingly wide three minutes into the five added on. But there was still time for a final twist, and a merited one for the hosts, when a long free-kick was turned back into the danger area by centre-back Casey. Earthy shaped himself and caught the ball terrifically, finding the bottom corner with seconds to spare. The point keeps the Hammers top of the group with three games played, with a final group stage match to come against Dinamo Zagreb in January. West Ham United U21s: Anang, Chesters (Robinson 70), Laing, Casey ©, Luizao, Scarles, Orford, Kelly (Moore 90), Earthy, Kodua, Marshall Subs not used: Terry, Clayton, Tarima, Fawunmi, Rigge Goals: Earthy 90+5, Booked: Luizao, Marshall, Scarles The Athletic ‘West Ham let us shoot at Upton Park. We gave them a clean version of the script’: The making of Green Street Roshane Thomas Green Street is a film American golfer Billy Horschel has watched more than 30 times. It is a film which helped former West Ham United defender Fabian Balbuena learn English, a film that helped ex-striker Enner Valencia settle in and a film which, 18 years after its release, remains a cult classic. Directed by Lexi Alexander, the film starred Elijah Wood of Lord of the Rings fame, Charlie Hunnam, who later featured in Sons of Anarchy, and established British actors Ross McCall and Marc Warren. The movie took 27 days to make, with a budget of £3.5million. This is the story of Green Street. Of how the West Ham and Millwall rivalry storyline was inspired by two lower league clubs in Germany, why there were initial fears about casting Wood and why a member of the cast has a mural at a Tunisian football club. ‘I always wanted to make a film like Green Street because I grew up in a firm’ Dougie Brimson, one of the screenplay’s writers, is recalling his first encounter with Alexander. She had been nominated for an Oscar for her short film on U.S. boxer Johnny Flynton, which was released in 2002. But Alexander wanted to make a film based on her experiences. “Someone got in touch about a woman who wanted to do a film about football hooliganism,” he says. “I eventually got in touch with Lexi and said, ‘I’m interested in helping’. I flew to Hollywood, I was there for just over a week and we had a basic script. “It constantly shocks me how much interest there still is in Green Street. When I’m out with Leo Gregory (who played Bovver) people always ask him for pictures. Leo will say, ‘Guys this is the bloke who wrote the film’. Then they’ll say, ‘Oh, can you take a photo of me and Bovver please’. No one gives a shit about me. It’s bizarre.” Alexander, Brimson, Josh Shelov and Deborah Del Prete all played important roles in structuring the script. Green Street is in the borough of Newham, where West Ham’s former stadium, the Boleyn Ground, was located — and it was Alexander’s idea to base the film around the rivalry between West Ham and Millwall. The rivalry between the two clubs is long-standing, stemming from the era when the clubs were called Millwall Athletic and Thames Ironworks. Their rivalry is embedded in British football largely due to the animosity between the clubs’ hooligan firms, the Inter City Firm (ICF) and the Millwall Bushwackers. “For the film, I did research on which English clubs to use and West Ham reminded me the most of the club I supported, Waldhof Mannheim (now in the third tier of German football),” says Alexander. “It’s like, West Ham are never going to win the Premier League but they still dream of it. Waldhof Mannheim used to be in the second division, now they are this village church team that no one knows. But we had a fierce rivalry with Kaiserslautern (currently in 2. Bundesliga) and it reminded me of West Ham and Millwall. “West Ham and Millwall don’t play each other often because they’re not in the same league, but when they do it’s carnage. When Waldhof Mannheim and Kaiserslautern were in the same league it was like, ‘Holy f***’. It used to go off. So what’s why I wanted to highlight West Ham and Millwall’s rivalry. “I always wanted to make a film like Green Street because I grew up in a firm in Germany. My brother dragged me along and with me being a girl no one wanted to fight me. In those groups, you can’t win fighting a girl because you get your mouth smacked by the firm, or get embarrassed by a girl beating you up. I wanted to run around with the firm and I had so much adrenaline. It doesn’t matter where the firm is whether it’s British, Dutch, French — except Americans because they don’t do that stuff — but in terms of hooligan firms, they all have the same mentality. “The firm I was in wanted me to take photos so we could get them developed. On Saturdays, I would go into the pub and show everyone the photos of our fights and it would be one big celebration. If I captured someone in the firm getting punched, then everyone would start taking the piss out of that person. It was a lot of fun but there were times when it wasn’t enjoyable. There were moments when it got super dangerous and that’s when I started to back out. I remember we were attacked by a firm that caught us on the freeway to a game. We had multiple cars and they were in a bus and they checked us, ran over and smashed every window. “It was at this moment when I thought, ‘I can’t do this forever’. When it wasn’t bad, when it was just me standing on a ledge taking photos of the guys, it was fun. Being in a firm is like being in a family when you don’t have a family. One of the toughest guys in our firm was a social worker. Then we had another hard man who could’ve been a lawyer. It was far from working-class. Just mainly people who found each other through football first, then they shared a bond of fighting after.” Del Prete, a film producer, was a screenwriter for Green Street but she was in for a shock when she read the initial script. “Dougie wrote an initial version of the film but the movie you all see was written by Lexi,” says Del Prete. “I read that script and I swear to you, all I could think was, ‘Wow, there’s gangs around soccer?’. “Here’s the funny part, I owned a building in Los Angeles called the Coronet Theatre. Downstairs in the base were a few shops, a bar and a hairdresser. I used to always get my hair done there by a British guy. I read the script while he was doing my hair and he was looking over my shoulder and said, ‘Deb, look at this’. He pulled up his sleeve and had the West Ham ‘irons’ tattoo. I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, this must be a sign’. I asked him loads of questions about West Ham and we still talk about it.” One of the film’s most heart-wrenching scenes was largely thanks to Shelov. “I was hoping to break into Hollywood and be a screenwriter and I’d been trying for 10 years,” says Shelov. “I was so close to giving up and getting a real job, then a good friend of mine called Alex told me about this film called Green Street and had the initial script from Dougie. They wanted to improve the script from a story standpoint and Alex asked if I’d have a look. I read it and it had a lot of good aspects but I felt it was important for Charlie Hunnam’s character (Pete Dunham, who runs West Ham’s firm Green Street Elite) to die at the end. That’s a good part of the reason the film has made such an impact on people. “I spoke to Lexi, made some changes, the script got passed to the actors and that pretty much changed my life. Then I was told Elijah liked the script and I ended up working in Hollywood. I was renting a little apartment in Brooklyn and thanks to Green Street I was able to buy a house for my family. I saw it premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in America. My son is 15 and he watched it for the first time the other day. That was an amazing feeling. It’s the peak of my career and the thing that people recognise me the most for.” In March 2004, Wood and his co-stars surprised West Ham fans in the lower tier of the Bobby Moore Stand when they attended their league game against Gillingham. The club granted access to the film crew thanks to a convincing sales pitch from Alexander, as Del Prete recalls. Wood, middle, with the cast at a West Ham game in 2004 (Graeme Robertson/Getty Images) “What’s funny is how Lexi talked West Ham into letting us shoot the film at Upton Park,” she says. “We gave them a clean version of the script. Me and her went through the script and took out the majority of the bad stuff. They wouldn’t have allowed us to be there if they knew it was about hooliganism. But Lexi’s charm talked them into it — it was a miracle we were able to shoot there.” ‘My response was, ‘He’d be fucking great’. But clearly the Americans didn’t do sarcasm…’ Auditions took place in America and England with Des Hamilton, the casting director, and Alexander overseeing them. The main cast were Hunnam, Gregory, Warren, Claire Forlani, McCall and Geoff Bell. But when Brimson was informed of who Alexander had in mind for the lead role of Matt, he was initially concerned. “I was in north London, I got a phone call and the person said, ‘What do you think of Elijah Wood?’. I said, ‘For what?’ and it was the role of Matt. My response was, ‘He’d be fucking great’. But clearly the Americans didn’t do sarcasm because I was being sarcastic. Then I get a phone call to say, ‘Elijah is going to play Matt’. I thought, ‘Oh, shit’. Because he’d played the role of Hobbit in Lord of the Rings, I was worried we’d get nothing but Hobbit jokes.” Alexander recalls the moment she met Wood, how McCall’s audition left her speechless and why she was keen to have Hunnam on board. “Elijah was one of 10 guys that I met and he and the others were all famous,” she says. “It was a role that a lot of guys wanted. Elijah was so recognisable from the Lord of the Rings and I remember we were near Soho recording and this woman went crazy because she got to meet him. She was like, ‘Holy shit, what are you doing here?’ That’s how big he was. We had to rush him away. “To this day, Ross’ interview still impresses me. He spat a chewing gum at the casting director and normally that isn’t cool at all. But it was so authentic and it came about because they were both swearing at one another. I was shocked but it’s one of the best auditions I’ve seen. Ross would’ve got a bigger role in the film if I’d met him earlier. “I can laugh about it now but nobody knew Charlie at the time. He was only in Queer as Folk and Nicholas Nickleby. So people didn’t understand why I wanted to cast Charlie as Pete but I kept telling them it will work. It was more important for his character to be likeable than a tough hard man. Although Charlie can beat people up, there had to be an attachment to the audience. Charlie was cast in Sons of Anarchy because of his role in Green Street.” McCall, who was in Band of Brothers, thinks Wood joining the cast was a turning point. Wood’s character, Matt, is a wrongfully-expelled Harvard journalism student who moves to London, where he is exposed to the world of football hooliganism. “I got a call from my agent about Green Street but the film was initially called The Yank,” he says. “I remember reading this book about an American undercover journalist so it was quite similar to the script. But in all honesty, I was initially lukewarm about the script and now it’s a cult classic. I went to the studio to meet the casting director Des Hamilton and we’re big Celtic fans so we had something in common. “Then I met Lexi and I remember being told that Elijah and Charlie are involved. I knew the dangers of us doing the film and glorifying hooliganism but Elijah was a big catch. During my audition, I remember doing something that could’ve gone one way or the other. It was loosely based on improvisation and Des and I would throw insults at each other. I was chewing gum in my audition, which is a big no-no for an actor. Des wound me up so I just spat my gum in his face, which is horrible. But that’s the moment Lexi told me, ‘Yep, you’re definitely part of the cast’.” Gregory and Hunnam formed a close bond before and after filming Green Street. “The director flew me out to America so I could hang out with Charlie,” Gregory says. “The reason behind it was I was someone who went to football a lot, so I had to impart that knowledge to Charlie. He spoke in a cockney accent and credit to him for giving it a go. When we came back from Los Angeles, we got a place in London and most of the cast was sorted by that point. I’m a massive Tottenham fan so me being in Green Street helped me pay for my season ticket. We had no idea it was going to be a cult film when we made it. The funniest thing is, there’s a team in Tunisia that has a massive mural of me because I was in Green Street. That blows my mind.” But it was not just famous actors who were considered as members of the cast. Young members of the West Ham academy — including Dan Potts (now at Luton Town), Jack Powell (currently at Crewe Alexandra), Billy Knott (ex-Chelsea and Bradford City) and Blair Turgott (formerly of Coventry and Leyton Orient) — all feature in the film. Del Prete adds: “Sometimes we had hooligans on set who were often there for our protection. We were shooting outside one of the London Underground stations and there was a huge set-up. I was in a monitor and me and Lexi were 20 or 30 feet from each other. “Some guy, who looked like a businessman, decided he was annoyed that part of the road was shut off and started to hit one of the PAs with his umbrella. Lexi just transformed into Wonder Woman and leapt towards that guy to scare him off and protect the PA. Then all the hooligans on set came running in to protect her.” ‘They’re selling tickets outside because the guy at the door keeps saying the actor from Green Street is here’ Green Street won several awards, including Best Feature at the LA Femme Film Festival and the Special Jury Award and Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival, both in 2005. “I still get so much love from people because I made this film,” says Alexander. “I would be somewhere speaking about a completely different film and some kid aged around 18 to 25 will get up and shout, ‘I love Green Street!’ And that happens constantly. The college kids want me to come and talk about that movie and it’s just wild how popular this film is. It also made way more money on DVD than in the theatre. “I’ve experienced so many special memories since making this film. I was at a Starbucks in America and you have to give them your name. I was waiting for my order and they shouted, ‘Lexi, your Grande Mocha is ready’. This guy turned to me and said, ‘Are you Lexi Alexander from Green Street hooligans?’ I told him, ‘Well, it depends on how much you like the movie’. But the craziest thing is it was like 7.30am and nowhere near the Hollywood area where the industry people are. I couldn’t stop laughing. He ended up telling me he’s a lawyer and Green Street is one of his favourite movies. The Green Street cast on set (Photo courtesy of Lexi Alexander) “Someone randomly messaged me on Twitter about an engaged couple from London that have three kids. He’s a football coach and she’s a creative writer. They said on their first date, they asked each other what their favourite film is and they both said Green Street. That’s when they knew they were meant to be together. It was so cute and jokingly I said, ‘I should send you something from the movie for your wedding’. Then they said, ‘We’d love to have you as a guest instead’. I plan on attending. “So it’s nice moments like that and I’m a huge West Ham fan now. I go to games whenever I’m in London and I always wear my shirt and my scarf.” In an interview with The Athletic, golfer Horschel spoke about his love for the film and how he is now friends with the likes of Mark Noble and Declan Rice: “I was in my sophomore year in college and moved into a new apartment,” he said. “The cable hadn’t been set up yet so I bought some DVDs and somehow Green Street was one. I watched it and was addicted — and became a massive West Ham fan. I’ve watched it over 30 times.” Balbuena, who played for West Ham from 2018-21, has a similar story. “I wasn’t nervous about moving to England but I only knew a little bit about West Ham, he said. “I knew that (fellow South Americans) Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano played for them. But what a lot of people don’t know is I watched the movie Green Street. I know it’s about hooliganism, but that movie helped my English. Then, after I was able to say hello and ask a few things, the club arranged my English lessons.” For Brimson, the film has a personal attachment. “I remember asking Leo if he gets bored of being recognised. He said, ‘They still remember me 18 years later, why the hell would I get bored?’. I’ve watched Green Street a few times and the boy who gets killed in the terraces is my son, who is now 22 and the girl Elijah chats up in the bar is my daughter.” “I just got back from Europe and I was stopped for Green Street constantly,” says McCall. “I’m known for other things but I still get recognised for being in Greet Street. I was in Thailand six years ago with a friend. We’re in a bar one night and it’s quiet, then all of sudden more and more people started coming in. You always know when people have an eye on you because they know you from something. This young lady comes over and says, ‘They’re selling tickets outside because the guy at the door keeps saying the actor from Green Street is here.’ “I was like, ‘Wow, this bar is earning money out of me’. That entire trip was so funny because I’d walk down a road and all the lads from Europe would want a picture with me. Now it’s crazy that, 18 years later, I’m still recognised from it. I can’t go into a pub in the UK without people saying, ‘You’re the guy from Green Street.’ Last week, I was in Holland in a sushi restaurant and someone recognised me. There are fans of that film all over the place.” Similar to Alexander, Del Prete has developed a special bond for West Ham. “Green Street is honestly my favourite film,” she says. “We had so much fun making it. The cast was fun to work with and I knew almost straightaway we had something special. A year hasn’t gone by where I haven’t been asked about Green Street. College kids in America love that film and that’s where a lot of our fans came from. “Now I have a deep emotional attachment to West Ham. I didn’t know much about soccer until that film. Now if a game is on I won’t watch it unless it’s West Ham. Right now, somewhere in the world, someone is watching Green Street; a film I played an important role in. That to me is the best feeling.” The 4th Official West Ham United Are Showing Interest In This Porto Full-Back: What Will He Add To Moyes’ Side? In a recent report, O Jogo stated that West Ham United are showing interest in Porto full-back Zaidu Sanusi. It has been mentioned that the Hammers are eyeing a move to acquire the services of the Nigerian defender. Zaidu’s Impressive Form In Portuguese Football Zaidu has managed to produce a few decent displays on the left side of Porto’s defence. The 26-year-old has made six appearances for the Portuguese outfit this season, scoring one goal in the process across all competitions. The Nigerian sensation has been a reliable performer on the left flank based on his average of 1.0 tackles, 1.0 interceptions, 0.7 clearances, 1.7 key passes and 1.0 dribbles per 90 minutes in Liga Portugal. However, he has lacked quality when distributing possession from the wide areas based on his pass success rate of 64.9% in the top tier of Portuguese football (stats via whoscored). His current contract at the Portuguese club will run out in the summer of 2027. Thus, West Ham will have to make a sizable offer if they are serious about recruiting the Porto talent next year. What Will Zaidu Add To West Ham United Boss David Moyes’ Side? Zaidu is a good tackler of the ball and can time his challenges well to secure the ball back for his team inside his half. He doesn’t mind clearing his lines when required and has got the eye to play a few decisive passes from the left wing. The Nigerian left-back is a decent dribbler with the ball as well. However, he has to find a way to improve his ball distribution if he wants to taste success at the highest level. We can expect Zaidu to add more quality and depth to West Ham United boss David Moyes’ squad. He has what it takes to challenge for a regular starting spot at the London Stadium. However, the East London club should only move in for him if they are planning to play him regularly in the coming seasons. At 26, Zaidu is about to enter his prime soon which makes him a worthy target for the Hammers to pursue this January or at the end of this campaign. However, only time will tell whether he can make a smooth transition to life in Premier League football."

[Texas Iron]

Cheers…

[Heavi995]

Cheers Alan. Green st? Fucking yank gash

[Thanks Alan]

Thanks Alan