Luis Diaz rejected rumours about leaving Anfield this summer amid interest from Al-Nassr and Barcelona.
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Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta is currently waiting to find out a player’s feelings about joining the club this summer, following Gunners talks with him in January, and it is even believed he visited the Emirates Stadium that month.
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As per GiveMeSport, Berta and the Arsenal recruitment team could splash up to £300 million on seven new arrivals, including a new “second-choice goalkeeper, left-back, defensive midfielder, left-winger and striker”, with the north Londoners also pondering an alternative for Bukayo Saka.
While supporters will be eager to see Berta finally bring the club’s long wait for a prolific striker to an end, the need for a centre-midfielder will be prevalent, as Mikel Arteta is set to be minus two solid options in the middle of the park.
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Thomas Partey and Jorginho will leave upon the expiry of their contracts on June 30th as things stand, leading to Arsenal’s talks over a deal for Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi.
The Spain international is apparently “very likely” to join Arsenal and is “almost definitely” happening, according to Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth, with talkSPORT pundit Darren Bent suggesting that it is imperative for Berta to reinforce Arteta’s engine room.
“Another midfielder, a holding midfielder,” said Bent when asked what Arsenal need most this summer.
“I love Thomas Partey, I think this season his form has been brilliant but you have to look long term. There’s talk about Zubimendi, I have reservations. I know he’s a good player.
“I thought he was brilliant in the second half of the Euros final when he came on for Rodri but the Premier League is a different animal. You have to be able to run, be strong, get your foot in. But that’s an area I’d look at as well.”
There are suggestions that Arsenal could move for Newcastle United star Bruno Guimaraes as well as Zubimendi, with the Brazilian’s contract also including a release clause.
Another midfield technician they’ve been seriously interested in, with talks already held, is Rosenborg sensation Sverre Nypan.
Andrea Berta waiting on Sverre Nypan decision to join Arsenal
As per GiveMeSport and reliable journalist Ben Jacobs, Berta is waiting for Nypan’s final decision on potentially joining Arsenal.
The Norwegian, rumoured to command a price tag of £20 million, visited the Emirates in January and reliable news outlets at the time reported that Arteta’s side held winter talks with Rosenborg over a deal.
The teenager bagged eight goals and 10 assists in all competitions across the 2024 campaign for Rosenborg, even drawing comparisons with Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, but he has many other suitors – including Man City (Fabrizio Romano).
“Sverre Nypan is extremely exciting,” said Norwegian pundit Jesper Mathisen to TV2 last year.
“I get a bit of the same feeling as when I saw Martin Ødegaard break through as a boy.”
The former England batter helped the team win 19 out of 50 internationals in his tenure
ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2024
Jonathan Trott gives a pep talk before practice•ICC/Getty Images
Following a successful stint with the Afghanistan men’s cricket team, former England batter Jonathan Trott’s contract as head coach has been extended for a year. His 18-month tenure came to an end with 2023 but the ACB has chosen to keep him for 2024 as well.Afghanistan made excellent gains on the field last year, which culminated in their performance in the ODI World Cup where they beat Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and Netherlands. They were also within reach of victory over the eventual champions Australia until Glenn Maxwell played one of the greatest innings of all time.Trott spoke to ESPNcricinfo in the aftermath of that campaign where Afghanistan went in with only one win in World Cup cricket and increased that count to five by the end of the tournament. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with them so far,” he said. “It’ll be nice to be able to build on the success we had at this World Cup.”In all, Trott, who was first appointed as head coach of Afghanistan in July 2022, has helped the team to win eight out of 23 ODIs, including a maiden series win over Bangladesh, and 11 out of 26 T20Is, including a maiden series win over Pakistan.Afghanistan are currently playing a three-match T20I series against the UAE, where the scoreline is 1-1. They will then play India in a set of three T20Is in January in preparation for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the USA in June.Trott had a storied time with England, especially in Test cricket where he made 3835 runs in 52 matches, and was one of the pillars of their Ashes triumph in 2010-11. At his peak a player capable of batting long periods and constructing massive innings, Trott’s success also translated well into ODI cricket where he made 2819 runs at an average of 51 with four hundreds and 22 fifties. Towards the end of his career, though, the intensity of his game took a toll on him and he needed a break from cricket in 2013-14. Trott eventually retired from England duty in 2015. The Afghanistan job was his first time as head coach of a senior men’s team in international cricket.
Tottenham Hotspur are now closely monitoring two Premier League players ahead of the summer transfer window, with a “sensational” £60m midfielder on their radar, according to a report.
Tottenham’s season has undoubtedly been hampered by the scale of the injury crisis in N17, and Ange Postecoglou bemoaned the number of players currently sidelined in the wake of his side exiting the EFL Cup at the hands of Liverpool.
“Vicario, Romero, Destiny, Van de Ven, Solanke, Odobert… I could go on and on. We had 10 senior players missing. If you take seven or eight key players from any team and you’re playing the best team in the league at the best, I don’t think you make judgements in these moments.”
After crashing out of the EFL Cup as a result of the 4-0 drubbing at Anfield, Postecoglou is undoubtedly under increasing pressure, with recent performances not good enough, regardless of the number of players currently on the sidelines.
However, the Australian continues to work on potential signings for the summer, with the injuries this season perhaps indicating the manager needs a bigger squad to work with if he is going to continue to play such an intense style of football.
According to reports from Spain, Tottenham are now closely monitoring two Premier League players for the end of the season, namely Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Southampton’s Tyler Dibling.
The English duo have attracted Spurs’ attention after putting in some impressive performances for their respective clubs, with Dibling enjoying a breakout season at St Mary’s, despite the fact his side are at serious risk of relegation.
The report claims the Lilywhites are looking to sign young players for the future, rather than focusing on big-name signings, and the Premier League duo fit the bill in that regard, with Dibling just 18, while Wharton – valued at £60m in the summer – is 21.
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It is no wonder Tottenham are looking to sign the talented English youngsters given that they have been in good form this season, with Dibling solidifying his place in the Southampton first team, picking up four goals and two assists in all competitions.
Crystal Palace star Wharton has been impressing for quite some time now, receiving a call-up to the England squad for Euro 2024, and he has been the subject of high praise from members of the media.
Dibling and Wharton are showing signs of great promise, so it is exciting news Tottenham are in the running for their signatures, although it may be difficult to lure them to north London if they fail to qualify for Europe next season, which is looking increasingly likely.
Allrounder Bas de Leede says the team has set themselves a high target at their first ODI World Cup since 2011
Shashank Kishore05-Oct-20232:33
Bas de Leede: ‘Us being here is massive for the sport back home’
Netherlands allrounder Bas de Leede is clear about his team’s targets at the World Cup.For starters, they aren’t thinking of themselves as Associates. They want to play as equals with the big boys. For de Leede, there’s no bigger motivation than that.”We want to make the semi-finals,” he announced ahead of their first game against Pakistan in Hyderabad. It may seem a fanciful dream to many, considering Netherlands haven’t played an ODI since the World Cup Qualifiers in June.They arrived in India late September for two warm-up games against Karnataka, and the nature of pitches proved a challenge. In the first game, they slumped to 3 for 8, before making 114 in pursuit of 266. In the second, they made 295 and lost by one wicket.Netherlands had both their World Cup warm-ups against Australia and India washed out; and Mitchell Starc blew away their top order in the little play that was possible. It was a reminder of what they can expect when they face Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.Related
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Several first-choice players had missed Netherlands’ glorious run at the World Cup Qualifiers to honour their English county contracts. De Leede was among those who made it to Zimbabwe thanks to Durham making letting him go play.”We obviously don’t get to play together as a team very often because guys are spread out,” he said. “But I think the learnings we can take from Karnataka was, first of all, it was nice to play together as a team and try and adapt to Indian conditions.”Obviously, it’s one thing training in Indian conditions, but then another thing going out and playing and seeing what it’s like in a game. Then you know lack of game time. It was a shame that the warm-up games got rained off. But I think in the nets, we try and replicate game scenarios and try and be as competitive as we can when bowling to each other, when facing each other.”Does the prospect of playing Full Member teams seem intimidating? Not quite. De Leede spoke of how Netherlands ran Pakistan close over three ODIs in Rotterdam last August.In the first match of that series, Netherlands nearly chased down Pakistan’s 314 but fell 16 short. In the third ODI, having restricted Pakistan to 206, they were 108 for 3 before collapsing to lose by nine runs.Bas de Leede played an important role in Netherlands qualifying for the World Cup•Albert Perez/ICC/Getty Images
“I think the experience of the whole Super League, having played against bigger nations, was fantastic for us,” de Leede said. “And obviously, Pakistan, having played them last year in Rotterdam in three ODIs, it’ll be nice to sort of be familiar with the team and the players and stuff, having played them before.”I think that will help us a little bit. But obviously, you know, they’ve evolved. They’ve gotten better. They’ve got different skills now as well, even with Shaheen [Afridi] coming back, who didn’t play that series.”Twice during the press conference, de Leede was asked to be “realistic” in terms of setting expectations.”We want to make the semi-finals,” he said both times. “If we want to get there, we’ve got to win four or five games. So, we’d have to take down one of the big teams. But that’s (semi-finals) our main target. And if we get there, we play our best cricket. Amazing. But if we play our best cricket and we don’t get there, I reckon we can still be proud of ourselves.”How will they approach their quest to make the final four? Play with a nothing-to-lose approach or set high goals and try to get there?”I think probably a mixture of both,” he said. “I don’t think any of the teams have got anything to lose. They’ve got something to gain, which is winning the World Cup. I think for us, obviously it’s special being back for the first time since 2011, but we’ve set our goal high which is making the semi-final. I don’t think if we don’t make it, we’re a failure or anything like that.”I think if we don’t make it, but we have played our best cricket, we can still be proud of ourselves. But by setting the goal to make the semi-final, I think we can probably do more than what people expect from us.”
Dejan Kulusevski shared his thoughts on Tottenham's transfer activity after the team's latest defeat to Nottingham Forest.
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On-field umpires will no longer be required to give a “soft signal” while referring contentious catches to the TV umpire, according to the revised ICC playing conditions that will come into effect from June 1, 2023.The on-field umpires will now simply consult with the TV umpire before a final decision regarding a referred catch is made, without any soft signal having been made. The change was recommended by the ICC’s Men’s Cricket Committee, endorsed by the Women’s Cricket Committee, and ratified by the ICC’s Chief Executives Committee.While the soft signal was scrapped by the IPL in 2021, it continued to be used in international cricket, and the TV umpire had to find conclusive evidence of a catch being clean or not to overturn the soft signal, irrespective of whether the on-field umpires had a clear line of sight to the catch while making the soft signal.”The committee deliberated this at length and concluded that soft signals were unnecessary and at times confusing since referrals of catches may seem inconclusive in replays,” Sourav Ganguly, the head of the Men’s Cricket Committee, said.There was brief confusion about the Free Hit rule with the ICC saying a “minor addition” had been made to it. That tweak deemed that runs scored off a free hit when the batter is bowled would count as runs towards the batter, as opposed to byes. The most high-profile recent incident was in the last over of India’s epic win against Pakistan at the MCG in the T20 World Cup last year. Kohli was bowled by Mohammad Nawaz off the free hit, but as the ball went to deep third, the batters picked up three runs.Soon after the release, however, the governing body clarified that was not the case and that the rule, when a batter is bowled, remains the same: runs scored after a batter is bowled off a free hit will continue to be categorised as extras and will not be credited to the batter.In the revised playing conditions, the ICC also made it mandatory for players in “high-risk” positions to wear helmets. This includes batters facing fast bowlers, wicketkeepers standing up to the stumps, and fielders standing close to batters in front of the wicket.
Glasgow Rangers and new Ibrox owners 49ers Enterprises have reached an agreement to sell a Gers player without the approval of new manager Russell Martin.
Aarons completes Ibrox medical and set to join Rangers
The Gers have already made midfielder Lyall Cameron the first official signing of the summer at Ibrox, however, the 49ers and Martin are after more before the Champions League qualifier against Panathinaikos and their Scottish Premiership opener at Motherwell.
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Martin admitted he is “excited” at the players Rangers are targeting and is hoping for a “few” to arrive over the coming weeks.
One of those looks set to be Max Aarons, with the right-back on course to arrive on a straight loan deal from Bournemouth. The defender has even been pictured at Ibrox and has already completed a medical.
With Aarons set to sign, it could be a case of one defender in and one out at Ibrox going off a recent update.
Rangers reach agreement to sell Gers defender Robin Propper
According to reports relayed by Sport Witness, Rangers have reached an agreement in principle to sell Robin Propper for €1.5m (£1.27m) to FC Twente.
A deal is yet to be complete, though, ‘due to the recent changes within the technical staff of Rangers’, meaning Martin has yet to give the green light to an exit.
The report adds that ‘a meeting between Propper and the new head coach is planned soon and will be decisive for the further course of the transfer’.
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FC Twente’s manager, Joseph Oosting, has publicly spoken out over a transfer for Propper, saying “I have been in contact with him via the app. We would like to have Robin. Will he come? That is the question.”
Oosting added to another Dutch outlet: “We have been in contact, I hope he returns. No point of discussion. I assume that it will work out. But in football you can never be sure of such things.”
Should a £1.27m deal go through, Rangers will be making a slight loss after spending £1.5m on Propper just 12 months ago.
On the eve of a T20 World Cup, England allrounder knows it’s ok to put herself first
Valkerie Baynes10-Feb-2023Success looks a little bit different for Nat Sciver-Brunt these days.If she learned anything from taking time out of the game last year to care for her mental health and wellbeing, it was how to become – selfish is too strong – willing to put herself first.In fact, many lessons came from that time, including how to develop strategies to ensure she doesn’t reach “boiling point” again. But as she prepares to take England into a T20 World Cup campaign as Heather Knight’s deputy and her country’s most influential player of the previous, turbulent year, the consummate team-player knows she has to take care of herself.Sciver-Brunt enjoyed a successful return from her three-month absence to be England’s leading run-scorer on their combined ODI-T20I tour of West Indies and Player of the Series in the 50-over format. After a conversation with Knight following that tour, Sciver-Brunt decided she was ready to resume the vice-captaincy duties she had kept on hold initially when she made her playing comeback. After a half-century as England beat hosts South Africa in an official warm-up game ahead of the World Cup (she didn’t bat or bowl during a five-wicket win against New Zealand on Wednesday), all is going well so far.”Taking myself out, it’s not really a thing that I’ve had to do previously in my career,” Sciver-Brunt told ESPNcricinfo after the second warm-up game at Western Province Cricket Club in Cape Town. “I’d always try and give my everything to the team and for us to win, to the group, so actually taking the time to think am I going to be okay with it? Is it going to affect my performance, that was really what I wanted to try and figure out and I was happy that I was in a place where it wouldn’t.”I didn’t know how it was going to go. Before the tour I didn’t want my expectations to be that I want to make a score in every game or I want to take wickets. It was more about me feeling comfortable on the pitch and able to contribute in that way, not skill-wise or numbers or anything but yeah, was I able to be part of the group and enjoy myself. So success looked a bit different.”Success does look different now. Obviously you want to win and you want to perform for your team and everything like that but being okay for myself was more important.”Related
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Sciver-Brunt admits that the desire to always do her bit for the team had made stepping away for herself very difficult. But in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bio-secure bubble touring that followed – an away Ashes campaign, an ODI World Cup (where she was key to England’s runner-up finish) and a home Commonwealth Games – she felt she had little choice but to stop. Speaking to the England Women’s team doctor, though, gave her reassurance.”It was a weird place,” she reflected. “I’d not really felt like that at all in my life before. Normally I don’t want to miss anything, I don’t want to let anyone down. I don’t want to not be there for everyone. And so realising that allowing myself to leave or take myself out of it was the hardest thing to get over because I’ve never really gotten to that point before or felt like that at all.”Once I did go home, it just felt like it was the right thing. I might have got home and thought, ‘I feel fine, I should go back,’ but taking myself out of it and getting home, then I knew that it was definitely the right thing to do. Allowing myself to take myself out, it was a weird thing because in our team that’s not really happened before and I don’t like to miss things. I want to do absolutely everything that we need to do in order to play, so my mentality is not usually, ‘this isn’t right, I need to step back.'”Someone else who knew things weren’t right was her wife and team-mate, Katherine Sciver-Brunt.”Because I’m such a sort of steady character, Katherine can tell when I’m not right as well,” Sciver-Brunt says. “So she sort of knew that I wasn’t okay. Having that person there who, almost she knows me better than I know myself, was good to have, someone there, like, batting for you, basically.”The couple recently switched to using their married name ‘Sciver-Brunt’•Getty ImagesThe couple recently switched to using their married name while playing and will wear shirts to reflect that for the first time while in South Africa.”Everyone already knows we’re married so it’s not like, ‘oh, hi, it’s obvious now’, but it’s something nice to represent us both on the pitch,” Sciver-Brunt says. “And yeah, having a bit of Brunt in my bowling is definitely a good thing!”Katherine, who turns 38 in July, was rested during India’s tour of England late last summer and she wasn’t part of the ODI squad in the Caribbean, but she returned for the T20I part of that tour and is now primed for what could well be her last World Cup.Katherine was part of the England side which won the T20 crown in 2009 and finished runners-up to Australia in 2012, while Sciver-Brunt has twice played in losing finals against Australia, in 2014 and 2018. Sciver-Brunt also scored a gallant 148 not out as England lost the ODI World Cup final to Australia last year. But one result sticking in England’s craw in the lead-up to this event is their washed-out semi-final at the last T20 World Cup in Australia, where India advanced as group winners instead and lost to the hosts in the decider.So when Sciver-Brunt says through clenched teeth and raised eyebrows, “I don’t want to be runner-up anymore” it doesn’t sound like a predictable, throw-away line uttered by an athlete on the eve of a tournament. It sounds and looks like a pledge. And again, when she says: “I’d like to be in the final.””Especially in T20, we always seem to sort of do well and then get to the end and something happens, rain, or we don’t play as we have been playing,” she says. “There’s a lot of us who have experienced those tournaments who are, ‘right, I just don’t want to it do anymore’. We must go for it!'”As a team, we are in a really good place and I think the way that we want to play, as long as we’re able to put that into practice on the pitch and do it against the best teams, I think we’re in a really good spot to make the knockout stages. We say in tournaments you don’t want to think too far ahead and try and keep the next game in your mind as much as possible so I guess that’s what we’ll do. I think I once the tournament starts, it’ll go so quickly that all you can focus on is the next match. But at the moment, I’d like to be in the final.”
The payments will be completed within a day, a Rajshahi official assured BCB chief Faruque Ahmed
Mohammad Isam16-Jan-2025
Durbar Rajshahi’s players boycotted training on Wednesday•Durbar Rajshahi
Durbar Rajshahi have promised to pay their local players on Thursday, a day after the players boycotted training in Chattogram to protest the non-payment of fees by the franchise. Jayed Ahmed, the operations in-charge of Rajshahi, said in a late-night video statement on Wednesday that they spoke with BCB president Faruque Ahmed and assured him that the unpaid dues would be cleared.Bangladesh Premier League franchises are supposed to pay 50% of a player’s total payment before the start of the tournament, 25% during the tournament and the rest of the 25% after the tournament is over. Rajshahi however didn’t pay the local players their first installment even two weeks into the tournament, which began on December 30.After the players’ demonstration, BCB chief Faruque held a meeting with his board of directors. He also spoke to the Rajshahi owner Shafique Rahman, captain Anamul Haque and other cricketers.Related
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“There’s no doubt that they will receive payment on January 16,” Jayed said. “We express regret at not being able to make the payments on time. There’s no denying the fact. This shouldn’t have happened. The management has decided to pay 25% payment in cash. We will pay another 25% in checks.”Our owner spoke to the BCB president on the phone. I met him in person. We had a cordial conversation. He wanted to understand the situation. We expressed our regret for the payment delay. We promised him that we will make the payments tomorrow.”Jayed said some of the cheques bounced because the bank couldn’t clear the payment without confirming with Shafique on the phone.”You will remember that the day our owner’s wife went to the ground, she got hit by a ball, she suffered a fracture. She was taken to Bangkok for treatment. Our owner was with her. We had given the cheque beforehand, so our owner told me to inform the players that the cheques won’t be submitted since he was not in the country.”Otherwise the bank won’t get me on the phone. We told this to all the cricketers but one or two of them submitted the check. They forgot about the owner being in Bangkok.”Rajshahi had made the 25% payment to their overseas players and coaching staff. The side will take on Khulna Tigers in their seventh game in Chattogram on January 17.