Brentford are reportedly ready to drop their asking price for Ivan Toney to below £50 million ($65m) due to a lack of interest in the striker.
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Manchester City have a healthy number of Portuguese players in their squad such as Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias.
As the Manchester club have already got one deal agreed in the form of Erling Haaland, it seems as though the Citizens have their eye on adding another Portuguese star to their ranks this summer.
According to a recent report from A Bola (via Sport Witness), City are top of the list to sign Sporting CP midfielder Matheus Nunes this summer.
That’s because the player is only willing to leave for ‘a club who will fight for domestic and European titles.’
The midfielder joined Sporting’s U23 side back in the 2019 January transfer window from fellow Portuguese club Estoril.
Since then, the 23-year-old has gone on to make a total of 131 appearances for his current club for their senior and U23 side across all competitions.
In those appearances, the Portugal international has scored ten goals and provided 11 assists in the process.
Nunes is more than just an attacking threat, however, as he has totalled 30 interceptions and 25 tackles, highlighting how much of a tough opponent he can be without the ball.
The Manchester club got a good glimpse of what the midfielder can do when he played the full 90 minutes in the 5-0 Champions League clash between the two sides back in February.
After that game, City boss Pep Guardiola labelled Nunes as “one of the best players in the world today,” which is certainly a big compliment.
This also demonstrates just how much the 51-year-old would love to have the Sporting star in his squad for the future.
With current City midfielder Fernandinho set to wave goodbye to the club at the end of this season, adding a young talent like Nunes to their ranks could be just what they need to replace the Brazilian and keep their squad fresh.
Having a reported price tag of €40m (£34m) on him, Nunes could well go on to fit in perfectly with City’s squad and learn from their current Portuguese talents.
Transfer insider Dean Jones says that Newcastle United will now ‘listen to offers’ for Allan Saint-Maximin in the summer.
Saint-Maximin has been linked with a big-money move away from St. James’ Park this summer, with Aston Villa thought to be one of the clubs interested in his signature.
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With just five goals and four assists so far this season (Transfermarkt), perhaps we have not seen the best of him, and so he could be sold in order to help fund a mega spending spree which could comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones has shared that the North East club will now ‘listen to offers’ for Saint-Maximin, claiming that he ‘didn’t help himself’ by asking for a new deal earlier this season:
“Saint-Maximin didn’t help himself by asking for a new contract at a time where he probably didn’t need one or maybe deserve one. From what I understand, Newcastle will listen to offers for Saint-Maximin in the summer.”
The Tyneside outfit should only be looking to sell Saint-Maximin for the right price.
Dubbed a ‘top-class’ player by Kevin Phillips, his influence on the team is still unquestionable, as he currently ranks as their second-best performer in the Premier League overall, and top in terms of assists, shots and dribbles per game (WhoScored).
However, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) Public Investment Fund (PIF) may want to aim even higher in the market now that they have secured their Premier League safety, and so Saint-Maximin could be sold to help balance the books for FFP.
In other news, find out which ‘absolute beast’ NUFC are now eyeing this summer here!
England cricketer Shoaib Bashir used Cole Palmer's signature 'cold' celebration after he scalped West Indies' Alick Athanaze's wicket.
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Tom Kohler-Cadmore hits unbeaten 76, Dom Sibley continues excellent summer with polished 64
ECB Reporters Network04-Aug-2019Birmingham Bears snatched a tie from the jaws of defeat against Yorkshire at Headingley, a result which realistically suits neither side in the Vitality Blast.Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit 76 not out off 54 balls and was looking like underpinning Yorkshire’s pursuit of 178, especially having shared 88 inside 10 overs for the first wicket with Adam Lyth, who reached 40.But the Bears fought back to leave the Vikings needing 29 off three overs, 23 off two, 11 off the last and two off the last ball, which Kohler-Cadmore hit to mid-off for a single against Fidel Edwards.Both sides finished on 177 for four, with Bears opener Dom Sibley earlier continuing his excellent summer with a polished 64. Sibley’s 43-ball innings was the feature for the Bears after the visitors had been invited to bat. It was his first Blast innings of 2019 and included seven fours and two sixes.While Yorkshire have now only won one from seven games in the North, Birmingham have won two from six. Both remain outside the North Group’s top four places.Rain delayed the start by 40 minutes, until 3.10pm, and opener Sibley shared 37 and 62 for the first and second wickets with Michael Burgess and Sam Hain.Sibley hit sixes over long-leg off David Willey and over long-on off Dom Bess’ off-spin on the way to his third fifty against Yorkshire in all formats this season. The 23-year-old England Lion had come into the Birmingham side in place of out of form Ed Pollock and continued the form which has had him discussed as a potential Ashes opener.Once both Sibley and Hain had departed (99 for 2 after 13 overs and 137 for 4 in the 18th), middle order pair Will Rhodes and Liam Banks boosted the total significantly. Both hit two fours and a leg-side six apiece, with Rhodes not out on 22 off 13 balls and Banks 24 off 10. The last 17 balls of the innings yielded 40 runs.Only Willey went at less than eight runs an over for the hosts. Former South Africa fast bowler Duanne Olivier claimed two wickets but was expensive in three overs.Lyth then got the Vikings chase up and running by hitting the lion’s share of 20 off the second over from Fidel Edwards, pulling a six over deep square-leg to take the score to 26 without loss.Kohler-Cadmore, assuming captaincy duties from Steve Patterson after the seamer had left himself out in favour of a second spinner in youngster Jack Shutt, then took on the lead role as the hosts reached 50 in the fifth. He top-edged Henry Brookes for six over fine-leg before Lyth caught him up on 40 in the ninth over (87 without loss).Lyth was then stumped off Jeetan Patel’s off-spin in the next over before Kohler-Cadmore reached 50 off 34 balls and maintained the momentum alongside Willey, who hit three leg-side sixes in a quick-fire 30 off 15 balls. He pulled West Indian quick Edwards over the ropes twice in the 13th over before falling to Alex Thomson’s off-spin – 131 for two in the 14th.Brookes then had Gary Ballance caught at cover before Patel bowled Harry Brook scooping as the Bears fought back well, leaving the score at 151 for 4 in the 18th.But Kohler-Cadmore pulled Brookes for six with last ball of the 19th before Jonny Tattersall scooped the first ball of the last over for four off Edwards, who recovered to seal a point.
The two best teams in the competition have very few weaknesses and both sides may need to be bold in trying to exploit any weak link
Alex Malcolm29-Jan-2021Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers are unequivocally the two best BBL teams and Saturday night’s Qualifier looms as a mouth-watering clash.It also has huge ramifications in the title race. The teams split their two meetings this season based on where they were played. The Scorchers thumped the Sixers in Perth, but the Sixers provided an emphatic response in their second meeting at Manuka Oval. The Qualifier will be played at Manuka Oval but the winner will gain direct entry to the BBL final and will also get to host it. The reward for winning is massive.After a 14-game regular season, there is plenty of evidence as to how the two teams are likely to line up, but these are three key areas that could decide the contest with views from the BBL’s player acquisition and cricket consultant Trent Woodhill.New-ball Powerplays vitalThe game could well be decided in the two Powerplays. Jhye Richardson and Jason Behrendorff have been arguably the best new-ball pairing in the competition with Richardson claiming the most wickets in this year’s BBL. Jackson Bird has 19 Powerplay wickets in BBL history – just one behind leader Josh Lalor – and Steve O’Keefe has been straggling teams and Ben Dwarshuis was Player of the Match in the win over the Melbourne Stars thanks to his Powerplay exploits.Both sides have explosive Powerplay batting with Josh Philippe and James Vince looming large for the Sixers while Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, and Colin Munro have been setting games up for the Scorchers.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
“I think it’s whoever bowls the best, not so much in the Surge, I reckon it’s actually the Powerplay,” Woodhill said.”If Richardson has a day out and gets through Philippe and Vince then it brings Hughes and Henriques in early. But the same can be said about Ben Dwarshuis, if he deals with the threat of that top four from Perth.”Behrendorff may be the big threat for Philippe. Left-arm pace is his significant weakness, averaging just 19.66 against it and striking at 104.42. Behrendorff knocked him over for 5 in Perth. Three of Philippe’s five dismissals for single-figure scores in this BBL have been against left-arm seamers with Sam Rainbird dismissing him in the last game against the Stars in the first over while James Faulkner trapped Philippe lbw for 1 in the first game of the season.Related
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Targeting the weak linksBoth sides have extraordinary depth but both teams have areas that can be exploited. The Sixers have proven as a batting unit they can win games after batting collapses. But against the Scorchers they may not get the same breathing room to rebuild as they have against other bowling attacks and may need to target a bowler.”Where they’re [both] good, there’s no weakness,” Woodhill said. “You look as a batting unit, who are you going to target, who is the fifth bowler. For Sydney, they will target Aaron Hardie, and depending on the surface, they might have to target Fawad Ahmed as well. AJ Tye, Behrendorff, and Richardson are tough.”Hardie and Tye were collared by the Sixers in the win at Manuka and Hardie was also targeted by the Melbourne Stars at the MCG. That’s forced Scorchers captain Ashton Turner to get creative without the ability to turn to Mitchell Marsh as a sixth bowl. Livingstone has bowled overs in three of the last four games for the Scorchers and could be called upon again. Turner may be reluctant to use himself with only one left-hander to bowl at.Jordan Silk’s form has been a crucial part of the Sixers’ ability to fight back•Getty Images
“Does the Perth team target Jackson Bird?” Woodhill said. “Or do they target another spinner?”The Scorchers did all three in the match in Canberra with Livingstone, Roy, and Munro clubbing nine fours and five sixes off Bird, O’Keefe, and Lloyd Pope but ran aground in the second half of the innings as the surface slowed up and Carlos Brathwaite, Dan Christian, and Jake Ball tied them down with slower balls.Will the X-Factor be used at all?</bThe Scorchers have hardly used the X-Factor all year trusting their first-choice XI to do the job for most of the year. They have only used 15 players in total and subbed Kurtis Patterson for his only game when Marsh injured his side.The Sixers may use their sub as they wrestle with the balance of their attack. The return of Dwarshuis and Sean Abbott saw them use Jake Ball as the sub in the last game against the Stars. They have also played Pope in both matches against the Scorchers with them having five right-handers in the top six and all of those, bar Josh Inglis, having a perceived weakness against legspin."The Sixers might bowl Jackson Bird upfront and then bring Pope in," Woodhill said. "Jackson's job is to bowl over No.1, hit the top of off. He's got more powerplay wickets than anyone in the competition. He might look to come in and take a wicket and then pull him if he's not successful."Do they stick with Jake Ball at the death or do they make him an X-Factor and play both Pope and Bird? That's the challenge. It's a cracker. I'm really excited. I can't split those two teams."
Bayern Munich's Matthijs de Ligt is keen on a reunion with Erik ten Hag, however, Manchester United are reportedly holding up the deal.
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If Danny Röhl did not know he had a big job on his hands already at Rangers, he certainly knows that now.
On Thursday night, the Glasgow outfit were swatted aside 2-0 by Roma at Ibrox, the club’s seventh successive European defeat, leaving them rock bottom of the gigantic Europa League table, still yet to get off the mark.
Having also been beaten by Brann and then Celtic in Sunday’s League Cup semi-finals, Röhl has become the first ever permanent Rangers manager to taste as many as three defeats across his first five games in charge.
In his press conference after the game, the German insisted that this job was not bigger than he first thought but, even though he currently has the fans onside, this can quickly turn, as Russell Martin found out, lasting only 17 games in the Ibrox hot seat.
So, with a game against Dundee at Dens Park next up for the Light Blues on Sunday, which regular starter should be on borrowed time, as Röhl targets an upturn in both performances and results?
Earlier this year, 49ers Enterprises completed their takeover of Rangers, which was supposed to commence a new era of success on Glasgow’s south side.
Well, they inarguably got the appointment of manager Russell Martin wrong, while a huge amount of money was spent in the summer, albeit not very well, as the table below documents.
|
Rangers summer arrivals and departures |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Arrivals |
||
|
Players |
Former club |
Fee |
|
Lyall Cameron |
Dundee |
Compensation |
|
Joe Rothwell |
Bournemouth |
£400k |
|
Emmanuel Fernandez |
Peterborough |
£3.5m |
|
Thelo Aasgaard |
Luton Town |
£3.5m |
|
Nasser Djiga |
Wolves |
Loan |
|
Djeidi Gassama |
Sheff Wednesday |
£2.2m |
|
Mikey Moore |
Tottenham |
Loan |
|
Oliver Antman |
Go Ahead Eagles |
£3m |
|
Jayden Meghoma |
Brentford |
Loan |
|
Bojan Miovski |
Girona |
£2.6m |
|
Youssef Chermiti |
Everton |
£8m |
|
Derek Cornelius |
Marseille |
Loan |
|
Selected Departures |
||
|
Cyriel Dessers |
Panathinaikos |
£3.5m |
|
Hamza Igamane |
Lille |
£10.5m |
|
Rıdvan Yılmaz |
Beşiktaş |
£2m |
|
Jefté |
Palmeiras |
£6m |
|
Robin Pröpper |
Twente |
£1.5m |
|
Václav Černý |
Beşiktaş |
End of loan |
|
All info via Transfermarkt |
||
As the table documents, Rangers spent over £23m in the summer, while recouping a similar amount, all of which has made the squad substantially worse.
£8m, potentially rising to £10m in add-ons, was splashed to bring in Youssef Chermiti from Everton, who has scored just one goal for the club to date, replacing Hamza Igamane who departed for Lille for a similar amount, but has been on fire in Northern France, netting seven times for les Dogues already.
Similarly, Bojan Miovski has so far been a sub-par replacement for last season’s top-scorer Cyriel Dessers, who netted 29 times across all competitions, while star attacker Václav Černý simply has not been replaced, with teenager Jayden Meghoma appearing out of his depth, which isn’t ideal considering both senior left-backs Jefté and Rıdvan Yılmaz were sold.
Speaking on TNT Sports after Thursday’s defeat to Roma, Rangers legend Ally McCoist asserted that it will take at least three transfer windows to fix Rangers current predicament, asserting that he hopes the board back Röhl, noting that recruitment has to be a concern, given what sporting director Kevin Thelwell has delivered so far.
For now, Röhl has to work with the players in his squad and is under pressure to deliver results, so which of the summer recruits is on borrowed time?
They say first impressions are the most important, which is not ideal for Nasser Djiga.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
After arriving on a season-long loan from Wolves, aforementioned sporting director Thelwell backed the new defender to “flourish”.
Well, the Burkinabé international marked his home Premiership debut by being sent off against Dundee during a dismal 1-1 draw at Ibrox.
Nevertheless, mistakes happen and the 22-year-old former Crvena zvezda defender is only young, we’re sure he will learn.
Well, ten days later, Djiga’s catastrophic error presented Romeo Vermant with the opening goal just three minutes into the Champions League play-off tie, a two-legged affair Club Brugge would go onto win 9-1.
As a result, Djiga then spent a few weeks left in reserve, but has started the last three matches, with Röhl switching to a back three, seeking extra defensive solidity.
Nevertheless, Graham Falk of the Scotsman was not impressed with his performance against Roma, labelling the centre-back ‘unconvincing’, adding that he ‘completely lost his man’ for the corner from which Roma opened the scoring, concluding that he is one of many ‘poor summer signings’,
Mark Atkinson of the Scotsman meantime documented his ‘really difficult’ afternoon for the defender against Celtic at Hampden last Sunday, while Gazzetta dello Sport described him as the ‘worst’ player on the pitch after that game.
Against Roma, Djiga started in the back three alongside captain James Tavernier and John Souttar, meaning Derek Cornelius and Emmanuel Fernandez, who has made just three appearances for the club to date, were left in reserve.
Thus, even if he does stick with this back three shape, Röhl does have alternative options to the ticking time bomb of defensive errors that is Djiga.
Fernandez, who has played just one minute since August, and Cornelius, who has been generally impressive, are surely better options, starting at Dens on Sunday, facing the side Djiga has already been sent off against, so the Wolves loanee must improve if he’s to remain in the first-choice XI.
Fewer touches than Butland: Rohl must axe Rangers man who lost the ball 11x
Rangers have now lost four out of four in the Europa League, and Danny Röhl must drop the flop who lost the ball 11 times against Roma on Thursday.
By
Ben Gray
Nov 7, 2025
Former Manchester United keeper Tim Howard believes he could convince ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp to replace Gregg Berhalter as USMNT manager.
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Liam Hatcher and Nic Maddinson twice turned things around in the field for the Stars who were then left a tough six-over target
Andrew McGlashan16-Dec-2020Rain in Launceston meant the first abandoned game of the BBL season as the points were shared between Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Stars.The Stars will probably have been the happier with that: having been set a demanding 76 in six overs in an adjusted chase, they had lost Marcus Stoinis lbw the ball before the rain returned to end the game.The Scorchers’ innings was halted at 17 overs and they had been hauled back by the Stars attack after a stand of 70 in five overs between Colin Munro and Ashton Turner and put then on track to push 200.Hatching a planSpeaking to the television coverage, Glenn Maxwell said he had hoped to use a lot of spin in the first half of the innings but he had to adjust things when Tom O’Connell – who would be subbed out at the 10-over mark in favour of Ben Dunk – and Clint Hinchliffe went for 32 between them in the space of two overs. Liam Hatcher was brought on before Maxwell really wanted, but made an immediate impression when he had Joe Clarke – who had sped to 34 off 16 balls after being missed on 9 – caught behind, then trapped Mitchell Marsh lbw first ball. However, replays showed the Marsh lbw was missing leg stump which reignited the lack-of-DRS-debate, with Adam Gilchrist being especially vocal on Twitter.Turning it onTurner averaged 12.28 from seven innings in last year’s BBL and has drifted well down the Australia reckoning but he remains a very fine middle-order limited-overs batman. In the space of seven balls against Maxwell and Hilton Cartwright he struck five sixes, with the latter’s over costing 23 and the Stars may have regretted subbing out a bowler in O’Connell. However, the innings was turned around by Nic Maddinson’s occasional left-arm spin as he had Turner caught behind off a pull – a juggling catch for Stars debutant Nicholas Pooran – and then Munro picked out deep midwicket. In between an over from Nathan Coulter-Nile cost just seven and when Billy Stanlake removed Aaron Hardie the innings was threatening to subside.Chase on, chase offAfter a lengthy delay the rain briefly cleared enough for a six-over chase which left plenty of people checking the playing conditions about what would happen to the Bash Boost (the answer was that the point was shared). In the end it didn’t matter: the weather only allowed seven balls, with the only real impact being on Stoinis’ average when he was beaten for pace by Jhye Richardson.