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Newcastle United will be offered three players in exchange for Alexander Isak by a huge European club this summer, according to a new transfer claim.

Newcastle sweating over Isak's future

Isak is enjoying a fantastic season for the Magpies, standing out as not only their star but also one of the best players in the Premier League currently, causing defenders nightmares with his pace, finishing and all-round game.

The 25-year-old has scored 19 league goals in 2024/25 to date, with only Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland ahead of him in the charts, which says a huge amount about the sort of company he is now in.

Isak’s blistering form is understandably seeing him being linked with a move away from Newcastle this summer, however, with some huge clubs battling to snap him up. Chelsea and Arsenal have both been mentioned as potential suitors to sign the Sweden international, while Liverpool are also reportedly pushing to sign him in a possible £148m deal.

The Magpies are understandably desperate to keep their most prized asset at St James’ Park for as long as possible, but there will be concern that he could eye a move elsewhere, feeling he could reach another level at an even bigger club.

Newcastle to be offered attacking trio in Isak swap deal

According to RMC Sport [via NUFC Blog], Paris Saint-Germain are ready to offer Marco Asensio, Goncalo Ramos and Randal Kolo Muani to Newcastle this summer, in a swap deal that allows them to sign Isak.

The bottom line is that the Magpies would surely rather retain the services of the Swede than lose him, even if it means three players heading in the opposite direction.

Granted, he hasn’t been without injury problems, so there is a tiny element of sense in cashing in on him, but he needs to be viewed as the fulcrum of Eddie Howe’s attack for the foreseeable future.

Should the worst happen and Isak move to PSG, however, Newcastle would at least be bringing in three top-quality players who have proven themselves at a high level throughout their respective careers, with the Ligue 1 champions currently paying the trio a combined £383,000 per week.

In Ramos, the Magpies could have a particularly exciting option, having been hailed by Ian Wright after a stunning hat-trick for Portugal against Switzerland at the 2022 World Cup:

“It was very impressive, he played very well, scored a hat trick and takes all the headlines and rightly so. He held the ball up brilliantly but the first goal it set the stall for him. ‘He scores a goal that he’s not meant to score (his first goal). He hits it so well, he’s not meant to score that side of the goal but that kind of set them on the road really.”

Meanwhile, Asensio is a three-time Champions League winner from his Real Madrid days, and is currently doing well on loan at Aston Villa, recently scoring a late winner against Chelsea in the Premier League.

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Kolo Muani was famously denied by Emiliano Martinez in the dying seconds of extra-time for France against Argentina in the last World Cup final, and he has five goals in as many Serie A starts on loan at Juventus this season.

Legspinner signs three-year deal after finding opportunities limited at his boyhood county

Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Jun-2023Matt Parkinson will leave Lancashire at the end of the season to join Kent on a three-year-deal.The 26-year-old legspinner has found his opportunities limited at his boyhood county, despite starting the season with a five-wicket haul in the first round of this season’s County Championship against Surrey. He then played one match on loan at Durham before returning for Lancashire’s Vitality Blast campaign.Parkinson made his Test debut last summer as a concussion substitute for Jack Leach during the Lord’s Test against New Zealand but has since fallen down the pecking order for club and country. That remains the last of 12 international caps as other spin-bowling options, such as Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks, came to the fore over the winter.Parkinson’s travails were compounded when he was overlooked for the Hundred draft, despite taking 20 wickets for Manchester Originals across the first two seasons of the men’s competition. In the end, a move suited all parties, with the emergence of finger spinner Tom Hartley at Lancashire, who also offers greater value with the bat.Nevertheless, Parkinson still boasts exceptional first-class and Twenty20 records, with 151 dismissals at an average of 25.92 and 139 at 18.96 respectively.”The time is right for me to embrace a new challenge and environment,” said Parkinson in a Kent statement. “I’m so excited that this will be at Kent.”I’m proud of my record in the game so far & I believe my best years as a leg-spin bowler are ahead of me. I’ve heard very positive things about the squad and I’m looking forward to working with Matt Walker and the other coaches.”I promise my new team-mates and the Kent supporters that I will throw myself into this new challenge and I can’t wait to get down to Canterbury to get started.”I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the Lancs members for the support they have given to me during my time at Old Trafford. I thank my teammates for their friendship and wish them the best.”Kent’s Director of Cricket, Paul Downton, said: “Everyone at Kent is really excited that Matt has decided to join the club on a long-term contract.”To have a proven match-winning leg-spinner in our ranks will be a major boost to the squad. Matt is also a feisty competitor who will bring a lot to our dressing room. We look forward to welcoming him to Canterbury.”Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s Director of Cricket Performance, said: “On behalf of everybody connected with Lancashire Cricket, I would like to thank Matt for all of his commitment and efforts since making his first-class debut in 2016, having progressed through our academy.”Matt has found first-team opportunities limited this season and we respect the decision that he has made to move on at the end of his contract, in order to seek a new challenge elsewhere. We would all like to wish Matt well for the next stage of his career at Canterbury.”It seems unlikely Parkinson will move on loan for the remainder of the season, as is usually the way with these sorts of deals. The fact Lancashire (seventh) and Kent (ninth) are separated by 20 points at the foot of Division One makes that an awkward proposition.

The Gujarat Titans captain also praised his team-mates for their match-winning performance against Lucknow Super Giants after only a day’s rest

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-2023Hardik Pandya has hailed Rashid Khan’s athletic outfield catch to dismiss Kyle Mayers that broke Lucknow Super Giants’ strong opening stand as a “match-changing” effort, after Gujarat Titans prevailed by 56 runs in Ahmedabad.Chasing 228, Mayers had powered to 48 off 31 balls in a partnership of 88 with Quinton de Kock in just 8.1 overs. Then, he top-edged a pull over square leg off a Mohit Sharma slower ball. Rashid came sprinting in, running diagonally from fine leg, then slid and dived to take the catch to his right after making a last-minute adjustment.Super Giants lost momentum after losing Mayers and scored only 33 runs between overs 9 and 14, leaving them with too much to do in the last six.Related

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Hardik said that Rashid’s catch was the game-changer at a time when his team was under pressure. “The way the game changed after that… at one point of time at the eighth or ninth over we were even-stevens but that catch just changed the momentum and we were able to squeeze in a couple of tight overs,” he said after the match. “And after that I think they were chasing the game more than us.”We started controlling the game. Before that they were taking [us] on and we had to chase the game and make sure that we don’t concede as many runs and let them get into the game. So I think that catch was match-changing.””I think we both were driving at 100 kilometers per hour as a team but I think that bump in their innings cost them the game and got us back in the game.”Hardik also praised his team-mates for producing a match-winning performance after only one day’s rest. Titans’ last game was on Friday night and their match against Super Giants was the afternoon game on Sunday.”I don’t think I can ask anything better from the boys, Hardik said. “Especially, playing after one day’s gap and playing an afternoon game, the boys showed up and how.”Mohit, who gave Titans that vital first wicket, finished with 4 for 29, his best figures in the IPL since 2014. He has 12 wickets in eight matches in IPL 2023 with an economy rate of 6.96 despite bowling many of his overs at the death.”We keep discussing how to go about it, especially once the ball gets a little old how we can mix it up,” Mohit told broadcasters after the game. “And if I get the chance with a new ball, then what can I do with it. Today it was a day game so I knew that the wicket could get a little drier and be on the slower side so how we can mix it up in those conditions, that’s the kind of stuff I discuss with Shami.”I have practiced the knuckle ball, but I have a slight injury on my fingers so it’s not holding, so I am not able to bowl the knuckle ball. But I am using back-of-the-hand deliveries. When it’s the second innings and there’s a bit of dew, I can’t pitch it up too much, I have to bowl it away from the batter. So I am trying to stay as far from the batter’s range as possible.”I keep talking with Ashu Pa [Nehra] off the field. We talk a lot about bowling, what kind of balls I can bowl to different batters. Especially how we can mix up the length ball,” Mohit said. “He keeps saying that it shouldn’t be too short. It should be around top of off.”The win against Super Giants was Titans’ eighth victory in 11 games, giving them a three-point lead over Chennai Super Kings at the top of the table.

Manchester United can make a "show of big intent" by signing Gianluigi Donnarumma, with the Italian potentially a better option than Emi Martinez.

Red Devils considering a new No.1Initially linked with World Cup winnerPSG star now very much in their sightsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The Red Devils are reported to be scouring the transfer market for a new No.1. Cameroonian shot-stopper Andre Onana has struggled to convince across two seasons at Old Trafford.

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Having initially been linked with a raid on Premier League rivals Aston Villa for World Cup winner Martinez, United are now said to be seeing a path cleared that could allow Paris Saint-Germain star Donnarumma to head for England.

WHAT BROWN SAID

Quizzed on whether Donnarumma would be the most notable addition in what has been a positive window for United, ex-Red Devils star Wes Brown – speaking on behalf of UK casinos Casino.org – told GOAL: “What a keeper. Arguably one of the best keepers in the world. He’s experienced and he’s a very big lad! He’s got the experience and with that side you would be very happy.

“The signings we have done have been very promising. I think every fan is looking forward to the start of the season now. If you were to get a 'keeper of that standard as well, it is a show of big intent and we are really going to push, not just for this season but we are taking a stance and will be there or thereabouts at the end of this season and the seasons to come.”

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Brown added when asked if Donnarumma, who is still only 26 years of age, is a better long-term option than 32-year-old Argentine Martinez: “In that sense, yeah. Martinez has been proven in the Premier League, you would have to say that. He has done great things for his country as well.

“Donnarumma, age wise, has got the experience, he’s dominant in goal. He’s not been in the Premier League yet but I’m pretty sure he has said that he wants to play in the Premier League. He wants to show what he can do everywhere. 'Keepers are a different breed. He shows the passion and wants to be able to play for a team in the Premier League. I think that would boost our squad and our team if that was Man Utd.”

The opener’s unbeaten 81 propelled New Zealand to the tournament’s highest score so far

Firdose Moonda18-Feb-2023From carding the two lowest totals at this T20 World Cup – and their own second and fourth lowest score overall – New Zealand went on to post the tournament’s highest score in their resounding comeback win over Bangladesh.They were a batting line-up transformed from the one that was shot out for 76 and then 67 thanks largely to their experienced opener, Suzie Bates, who was dismissed for two ducks in the first two matches but scored an unbeaten 81 against Bangladesh. Truth be told, she was pleased to just get one run.Related

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“I joked in the bus today about having one goal in the game and that was getting off the mark,” Bates said, laughing after the game. “So when I got off the mark on the first ball I looked up to the dugout and it was a nice feeling.”Bates spent a significant amount of time in the nets on Thursday’s optional training session, working more on the feeling of being out in the middle than her technique. “As soon as I hit the first ball, I was like ‘oh these are nice nets’. It was good pace and bounce, so that helped after two low scores,” she said. “I just wanted to bat and bat and we had lots of young bowlers running in. I was just getting in the zone of just batting in the nets, knowing that I wanted to spend time out in the middle.”Bates batted through New Zealand’s innings and found her timing early on when she drove Marufa Akter wide of mid-on and also beat the deep midwicket fielder. She went on to tease fielders at long-on, deep midwicket again and fine leg as she found gaps and drilled the ball through them. Importantly, she also stayed away from the cross-batted shots that had been her undoing in the previous games and concentrated on “playing straight for longer”, which worked well on a pitch with more pace and bounce than New Zealand got in Paarl.”It felt like you got value for shots, so it allowed me to just stand still and play my natural game,” Bates said. “A lesson is that that’s probably when I’m at my best. [In] the first two games, I was taking the high risk early or playing across the line. That’s not when I’m at my best. It was nice to talk about that as a batting group and me leading from the front after a tough start.”Suzie Bates was just happy to get off the mark after two consecutive ducks•Getty ImagesThe conversations came after both Bates and captain Sophie Devine were left “pretty distraught” with their back-to-back defeats and “sort of tried to get together to work out how we were going to move forward as leaders of this team”.While they knew “some of our young girls just take it all in their stride”, Bates admitted that she and Devine are among those who “take it a bit harder” because they know how much is expected of them given their experience. It’s also that experience that led them to formulate a plan to go back to their own game ahead of this match against Bangladesh.”Yesterday, Dean Brownlie, the batting coach, showed us some footage of the Bangladesh bowlers but then we kind of stopped that and said ‘okay how do we want to play? And when are we at our best?’ And that was almost that bully mentality that we’re strong girls and hitting hard and straight down the ground, early in our innings, is how we all play at our best. So we just talked about what we were going to do,” Bates said.It worked for Bernadine Bezuidenhout, who opened the batting with Bates and was outscoring her in the initial phase, and for Maddy Green, who finished unbeaten on 44 off 20 balls but Devine, batting at No.4, went scoreless for the second time. Still, Bates credited her with being the fulcrum of the turnaround.”It’s been really hard for her but it’s amazing that she’s actually playing. She had a stress fracture in her foot, so for her to do the hard work to get here is kind of unbelievable but then she’s not been able to perform. She’s had such limited cricket so it’s sort of understandable,” Bates said. “She picked herself back up as a leader. The energy around the group when we started training was brilliant.”Suzie Bates and Maddy Green propelled New Zealand•ICC/Getty ImagesDevine’s dry sense of humour may also have helped New Zealand not take themselves too seriously as they entered their third group match, even with the knowledge that anything less than a big win would guarantee them an early flight home. After New Zealand’s second defeat, Devine joked that they would have to score around 8,000 runs and skittle Bangladesh and Sri Lanka out for 20 to stand a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals, but the situation is not that dire. Their 71-run win has improved their net run rate from -4.3 to -.1.5, which is still worse than Sri Lanka’s -0.19 but not by all that much.If South Africa lose to Australia and beat Bangladesh, and New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by a big enough margin, they may be able to sneak into the knockouts and back to the ground that Bates said is in her “top three” in the world – Cape Town.”Coming here to train and just looking up at the mountains, it’s absolutely stunning and gives you perspective. You sort of take a moment. And you’re like, how lucky are we that we get to play in these beautiful places,” she said. “We’d love to play again here but unfortunately the schedule doesn’t allow.”Then she realised that it could. “Oh yeah, the semi-final, sorry! Yeah we’re still in it.”