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Manchester City recently announced that they had agreed a deal to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund this summer.

As the upcoming transfer window approaches, it seems as though the Manchester club could be set to see one of their current attacking stars leave the Etihad Stadium to potentially make way for their incoming Norwegian.

What’s the news?

In a recent Twitter post from journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, he relayed comments made to him by Marcelo Pettinati, the agent of Gabriel Jesus, who has recently been linked with a move to fellow Premier League club Arsenal.

He said: “We had talks with Arsenal about Gabriel Jesus, we like the project – it’s a possibility we’re discussing. There are 6 more clubs interested in Gabriel – he’s focused on final games with Man City, we’ll see.”

City secured a deal for the Brazilian back in the 2016 summer transfer window from Palmeiras for a fee of £27m.

Awful news for Guardiola

With 234 appearances under his belt for the Citizens across all competitions, the 25-year-old has 95 goals and delivered 46 assists along the way.

This shows just how much of a useful attacking figure he has been for his side since his arrival.

In 26 league appearances this season, the attacker has racked up 56 shots at goal, leaving only Joao Cancelo (77) and Kevin De Bruyne (69) with more.

To highlight how much of a deadly player he is at the top of the pitch, he currently has the highest number of goal-creating actions (17) to his name in City’s squad and the joint fourth-highest in the entire league.

After the Brazil international scored four goals in City’s 5-1 win over Watford last month, Pep Guardiola heaped praise on the player by saying that “when you behave like him, life and football rewards you.”

The City boss then added that “he doesn’t need to score four goals for me to know he has this incredible ability. He will have a long and successful career.”

This shows just how gutted the 51-year-old would be to potentially see Jesus leave the squad this summer.

Despite what his agent has had to say, City should have no intention of letting their attacking star leave the club this summer.

In other news: Pep can land the next Fernandinho as Man City eye move for “extraordinary” £83m dynamo

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Malcolm Ebiowei to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Sun, who claim that Spurs are keeping a very close eye on the situation of the Derby County winger, whose contract at Pride Park is set to expire at the end of the season.

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The report goes on to state that the likes of Crystal Palace, Leeds United and RB Leipzig are also interested in the 18-year-old, who looks certain to leave the League One-bound club this summer.

The next Kane

Considering just how exciting a prospect Ebiowei quite clearly is, it is unsurprising to learn of Fabio Paratici’s interest in a deal to bring the Rams starlet to north London in the off-season.

Indeed, over his 15 Championship outings in the current campaign, the £140-per-week prodigy has been in electric form, bagging one goal, providing two assists and creating four big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.3 shots, making 1.1 key passes and completing 3.2 dribbles – the most of any player in the division – per game.

These metrics have seen the player who Justin Walker claimed “gets people out of their seats” and Wayne Rooney suggested has an “enormous amount of ability” average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.79, ranking him as Derby’s tenth-best performer in the second tier of English football.

Furthermore, considering the fact that Ebiowei was formerly a part of the Arsenal youth setup, should Spurs go on to land the teenager this summer, and he subsequently goes on to fulfil his undoubted potential at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Paratici could well have discovered the club’s next Harry Kane.

Indeed, the England captain also played for the Gunners academy back in 2001/02, before linking up with Spurs in 2004 and developing into one of the most deadly centre-forwards in world football – not to mention being a player who boasts a £150m asking price.

As such, should Ebiowei go on to achieve even a quarter of the success Kane has enjoyed since making his switch across north London, the youngster’s signing would certainly prove a masterstroke by the Italian sporting director, as well as something that would delight the Spurs faithful.

AND in other news: Paratici can seal Conte’s dream deal as Spurs eye “aggressive” £49k-pw “elite presser”

Andrew Dickson was left slamming Glen Kamara after his part in a goal conceded by Glasgow Rangers in their Scottish Premiership clash at lunchtime.

The Lowdown: Early setback

After going 1-0 up early on at Motherwell, the Ibrox faithful were dealt a setback when Leon Balogun was given a straight red card just before the half-hour mark.

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The hosts then equalised through Ross Tierney, before Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team eventually got a grip on the game in the second half.

The Latest: Kamara slammed

Taking to Twitter, Scottish football journalist Dickson slammed Kamara after Tierney’s goal, claiming that it was an ‘all-round shambles’ from him as he put unnecessary pressure on his side:

“That was an all-round shambles from Glen Kamara. Rangers have gone from being very comfortable to on the ropes in five minutes.”

The Verdict: Not his best

That moment from Kamara was certainly not his best in a Light Blues shirt, as he was guilty of dwelling on the ball when he should have really just cleared his lines.

That was one of eight occasions that he gave the ball away cheaply, while he also lost three of his duels, made no clearances and failed to block any shots on his goal (SofaScore).

Lucky for the Finland international, the Teddy Bears won the match anyway, but van Bronckhorst will surely be concerned about his midfield maestro going into their first leg against RB Leipzig in the UEFA Europa League.

In other news, find out what ‘huge blow’ has now emerged for the Gers here!

The 30-day deadline given to the Kochi IPL consortium to settle its ownership dispute is a legal step taken by the board towards terminating the franchise

Nagraj Gollapudi27-Oct-2010The Kochi mess

April 11: Consortium winning the Kochi franchise gives the BCCI an agreement listing seven investors.
August 19: BCCI receives a letter from Rendezvous Sports World raising questions over the agreement vis-a-vis equity shares and seeking board’s approval to amend the share-holding structure.
September 9: Sunanda Pushkar informs the board that she has transferred 190 shares in Rendezvous Sports to Pushpa Gaikwad.
September 16: Rendezvous informs the board that Satyajit Gaekwad – appointed CEO – would be the sole point of contact for the company and, in a second letter, asks it to ignore any requests from “any of the other consortium members” to modify share-holding pattern.
September 23: Chintan Vora writes saying he, Vipul Shah and Saket Mehta are the only people authorised to represent the business.
September 25: Vora writes again saying that Kochi Cricket Pvt. Ltd. would be formed to take over the franchise from existing entity.
September 29: BCCI president Shashank Manohar sends show-cause notice to the franchise saying the board is concerned that the internal dispute will damage the IPL and asks for document saying dispute has been resolved and a company will be incorporated in a fixed timeframe.
October 27: The BCCI issues a termination notice to the Kochi franchise but gives it a 30-day deadline to reply, explaining why it shouldn’t be scrapped.

The 30-day deadline given to the Kochi IPL consortium to settle its ownership dispute is not a reprieve for the troubled team, but rather a legal step taken by the IPL governing council towards terminating the franchise.A BCCI insider privy to the meeting held in Nagpur on Wednesday told ESPNcricinfo that the Board is not confident the ownership issue will be resolved amicably between the two factions because of the two different replies sent by them to the board’s October 12 show-cause notice. The franchise was asked to form a registered company in order for the board to communicate with one entity, and not different groups in the five-partner consortium. The consortium has not, the Board believes, come close to arriving at a settlement, with the official calling it, “an irretrievable situation.” He said, “The dispute is not so easy to solve”.According to him, the BCCI were forced to issue a notice under the provisions of the original contract signed with the Kochi franchise when it was formed in March. “It is mandatory process where the board is required to give them the notice of 30 days because theirs is a breach that can be repaired, and it is not irrevocable. In case they are able to resolve their issue, they will have to show it to us and prove it is resolved. Otherwise at the end of the notice, it stands terminated,” he said.Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, chaired the meeting today and informed the IPL panel about receiving more than one reply from the two groups in the Kochi franchise. One reply arrived from the lawyer of Rendezvous India Pvt. Ltd, led by the Gaikwad family, and the other from the group of investors led by Mehul Shah of the Anchor Group.”Both were asking different things: Rendezvous stated that the sweat equity (originally granted to them for promoting and investing in the company leading to the bid) is paid equity,” the official revealed. “The rival group was of the view that even it if it was paid equity, they did not want to accept the money.”Gaikwad’s lawyer had stated in the reply that his client was willing to buy out the sweat equity of 25% given for life in the original bid document and convert it into paid equity. The rival faction remained adamant, wanting Rendezvous to exit, with the situation leading to a deadlock. In that time both factions tried to find a way out. The Shah group told Gaikwad that they would pay 10% of the sweat equity in cash in exchange of their rivals quitting Kochi. Gaikwad’s original counter proposal stated that he was ready to buy out 15% of the sweat equity, but he subsequently raised the offer, saying he was ready to buy out the entire 25% free equity.After that offer was rejected, Rendezvous went back to the negotiation table with a reduced equity buyout offer from 25% to 20%. Shah and the other investors initially agreed to the 20% offer 24 hours before the BCCI deadline, but under terms and conditions unacceptable to Rendezvous. The next day both the groups submitted individual replies through their lawyers.According to the BCCI source, the conflict is serious. “There are four people [investors] who had been brought together by one person [Gaikwad]. When the investors signed the original document they did not know what they were signing into”. The main deal-breaker in the dispute is that Gaikwad wants to retain his control over the cricket which, the BCCI official said, “the investors are completely against. They want him to leave the consortium and hence the deadlock.”The official fears Kochi might eventually run out of steam. “This cannot be solved. While they are saying they are solving the controversy, they are actually doing the opposite.”Should the Kochi franchise be terminated, it will become the third of the ten teams which were expected to participate in IPL4 to be expelled from the league, following the scrapping of the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab earlier this month.It is here, however that the BCCI are trying to cover their legal tracks by issuing them a 30 day termination notice. The case with the Royals and Kings XI was handled very differently with both teams being asked to explain their ownership patterns in May. Kings XI for example sent in their reply in May and received neither response or show cause from the BCCI until their franchise was terminated in October without any notice. Already the Royals have gone to court and King’s XI are expected to follow suit.Should Kochi meet with the same fate, the BCCI would have done so in strict adherence with the terms of their contract with the new franchise.

Patrick Boyland has now revealed some big Everton injury news before they play Chelsea at home in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

The Lowdown: Davies training

The Goodison Park faithful have revealed that Tom Davies is back in training, after not featuring since the 0-0 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur in November.

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There will be question marks over how quickly he can get back to full fitness, and of course how much impact he can actually have with so little of the season left to play.

The Latest: Injury update

Taking to Twitter, The Athletic journalist Boyland has revealed that although Davies is now eligible for selection due to Jean-Phillipe Gbamin moving out on loan, he is still ‘some way off’ a return to the team:

“Tom Davies *is eligible for selection between now and the end of the season. Everton added him to PL squad list after JP Gbamin joined CSKA Moscow on loan. But midfielder, who was pictured training today, is still some way off a return.”

The Verdict: Bad news

Of course, the fact that Davies still seems far away from a return to action will certainly come as a big blow to Frank Lampard and his side.

Before his horrific injury, the central midfield player had managed one goal and one assist in seven games this season, and being a local boy, knows how much it means to the supporters for the Merseyside club to stay up.

Nonetheless, with the campaign drawing nearer to a close, this is news that the Toffees would certainly not like to hear.

In other news, find out who the Blues are now close to signing here!

New Zealand failed to execute their plans against the India batsmen, and the hosts are now poised to take a big lead

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Nov-2010There were just three moments where New Zealand stayed with India today: Daniel Vettori’s removal of Virender Sehwag, Andy McKay’s short, but probing, spell to Gautam Gambhir and Tim Southee’s final spell against Sachin Tendulkar. In between these acts, though, they waxed and waned as you would expect them to do on a flat track, especially with an attack that isn’t very potent.Yesterday evening Daniel Vettori left us with a note of defiance. Today, though, they couldn’t hide from yesterday’s mistakes. The pitch was flat, India oozed intent, and long before the evening, the game had begun to sprint away from New Zealand.You could sense they had plans. You could see that they couldn’t always execute them. They sparkled in little phases of inspiration. McKay v Gambhir was one such contest. Gambhir’s fifty in the second Test was his first in ten months, and McKay reminded him of his barren patch with his probing line around the off stump. Gambhir stabbed at a couple, wasn’t in full control of a few steers, and was hesitant to lean fully forward for some of his off drives. That dab outside off has been his downfall in the recent times, and McKay tried to catch an edge or trap him with one that darted in with the angle.His first delivery in Test cricket seamed in to hit Gambhir, who had shouldered arms, high on the pad. A short while later a good lbw shout was turned down when Gambhir was on 26. Soon, Gambhir caressed McKay to the cover boundary and lunch arrived at the end of that over. The fight evaporated after the break when Martin fed Gambhir with half-volleys. It was the pattern of the day: as soon as someone tried to stir up a contest, some other bowler killed it.Southee said as much at the end of the day. “We had our plans right, but we needed to execute it better right from the start.” He was the guilty too, allowing Gambhir to settle down at the start with poor deliveries on his legs, which were put away to the boundary without much fuss. He improved in his second spell in the evening, when he pinged Tendulkar’s body a couple of times with bouncers. It didn’t appear that Tendulkar’s wicket could be claimed through such a tactic on this docile pitch, but it was worth a try.”You can’t be predictable,” Southee said. “You just have to mix it up. I just tried to bowl wicket to wicket. I had a better rhythm in that second spell and it just sort of went from there.”Vettori was another one who could find his rhythm only in patches. He is a better limited-overs bowler than a Test operator. He has a good arm-ball, varies his pace, trajectory, and length intelligently, and often strangles a batsman who is looking for runs in ODIs.”Test match bowling is something I want to get better at,” he said at the start of the series. That is a part of my game I want to improve.” Today wasn’t a day he would be entirely satisfied with. He lured Sehwag, who was going after him, to hit one straight back to him and that should have helped him raise his performance, but he couldn’t do it consistently. He has never had the big turn that a bowler of his pace and style needs to be a very good Test spinner, but has rarely slipped up on lengths. Today, he wasn’t his usual accurate self and the Indians indulged.The real damage though, was done yesterday. “We didn’t score many runs in the first innings and they have a great partnership going now,” Southee said. “Hopefully, we can pick early wickets tomorrow and fight our way back into it.” May be they will surprise us but it looks unlikely. The game seems to be on auto-pilot and cruising towards a state where they will have to bat out two days to save it.

Aston Villa have seen numerous players make their way through the youth system at the Midlands club and go on to have substantial careers in the Premier League and elsewhere.

In terms of Villa’s current squad, one player that has worked his way through the ranks to make it into the first team is midfielder Jacob Ramsey.

With 65 combined appearances for Villa’s U18 and U23 sides under his belt, the Englishman racked up 24 goals and 11 assists.

He also had a loan spell with Doncaster Rovers back in 2020 where he found the back of the net three times in seven appearances.

The Englishman made his senior debut for the club back in February 2019 in a Championship defeat against West Bromwich Albion under former Villa manager Dean Smith.

Overall, the 20-year-old has now played in 58 senior games for his club and is now a fully-fledged member of Steven Gerrard’s squad. With 29 league appearances made this season, the youngster has scored six goals and provided two assists for his teammates.

As well as this, no other player at the club has made more attempts to put an opponent under pressure (461) on the pitch than Ramsey.

This highlights not only what a useful player he can be for his team in terms of winning the ball back, but also the desire and work ethic he has in him, something that Gerrard surely wants to see from his players.

Additionally, only Tyrone Mings has racked up a higher distance in yards for a player to have moved the ball while controlling it with their feet in any direction.

Once again, this shows what a tricky player Ramsey can be when he’s on the ball, as well as being a hard opponent to play against when he’s not in possession. As well as providing goals, it’s evident just how much he offers in the finer parts of the game.

All of this has seen the player’s transfer value rise considerably. Back in December 2020, Transfermarkt rated the midfielder’s market value at £1.35m, whereas it now stands at a massive £19.8m after a seriously impressive year.

Presumably based on his efforts on the pitch for Villa,

Labelled as a player that “demands attention” by Joe Cole, this highlights just how far the £15k-per-week youth graduate has come in his career.

Ramsey has certainly been a massive positive for the club as a whole and provides a great example for other youth prospects aiming to break into first-team football.

In other news: Source: AVFC’s “difficult” dud could now leave Villa Park, it’s great news for Gerrard

Kent lost their last eight wickets for 120 runs in a session and nine balls to gift Lancashire only their second success in Canterbury since 1936

21-Aug-2010
ScorecardKent lost their last eight wickets for 120 runs in a session and nine balls to gift Lancashire only their second success in Canterbury since 1936. The 121-run drubbing moved the visitors to fourth in the County Championship Division One table with a game in hand to maintain their outside championship hopes, whereas Kent slip back toward the relegation scrap following their fifth defeat of the top-flight campaign.Resuming on their overnight score of 84 for 2 and in pursuit of an unlikely victory target of 339, Kent added 13 runs before the start of their nightmare slide against the twin seam threat of Tom Smith and Glen Chapple that saw them lose four wickets for three runs in the space of 27 balls.Visiting skipper Chapple was first to strike, running one down the Canterbury slope and away from right-hander Martin van Jaarsveld who edged to Paul Horton at slip to make it 97 for 3.In the next over Sam Northeast went back and across his stumps to Smith only to work across the line and go leg before then, in his next over, Smith got one to lift sharply at Geraint Jones who feathered a catch to his counterpart Luke Sutton.Without addition to the score Darren Stevens followed a Chapple leg-cutter to give Sutton another catch and leave Kent floundering on 100 for 6. Lancashire struck again through Smith when Alex Blake, chopping down late on a short one, played the ball onto the base of off-stump.Kent partially saved face thereafter with a sprightly eighth-wicket stand of 72 in 63 balls between left-handers James Tredwell and Matt Coles (51) that at least took the game into its penultimate session.Coles raced to his maiden half-century for the county from 41 balls and with six fours but, two deliveries after raising his bat, the 20-year-old miscued a slog sweep against Gary Keedy straight into the hands of Sajid Mahmood at deep midwicket.In the over before lunch, Tredwell, having hit five boundaries to take Kent beyond 200, danced past one from Keedy to be stumped by a yard. Nine balls after the restart and without addition to the total, Cook swept at Keedy only to be caught at deep mid-wicket and hand Lancashire their 21-point win while Kent bank only four.

According to reliable reporter Gary Jacob of The Times, a transfer update has come out of Tottenham Hotspur involving Atletico Madrid striker and Juventus loanee Alvaro Morata.

The Lowdown: Spurs linked…

As manager Antonio Conte reportedly seeks a new forward addition before this window’s closure, with Alasdair Gold revealing it is one of the Italian’s four priorities, links have emerged to ex-Chelsea striker Morata.

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Indeed, a report out of Spain from El Partidazo de COPE recently claimed that both the Lilywhite and Newcastle United are in the picture to sign him before January 31 – with the overseas source even believing there is an offer from managing director Fabio Paratici.

Eligible striker targets are waring thin at Tottenham given long-time target Dusan Vlahovic has now sealed a blockbuster move to Juventus, while links to other names have been fairly scarce.

The Latest: Jacob makes Morata claim…

In what could be an opportunity for Spurs and Paratici, they have apparently been ‘offered’ the chance to sign Conte’s former star in a late window development.

Indeed, according to Jacob, writing for The Times, the Spain international has reportedly been placed on the table and Tottenham could sign him on a loan deal.

The Verdict: Take it?

The 29-year-old has endured a mixed senior career to say the least, showing signs of real promise last season during his first year on loan in Turin.

Morata racked up 11 Serie A goals and 11 assists under ex-boss Andrea Pirlo over 2020/2021 – not even including his six goals in eight Champions League appearances that year.

However, at Chelsea, the Spaniard’s poor final season return of five in 16 Premier League outings saw him part company for Atletico.

He was perhaps most in-demand when playing for Real Madrid at the end of the 2016/2017 season – with his former club even once placing a £90 million price tag on his head (The Sun).

Morata, clearly, comes as somewhat of a mixed bag.

However, on loan, it could be a gamble worth taking given Spurs are arguably in dire need of an alternative to Harry Kane.

In other news: Spurs now preparing last minute marquee bid to sign ‘special’ forward for Conte, find out more here.

Mark Ramprakash, Robert Croft and the former England captain Mike Denness have been recognised in the New Year Honours list

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2012Mark Ramprakash, Robert Croft and the former England captain Mike Denness have been recognised in the New Year Honours list.Ramprakash and Croft, who both retired from first-class cricket in 2012, have been awarded MBEs while Denness, who played 28 Tests for England, has gained an OBE for services to sport.Ramprakash ended a 25-year career at the age of 42 having amassed 114 first-class hundreds, to become one of 25 players with a hundred centuries, and finished with 35,659 first-class runs at an average of 53.14.That success was rarely translated to the Test arena where he averaged 27.32 across his 52 Tests, but on the domestic scene he was often without equal for Middlesex and Surrey. He has recently returned to Middlesex as batting coach.”I think this MBE eclipses all that I have achieved in the game,” he told . “It came straight out of the blue. I think for most players representing your country is the biggest moment in your life.”When you experience winning Test matches, there is little other feeling that comes close to that. I have been lucky to play for so long and achieve things throughout my career like the 100 first-class centuries. But this is an acknowledgment of your entire career.”I have been committed to cricket for 25 years. That is a very long time but I enjoyed every minute of it. To have that acknowledgment from someone outside of what you did is an immensely proud moment.”Like Ramprakash, Croft, the Glamorgan offspinner, called time on his career at the age of 42 after scoring more than 12,000 runs and claiming more than 1100 wickets at first-class level. He played 21 Tests and 50 ODIs for England, but one of his most famous moments came with the bat when he helped save the Old Trafford Test against South Africa in 1998. He retired from international cricket in 2004 and continued to be a key part of Glamorgan cricket.”It is a great honour and a privilege to receive an MBE,” Croft said. “It’s fantastic to receive recognition of years of hard work, and especially in a team sport it’s good when an individual receives an accolade.”It’s not something that you set out to get, but it is wonderful when it comes along. I don’t think it has sunk in properly. I’m still just a Carmarthenshire boy who did quite well in cricket.”I count myself lucky that I was able to play for as long as I did and I’m grateful for the support I have received over the years from team-mates, coaches and everyone at Glamorgan Cricket.”However I don’t think I could have achieved what I did without such supportive family and friends. I owe a lot to my parents, Susan and Malcolm, my grandparents, my wife Marie and children Callum and Kara Beth.”Denness, meanwhile, is the only Scotsman to have captained England and led the team in 19 of his 28 Tests although it was a controversial tenure, particularly during the 1974-75 tour of Australia. However, his 188 at the MCG was, at the time, the highest score by an England captain in Australia. In his first-class career, where he played for Kent and Essex, he scored more than 25,000 runs. He later became an ICC match referee and president of Kent.”I never expected this and it really is a great honour,” Denness said. “This completes a thrilling year, during which I have served as Kent Cricket president. It really has been outstanding, there has been so much commitment from everybody; I thoroughly enjoyed Canterbury Week and all that it involved, and I will treasure the memories for the rest of my life.”David Collier, the ECB chief executive, said: “The award to Mike Denness is a fitting recognition for a long and distinguished career in cricket which has seen him fulfil a variety of key roles.”Mark Ramprakash was among the most supremely gifted batsmen of his generation and can be justifiably proud of being one of an elite band of cricketers who have scored 100 first-class hundreds.”Very few cricketers achieve the feat of scoring more than 10,000 first-class runs and taking more than 1,000 first-class wickets as Robert Croft did for Glamorgan during a 23-year career. His honour is richly deserved.”