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Noel Whelan has offered his thoughts on Aston Villa’s reported interest in Axel Tuanzebe…

What’s the talk?

The former Premier League forward has urged Villa to go through with a deal to sign the Manchester United centre-back, who he feels would be a “brilliant signing” and add to their depth at the back.

Villa are reportedly interested in bringing the defender back to the club following his loan spell with Dean Smith’s side in the 2018/19 promotion campaign, and Whelan told Football Insider: “When you look at the strength in depth of centre-back, I don’t think they have enough.

“It depends if they’re going to go for a three and he goes straight into that. Maybe that is the thinking behind it. The fact he’s worked with him before, good background at Manchester United good age as well.

“You need to put pressure on two defenders there don’t really have a great deal of pressure behind them. You’ve got to start covering bases. If one of those picks up an injury or suspension, you need somebody that in there that’s going to handle the pressure.

“He covers bases in two positions for Dean Smith. I think he’d be a brilliant signing. Really young, up and coming, promising and covers two bases.”

Smith needs him

Johan Lange must sanction a swoop for Tuanzebe as Dean Smith is in need of reinforcements in that area of the pitch. Villa have just three senior centre-back options in their squad and one of them – Kortney Hause – only played seven times in the Premier League last season.

This suggests that they are lacking depth beyond their first-choice options, and that could become an issue if they pick up injuries or suspensions. As Whelan explained, there is little for Smith to choose from outside of Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa, which means that they do not have any great pressure on their position in the team and can play without much fear of being dropped.

Therefore, bringing in a defender like Tuanzebe who could seriously challenge the pair could do wonders for Smith’s squad as it keeps everyone on their toes. During his loan spell at Villa Park in 2018/19, the £38k-per-week powerhouse averaged a solid WhoScored rating of 6.75 across 28 appearances, showing that he already knows how to perform to a high standard within the 50-year-old’s system.

If Mings and Konsa know that they have Tuanzebe knocking on the door to start, it could motivate them to give that extra 10% in training and in matches to make sure they are fully concentrated and do not make any silly mistakes. Even if they do drop their standards, the 23-year-old could come into the side and provide a reliable option for Smith to call upon, which is why Lange must seal this deal before the end of the window.

In other news, Aston Villa must sell forgotten £40k-p/w man this summer; his time is up

يرغب تشافي هرنانديز، مدرب فريق برشلونة في تكوين ثلاثي هجومي جديد، للمنافسة على الألقاب بالموسم المُقبل.

وطلب تشافي التعاقد مع صفقات جديدة من أجل إعادة الفريق إلى منصات التتويج من جديد، وطلب تدعيم الهجوم والدفاع، وأبلغ إدارة برشلونة باللاعبين الذي يرغب في ضمهم بالفعل.

وقالت صحيفة “موندو ديبورتيفو” الكتالونية أن برشلونة يريد خط هجوم يعوض ما خسره بعد رحيل ليونيل ميسي وأنطوان جريزمان واعتزال سيرجيو أجويرو.

وأوضحت الصحيفة أنه رغم امتلاك فيران توريس، وبيير إيميرك أوباميانج، بجانب ممفيس ديباي، ألا أن تشافي يريد المزيد.

اقرأ أيضًا – فاتي: أنا مسلم.. ولن انسى فضل فالفيردي في برشلونة

وأشارت الصحيفة إلى أن خطة تشافي يمثلها الدولي البولندي، روبرت ليفاندوفسكي مهاجم فريق بايرن ميونخ، والذي يرفض التجديد مع بطل ألمانيا، ورافينا جناح ليدز يونايتد ليلعب في الجناح الأيمن، بينما سيتم الاعتماد على أنسو فاتي كجناح أيسر.

ويثق تشافي في قدرة فاتي على التألق في مركز الجناح الأيسر، بعد أن وضع الطاقم الطبي، برنامجًا علاجيًا له للتخلص من تكرار إصاباته.

برشلونة لم يتمكن بعد من حسم صفقتي ليفاندوفسكي ورافينا بعد، إلا أن النادي الكتالوني حصل على موافقة الثنائي لارتداء قميص برشلونة، ويتبقى موافقة بايرن ميونخ وليدز يونايتد.

Celtic could receive a bid from AEK Athens for 25-year-old midfielder Olivier Ntcham, following an update from Greek journalist Giannis Chorianopoulos on Twitter.

The Lowdown: Celtic prepare for high-profile 2021/22 exits

As the Hoops begin life under newly appointed manager Ange Postecoglou, multiple senior exits are expected within the Parkhead ranks.

Odsonne Edouard has been heavily linked with moved to West Ham and Leicester City [Football Fancast], whilst defender Kristoffer Ajer has attracted attention from Zenit St Petersburg and Bayer Leverkusen coincidingly [The Celtic Star].

However, could former Manchester City youth prospect Ntcham be the first casualty of Postecoglou’s reign following recent reports?

The Latest: AEK Athens look to put together Ntcham bid

Presently, AEK Athens are looking into the possibility of putting together a financial package to lure Ntcham away from Glasgow.

Well-respected Sportime.gr reporter Chorianopoulos elaborated on Twitter, stating:

“AEK Athens officials are now checking the option to make an offer to Celtic for Olivier Ntcham!”

Previously, it was thought that Celtic were ready to let the anchor man depart for Greece on a free transfer [The Scottish Sun]. However, it now seems the Scottish giants feel the Frenchman warrants some sort of fee to boost the coffers.

The Verdict: Hoops must secure a fee

Certain to leave the Hoops after four topsy-turvy years at the club, it is a wise move for Celtic to try and generate some money for Ntcham’s signature.

Although much-maligned in Scotland, Ntcham has notched a commendable 37 goal contributions in 147 outings for his current employers; 24 goals and 13 assists [Transfermarkt].

Most memorably, his famous winning goals against Lazio in the Europa League and against Rangers in the Glasgow Derby will live long in the memory of the Celtic support.

Looking ahead to pre-season, the Bhoys will be hoping to reinvest any funds generated in to acquiring a suitable replacement for Ntcham – losing him for free would make finding a replacement that much harder.

In other news, Celtic are considering a swoop for a Manchester City defender.

كشف المدير الفني للفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي توتنهام، أنطونيو كونتي، عن غياب وحيد قبل مباراة ليفربول في إطار الجولة السادسة والثلاثين من بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

ويلتقي ليفربول وتوتنهام على ملعب “أنفيلد” يوم السبت، في تمام الساعة التاسعة إلا ربع مساءً بتوقيت “القاهرة”، بقيادة مايكل أوليفر.

اقرأ أيضًا.. هنري: ماني لديه فرصة لحصد الكرة الذهبية في نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا

وعقد كونتي مؤتمرًا صحفيًا قبل مباراة ليفربول، وتحدث عن الإصابات، وقال: “اللاعب الوحيد الذي لن يكون متاحًا هو سيرجيو ريجيلون، لم يتدرب معنا”.

وتابع: “بصراحة لا أعرف، ما هو موعد عودته، هناك أسبوعان فقط على نهاية الموسم، لست متأكدًا من قدرته على العودة قبل نهاية الموسم”.

وعن كيفية الفوز على ليفربول: “نحاول وضع خطة جيدة، آمل ألا تكون نفسها التي يفكرون فيها، لكن المباراة ستكون صعبة، نعلم ذلك، هم يمرون بمرحلة جيدة جدًا بعد مشاهدتنا لهم أمام فياريال، إنهم أحد أفضل الفرق في العالم مع مانشستر سيتي”.

وأضاف: “علينا أن نبذل قصارى جهدنا ونكون جيدين للغاية أمام ليفربول، لأن التحضير لتلك المباراة ليس كافيًا، علينا ألا نخاف من أي ضغوط نتعرض لها، لقد تحسنا كثيرًا ويجب أن نحاول الحصول على النقاط الثلاث”.

وبسؤاله إذا ما كان عدد البطولات التي ينافس ليفربول عليها ستؤثر عليه، أجاب: “لا اعتقد ذلك، ليفربول لديه المقومات القادرة على الحفاظ على المستوى الفني، لدى يورجن كلوب فريق رائع وقوي على المستوى البدني، فهم لديهم حماسة تدفعهم لبذل 200% من مجهودهم خاصة في الركض، لكني أريد المنافسة بقوة ومحاولة الحصول على مكان في دوري أبطال أوروبا”.

وعن “هل يمتلك كلوب نقاط ضعف؟”، أجاب: “اعتقد أنه يمكنني التحدث عن نقاط ضعف فريق وليس شخص، من الصعب جدًا التحدث عن المدرب، كلوب يعمل بطريقة رائعة في ليفربول، لقد احتاج إلى بعض الوقت لتكوين هذا الفريق المُذهل ومن الصعب إيجاد نقاط للضعف”.

وصفقة كولوسفيسكي: “ديان لاعب توتنهام بنسبة 100%، هو على سبيل الإعارة الآن، لكنه سيبقى في توتنهام حتى لو كان الأمر غير رسميًا حتى الآن”.

Somerset, who were runners up in Division One of the county championship in 2001, travel to Hove on Wednesday to face Sussex, the Division Two champions last season, for their opening first class match of 2002

Richard Walsh22-Apr-2002Somerset, who were runners up in Division One of the county championship in 2001, travel to Hove on Wednesday to face Sussex, the Division Two champions last season, for their opening first class match of 2002.Since the introduction of the two tier championship the counties have not met. The last time that Somerset played at Hove was in July 1998 and on that occasion they had to settle for seven bonus points in a high scoring draw, the feature of which was Adrian Pierson’s maiden century.The following season when Sussex came to Taunton the Cidermen scored 503 for 8 declared in their first innings, thanks to centuries from Jamie Cox and Piran Holloway, and were victorious by 8 wickets.Over the years Somerset have generally come off second best from their visits to the south coast. Of the 83 matches played away, Sussex have won 39 times compared to 19 Somerset victories, with 25 matches resulting in a draw.With fast bowler Steffan Jones fully recovered from the ankle injury he sustained last Monday at Millfield, Somerset coach Kevin Shine has named his strongest available side to make the journey.The full squad is: Jamie Cox, Matt Wood, Mike Burns, Peter Bowler, Keith Parsons, Ian Blackwell, Rob Turner, Keith Dutch, Richard Johnson, Matt Bulbeck, Steffan Jones and twelfth man Simon Francis.Kevin Shine told me: "With Steffan Jones being declared fully fit after bowling in the nets today we are going into our opening championship match with a strong side. The boys are desperate to get going and are champing at the bit."How were Somerset going to approach the match, I asked. The coach told me: "We will approach it in the same way that we have all of our matches this season, and play it hard. Sussex are a strong side and were the outstanding team in the second division last season. They have got a good attack with Lewry, Robinson and Kirtley, and they also have a strong batting line up with Montgomerie, Adams and Goodwin."Who would open the bowling I asked the coach. He told me: "We will probably open with Matt Bulbeck and Richard Johnson, who complement each other, and then Steffan will probably bowl from the same end that `Johnno’ does."After hearing about his selection Matt Bulbeck told me: "I’m very happy to be playing against Sussex. I’ve worked very hard right through the winter and it’s starting to pay off. Now I hope I can concrete my place in the team."All rounder Ian Blackwell, who enjoyed a career best season in 2001 told me: "Everyone is looking forward to the game. We are going to Hove looking for a result. There will be high expectations from us after all doing so well in the pre-season matches. Everyone is fit, including Matt Bulbeck, and we are going there looking forward to knocking them over."Keith Dutch, another player who enjoyed considerable success in 2001,told me: "We have started off well in our pre-season games and scored lots of runs. It will be interesting to see what kind of a pitch we get. I have never played a championship match at Hove so I’m really looking forward to it."

MatériaMais Notícias

Os clubes brasileiros seguem correndo contra o tempo para reforçarem seus elencos. Nesta segunda-feira, o Palmeiras adicionou mais um capítulo na novela Borja, mesmo com Alexandre Mattos afirmando que o clube não iria mais negociar com o atacante, a equipe paulista segue tentando contrata-lo. No Corinthians, Jadson volta ao clube e assina contrato por dois anos. No Rio de Janeiro, Manga está próximo do Vasco, apenas exames médicos separam o anúncio oficial. Confira na galeria de imagens acima o vaivém desta segunda-feira.

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The Glamorgan Dragons opened their Norwich Union League season with a welldeserved 20 run victory against the Durham Dynamos at Sophia Gardens

Andrew Hignell19-May-2002The Glamorgan Dragons opened their Norwich Union League season with a welldeserved 20 run victory against the Durham Dynamos at Sophia Gardens.Such a result though had seemed unlikely in the first hour of the game as Glamorgan slumped to 49-5. But an attractive 58 run partnership between Mike Powell and Mark Wallace restored the Welsh county`s fortunes, and by the end of their 45 over allocation, they had reached a more respectable total of161-8.In reply, the Durham batsmen never got into their stride as Mike Kasprowicz had a dream debut in the Dragons colours, with the Australian taking three wickets in a fiery spell with the new ball.With Andrew Davies in miserly form at the other end, Durham stuttered to 27-3 in the opening 12 overs – a start from which they never recovered.Spinners Robert Croft and Dean Cosker further contained the Durham batsmen,and a measure of their control over the visitors was that the two spinners onlyconceded three boundaries during their 18 over spell.Andy Pratt, the Durham wicket-keeper, made a belated bid to up the tempo, buthe fell to Andrew Davies who returned to pick up two wickets in a disciplinedcomeback spell which helped to settle the game in the Dragons favour.

Paul McGregor continues his occasional series, giving a photographer’s eye view of the county cricket scene

Paul McGregor20-Apr-2001Paul McGregor continues his occasional series, giving a photographer’s eye view of the county cricket scene.
Durhamhold a press promotion
Photo CricInfo
Punctuating the photocalls that form the pre-season workload for the cricket photographer are the promotional events. Welcome among these for the upcoming season was the promotion by Durham CCC of their allotted ODI between Australia and Pakistan in June. For this England – and sometimes Yorkshire – all-rounder Craig White made an appearance alongside the new Durham coach (ex-Yorkshire) Martyn Moxon.Such events normally get aired on the local TV stations even in a football-dominated area such as the north-east of England. Photographers are anxious to get Mr White looking at their particular lens as he makes a point so as to capture a moment that belongs only to that cameraman and not the guy taking pictures a yard or so away.
Menat work for the new season
Photo CricInfo
The photographer’s job is clear on these occasions; get a good clear image , well lit and without letting the flash overexpose the subject. Normally bounce or diffused flash would be considered but care must be taken with such techniques. Also remember to get that all-important logo in for the club or sponsor.In the meantime, the job of cleaning up the ground after the storms and floods of winter continues all over England. The tedious task of cleaning all the seats in the ground goes alongside a new lick of paint on the stands. Keeping the members’ areas spick and span is of particular importance. Members of county clubs in England are known to be particular about where they sit.
TheOutlaws and CricInfo
Photo CricInfo
Now is the time for CricInfo.com to once more proudly proclaim its sponsorship of the Nottinghamshire Outlaws. Pictured in their Sunday best the Notts team are seen with CricInfo officials at Trent Bridge. This is a particularly welcome event for the CricInfo photographer as he will now get a brand spanking new shirt to wear on a Sunday.

Azhar Mahmood saved Pakistan from embarrassment withan unbeaten 80 after an unknown off-spinner wreckedtheir batting at Derby.Nathan Dumelow, a 20-year-old making his first-classdebut, took four wickets, three in 19 balls, as thetourists crashed from 101-1 to 182-9.But Mahmood and Shoaib Akhtar shared a last wicketstand of 80 to give Pakistan a lead of 96 and by theclose, Derbyshire were 66-2 in their second innings.As well as Mahmood batted, the day belonged to Dumelowwhose only other taste of senior cricket had come onMonday in the Benson & Hedges Cup at Leicester.To bowl for 22 overs unchanged against top players ofspin was a superb effort and he thoroughly deservedhis success after his second ball was hit for six byImran Farhat.He kept his nerve and flighted the ball to take theprize wickets of Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam-ul-Haqbefore he bowled Abdur Razzaq second ball for a duck.Derbyshire rate him highly and skipper Dominic Corksaid: “He is a wonderful talent. There are some goodplayers of spin among those victims.”Pakistan will be concerned at the way they struggledagainst a weakened county team but will be encouragedby the performance of Mahmood who played well in acrisis.Unfortunately there were some incidents off the fieldwhen a small number of Pakistan supporters wereejected from the County Ground after bottles werethrown from a stand.No one was hurt but the club’s chief executive JohnSmedley said: “We are sorry it came to this, I don’tthink anyone knows what started this off.”

Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman could hit the jackpot with a deal for Wolves centre-back Dion Sanderson as he prepares to table an opening offer for the 21-year-old.

What’s the talk?

According to Football Insider, Speakman is preparing to make a bid for Sanderson following the end of his loan spell at the Stadium of Light. Speakman wants to bring Sanderson back for a second season in League One and is ready to test the water with an opening salvo. Sunderland are hoping that the relationships built with Sanderson inside the club will be enough to convince him to make the switch.

The report claims that a number of clubs are tracking Sanderson, with Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Huddersfield and Sheffield United named as some of the teams interested in the centre-back – who has one year left on his contract at Wolves. The Premier League side, Wolves, are open to selling Sanderson and would like a fee in the region of £2m for the 21-year-old defender.

After an impressive performance against Crewe earlier this season, Sunderland boss Lee Johnson hailed Sanderson as a “Rolls-Royce” of a defender. He told The Chronicle:

“He was the one that was kind of a shining light in terms of the defensive performance.

“That can be clouded sometimes by the team [performance] because individually he has done alright. I think that’s where it starts for all of us – make sure you are a leader for at least two people.

“If you’re playing at centre-back, then look after a central midfielder, the other centre-half, and maybe the right-back. If you look after those, it switches you on and helps you to focus and concentrate.”

“He’s a centre-half and at his age level he is an absolute Rolls-Royce.”

Jackpot

The £135k-rated beast showed maturity beyond his years during his loan spell with the club and clearly impressed enough for the higher-ups at Sunderland to want to snap him up permanently. Sanderson only turned 21 in December of 2020 and his performances for the club suggest that he could have a very bright future ahead of him, as he has been able to catch the eye at League One level, despite this young age.

In 26 League One appearances for Sunderland, Sanderson averaged a solid WhoScored rating of 6.72. However, his overall rating is marred by seven substitute appearances dragging it down, as his displays whilst starting were where the eye-catching statistics came from. Sanderson averaged a score of 6.87 in two games at fullback – playing right-back and left-back – and averaged a score of 6.88 in 17 starts at centre-back for the Black Cats.

His age and his performances for Sunderland during the 2020/21 campaign mean that Speakman could be hitting the jackpot if he brings him in on a permanent deal. Lee Johnson could have the chance to coach the “Rolls-Royce” into developing further as a player and that could then open the door to Sunderland selling him on for greater profit in the future.

Take a club like Norwich, for example, who signed James Maddison and Ben Godfrey in 2016 for similar fees to the one it could take to sign Sanderson. They later sold Maddison for £24m to Leicester and Godfrey for £30m to Everton. Bringing Sanderson in for just £2m could result in a huge payday for the club down the line if they are able to handle his progress in the right way and nurture him into becoming a top player.

AND in other news, fans should be delighted as £4k-p/w beast has been backed to sign a new deal