Shrewsbury are set to pay a heartwarming tribute to their kitman during their FA Cup clash against Wrexham on Sunday.
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West Ham United have been handed a boost in their efforts to sign Jonathan Tah this summer, with Kicker, via TeamTalk reporting that the defender wants to leave Bayer Leverkusen this summer.
What is the latest West Ham transfer news?
The Hammers may be heading into this season off the back of a Europa Conference League success, but with more European football looming and other Premier League outfits recruiting, they may need to act fast to add some more fresh faces to their squad. They are actually yet to make a single addition to their team over the course of the transfer window thus far, although that hasn't stopped them from being linked with a host of different names.
For starters, it looks like a deal is edging closer to send Scott McTominay to the club from Manchester United. The midfielder has himself been linked with a number of different sides this summer, but it appears that the Hammers are currently in the driving seat to land the Scot.
Discussions have reportedly been held over a transfer and how much he could potentially cost, with the Red Devils wanting "big bids" to even consider a sale. The same applies to Harry Maguire, another member of that United squad who has been on the wishlist of West Ham.
Are West Ham signing Jonathan Tah?
Maguire isn't the only defender the Hammers have been tailing either. They've also kept a close eye on Tah at Bayer Leverkusen, with the Premier League outfit asking about his availability earlier on in the window. Having made that initial contact towards the beginning of the summer – and been quoted his release clause of 18 million Euros (£15m) – there is now an update on the defender's situation in Germany.
According to Kicker, via TeamTalk, Tah has admitted he is "open" to a potential deal away and wants out of his club this summer, although he is also "aware" and content enough with his current situation in Leverkusen.
However, he could not hide his interest in perhaps securing a switch to England and the Premier League, as he also added that it has "always been his goal" to play in the top flight. With the Hammers having expressed this previous interest in his services then, they would provide a pathway for the centre-back to make his dream move into the division – and it might give them a bit of a boost in terms of luring him to club this transfer window.
If the Hammers did manage to sign him, then they would be getting a player who has often proved a reliable presence at the back and someone that has a lot of experience under his belt to boot. Tah, lauded as "excellent" by journalist Josh Bunting, has ten seasons of Bundesliga action to draw upon, having featured in a whopping 243 league games in total in that division.
However, he has never played away from Germany over the course of his career – and this summer could be the time he finally branches out and heads to England with West Ham.
Zimbabwe are no strangers to the woes of the batting collapse, but on the first day of the first Test at Queens Sports Club it was West Indies’ batting that had failed. After a steady start to their innings, the scale and speed of their collapse surprised even the hosts.”When they were 170-odd for three we were not expecting them to be bowled out 45 runs later,” said Sean Williams, whose second spell brought 3 for 2 in four overs. “Between [Graeme] Cremer and I, we just tried to keep the squeeze on as much as possible, especially to Hope because we knew his hundred was coming up and we didn’t want him to have any strike. We kept the squeeze on and it worked for us.”Captain Graeme Cremer was Zimbabwe’s leading wicket-taker with 4 for 64, and along with Williams he did most of the damage after tea. It was Sikandar Raza’s offspin that started West Indies’ slide. He had a settled Roston Chase caught at short leg, and from then on Zimbabwe’s tails were up.”We took it one wicket at a time,” Raza said. “When we got Roston Chase out, we thought we were in with a sniff. Credit to Sean and Graeme for the way they wrapped up the innings.”Zimbabwe had asked the Queens curator for a spinning track, but with the speed West Indies folded, the amount of turn available on the first day surprised even them. “I wasn’t expecting it [to turn so much],” Williams said. “But I expect it to spin more as the Test goes on.””It suits us if it starts to turn,” Raza agreed. “We were hoping it would turn, so credit to the groundsmen for doing a fantastic job in pulling off what we asked for. Any lead now would be a good lead! We’ve got the three spinners plus the control of Jarv [Kyle Jarvis] and Bobby [Mpofu]. That gives us confidence that we can win this Test match, especially after rolling them over for 219. They batted for 83 overs and the game never got away from us.”Much of Zimbabwe’s success was built on the early work the seamers had put in. Kyle Jarvis was willing to pitch the ball right up in pursuit of swing, while from the other end Chris Mpofu gave exceptional support in an opening spell that read 6-3-5-0.”They [the seamers] bowled really well,” Williams said. “I think Chris Mpofu bowled exceptionally well in the beginning and so did Jarvis. The West Indies batsmen like bat on ball – as everybody knows – with the Calypso cricket and hitting boundaries. I felt we stuck to our guns, and stuck to our lines and lengths, and it ended up paying off.”Now that the bowlers have done their job, it will be up to Zimbabwe’s batsmen to press home their advantage. Solomon Mire started brightly, but this is the sort of track that will require some hard graft.”Shai Hope showed us the way to bat on that track.” Raza said. “Some guys got a good ball that they couldn’t have done too much about, but Hope showed how you might want to construct an innings on this track. Day two might be a better batting track.””But it depends on how we go about playing spin – I think that’s the key on this wicket,” Williams added. “Spin and the short ball will be key.”
Glasgow Rangers will start the 2023/24 season with a totally different look from how they finished the previous campaign.
Seven players have already been signed by Michael Beale and with moves for Danilo and Jose Cifuentes edging closer, it could be nine new arrivals by the time the Premiership season kicks off in just over a week.
Who will Rangers sign next?
With his business close to being completed, the Gers have been linked with a move for 19-year-old Dembo Saidykhan this summer, although the club could face some competition from the likes of Southampton and Toulouse for his signature.
Beale has signed just two defenders, Dujon Sterling and Leon Balogun, so another centre-back is a must in order to boost the squad depth ahead of a hectic schedule which could see the Ibrox side play in four competitions should they qualify for the Champions League group stages.
A move for Arsenal defender Auston Trusty appears to have gone cold as talks have stalled while Jonathan Panzo has also been linked with a move to Glasgow, but nothing has materialised yet.
Beale could perhaps sign the wildcard option that is Saidykhan, and he could forge a solid future defensive duo alongside young Ibrox talent Leon King.
Who is Dembo Saidykhan?
There is no doubt a young talent can make their mark at Rangers, especially considering King’s rapid ascent from academy prospect to securing regular first-team football during the first half of last season.
The 19-year-old played 23 senior matches during 2022/23, with six coming in the Champions League, and he was even ranked third across the squad for tackles per game (1.7) and fifth for clearances per game (two) in Europe’s premier club competition.
This clearly suggests that despite his lack of experience, he has the talent to become a mainstay in a few years.
Saidykhan could perhaps become his ideal defensive partner, notably shining recently for the Gambia at the U20 World Cup.
Not only was he the seventh-best performer for his nation via overall Sofascore rating (7.05), but the defender showcased his passing ability, ranking fourth for accurate passes per game (45.8), suggesting that he is able to comfortably pass the ball from the defence and begin regular attacks.
Having also made 1.5 tackles and one interception per game, there is also nothing wrong with the 6 ft 1 titan's defensive ability as these numbers ranked him as the third-best defender across both metrics in the squad.
He was hailed as “agile” by journalist Hernan Federico Pacheco following his displays at the aforementioned tournament and these have clearly put him on the map in terms of a potential move to Europe.
Although he may not make inroads straight away, there is no doubt Beale is looking at finding talented youngsters and luring them to the Light Blues as he bids to lower the average age of his squad.
It could take a while, but a central defensive partnership consisting of King and Saidykhan may well be the norm at Ibrox in a few years.
The game was delicately poised before the rain interruption, with Bangladesh A at 75 for 3 in pursuit of 230
ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2017
ScorecardBarry McCarthy chipped in with a solid lower-order knock and then took two wickets•Getty Images/SportsfileRain in Cox’s Bazar ruined the first one-day match between Bangladesh A and Ireland A. The interruption came with the game delicately poised: the home side were on 75 for 3 chasing 230 runs to win, with Zakir Hasan was unbeaten on 35 and Tanbir Hayder on 10.Batting first, Ireland A came back from a poor start to post a competitive 229. They had slipped to 14 for 4 in the fifth over with Subashis Roy and Abu Hider taking two wickets each.But they recovered through an 83-run fifth wicket stand between Sean Terry and Lorcan Tucker. This was followed by an eighth-wicket stand between Andrew McBrine and Barry McCarthy, which yielded 64 runs.Terry top-scored with 65 off 64 balls, including seven fours and three sixes, while McCarthy and McBrine made 39 and 37 respectively. Subashis, Hider, Abul Hasan and Hayder took two wickets each.In pursuit, the home side had lost three wickets by the 11th over before the rain arrived. McCarthy removed Shadman Islam and Nazmul Hossain Shanto while Jacob Mulder took the wicket of Nadif Chowdhury.The second match of the series will be held on October 19.
Kerala cruised home after KC Akshay’s nine-for while Saurashtra leapt to the top of the table after handing Jharkhand a thrashing
ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2017
Piyush Chawla celebrates a wicket•BCCI
Gujarat completed their third straight win from as many games after they thumped Haryana by 238 runs in Valsad. They needed less than 10 overs on the final morning after Haryana added only 28 runs to their overnight score of 94 for 7. Seventeen-year-old left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai picked up his second five-wicket haul in only his second first-class game and finished with a match-haul of eight wickets. Veteran legspinner Piyush Chawla, meanwhile, claimed his 23rd five-for to go with his four wickets in the first innings.Overnight batsman Harshal Patel was the first to be dismissed in the morning by Desai, following which Sanjay Pahal (41), the top-scorer for Haryana, was bowled by Chawla. Chawla then wrapped up things in his next over by having the last man Ashish Hooda caught behind. While Gujarat are on top of Group B with 19 points, Haryana are at the bottom after having lost all their three games.Kerala needed only 8.5 overs on the final morning to brush aside Jammu & Kashmir by 158 runs and collect their third win from four games in Thiruvananthapuram. With 18 points, they are now second-placed behind Gujarat having played one extra game. Debutant right-arm spinner KC Akshay picked up all the three wickets to fall on the morning to claim his maiden five-wicket haul. Akshay, 21, ended up with a match haul of9 for 58.Resuming on 56 for 7, J&K lost their first wicket in the third over of the day after Asif Khan was cleaned up by Akshay. The remaining batsmen put up little resistance, as they were bowled out for 79. Only three batsmen got into the double digits. J&K are just one rung above bottom-placed Haryana in the standings. Sanju Samson was named man-of-the-match for his century in the first innings.Saurashtra beat Jharkhand by six wickets to register their third win on the trot. Chasing 59, Saurashtra lost the opportunity to score seven points as they lost a few early wickets, but eventually completed it without much trouble. That meant they now have 20 points and have leapfrogged Kerala and Gujarat to the top of the table.Resuming on 139 for 1 after being made to follow-on, Jharkhand lost Nazim Siddiqui, in the ninth over for 75. Sumit Kumar, who made 108, and Saurabh Tiwary put on 77 runs before the latter was bowled by left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. Six overs later, Dharmendrasinh removed Sumit to leave Jharkhand on 259 for 4. Ishank Jaggi (35) and Ishan Kishan (34) added 56 runs before the floodgates opened, with Jharkhand slipping from 315 for 5 to 341 all out. Dharmendrasinh finished with four wickets.
Manchester City are now in advanced talks over a deal for Josko Gvardiol, and they remain confident they will be able to complete the move, according to a report from Football Insider.
Who is Josko Gvardiol signing for?
There have been recent reports that Man City may face late competition from elsewhere in their pursuit of Gvardiol, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool allegedly all submitting offers, however Pep Guardiola's side remain favourites.
The Sky Blues' pursuit of the RB Leipzig defender has been ongoing for quite some time, with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano initially claiming the first part of his medical had been completed, although he later clarified this was not the case.
Leipzig sporting director confirmed the two clubs were still quite some way apart in their negotiations over the centre-back, saying: "A lot has been written and the latest information about Josko surprised us all.
"Currently we're still very far apart."
He added: "As you can see, Josko is here – so it's not true.
"He didn't do a medical check – not that we know. And I don't think he did it behind our backs because he's just a full professional.
"There is no agreement, not even remotely an agreement."
However, it now appears as though City are finally close to getting their man, with Football Insider reporting they are in advanced talks over a deal, which is set to amount to £140m in total, including his wages.
The Citizens are now confident they will complete a deal for the £59k-per-week Leipzig star well before the transfer window slams shut, in what would be a near club-record deal, having shelled out £100m for Aston Villa's Jack Grealish in the summer of 2021.
The ball is still firmly in the Bundesliga club's court, as they have already received money for Dominik Szoboszlai and Christopher Nkunku this summer, and the Croatian is contracted until 2027, meaning there is no pressing need to let him leave.
What are Josko Gvardiol's main qualities?
The 21-year-old has been lauded by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, who described him as a "modern defender, who combines strength with good technique & passing", while also branding him a "tenacious tackler."
Despite his age, the 6 foot 1 centre-back already has a plethora of first-team experience, making 139 appearances during spells with Dinamo Zagreb and Leipzig, and he has received 21 caps for Croatia, having also impressed for his national side.
At the World Cup, the Croatia international was hailed by journalist Zach Lowy, who said: "Josko Gvardiol is a Rolls-Royce of a defender. 20 years old and the best player on the pitch in a match that featured Kevin De Bruyne and Luka Modrić…sensational center back."
The former Dinamo Zagreb man is also very capable of driving the ball forward, ranking in the 96th percentile for successful take-ons per 90 over the past year, when compared to his positional peers.
Gvardiol could be a fantastic long-term addition to Guardiola's squad, and Man City fans are likely to be relieved the transfer saga finally appears to be coming to an end.
Footballers are among a pantheon of the biggest celebrities across the globe these days, but just who are the most searched footy stars in 2023?
Plenty of the high-profile stars in the game today have attracted a mainstream audience; you simply need to look at the most followed people on social media handles like Instagram or Facebook to tell you that.
Players from PSG, the Saudi Pro League, Real Madrid, and Barcelona have emerged as the most sought-after personalities on Google searches in 2023. There's been a change of guard lately, but Google trends are showing that established stars still matter most.
If you're anything crazy about football stars like us, you might have wondered which players occupy football fans’ search engines. If yes, then you are in the right place to find it out. Here at GOAL, we present you with the list of the top 10 searched footballers on Google.
GettyLionel Messi | Inter Miami | 18.4 million average monthly searches
Whether you regard him as the undisputed GOAT or not, Lionel Messi is still one of the greatest players to have graced the football pitch in the history of the game. It's a status he has earned by virtue of his incredible achievements, which he continues to stack up even at the age of 36.
Messi fired Argentina to World Cup glory in December 2022, winning the Golden Ball for his exploits in the tournament. He then shocked the sporting world by joining David Beckham's Inter Miami in the MLS after leaving Paris Saint-German, and mesmerised the States with his gifted talents, leading the Herons' to their first-ever silverware in the form of the inaugural Leagues Cup competition.
The Argentine superstar also clinched the 2023 Men's Ballon d'Or award to take his overall count to a record-extending eighth, and being the most recognisable face of football, it's fair to assume that he's also one of the most searched sportsmen in 2023.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesCristiano Ronaldo | Al-Nassr | 15.2 million average monthly searches
While most footballers are winding down in their late thirties, CR7 still seems hungrier than ever. Arguably the most popular sporting personality on the planet, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was Googled close to 200 million times in 2023. It has been a momentous year for the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo as he turned around his fortunes at Al-Nassr, having departed Manchester United under something of a cloud in January 2023.
The Portuguese legend's move to the Saudi Pro League does appear to have rejuvenated him and has already won his first trophy in the Middle-East after guiding Al-Nassr to a remarkable Arab Club Champions triumph. He currently leads the Saudi top-flight goalscoring standings as things stand, while he finished Euro 2024 qualifying as the competition's leading goal marksman.
His record of 53 goals in 58 appearances for both club and country during the calendar year puts him above European heavyweights like Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, and Harry Kane for the record of most goals in 2023.
Getty ImagesKylian Mbappe | Paris Saint-Germain | 12.5 million average monthly searches
Kylian Mbappe has well-and-truly emerged as one of the brightest stars in the football galaxy over the last half a decade or so. The Frenchman has captured the hearts of fans worldwide with his electrifying pace and skills, combined with exceptional goal-scoring potency on the pitch.
As one of the most prolific and dynamic forwards in the game, the Frenchman's popularity has transcended beyond the realm of football and he has truly become a global icon, as evident from the Google search volume of his name, with the speculation over his future making headline news on a constant basis.
Regarded as one of the best players of the 21st century, Mbappe helped Paris Saint-Germain retain the Ligue 1 title this year and also impressed at the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the end of last year by winning the Golden Boot and scoring a hat trick in the final against eventual winners Argentina. With Lionel Messi and Neymar now out of the fray at PSG, Mbappe is very much the main man in the French capital.
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GettyErling Haaland | Manchester City | 11.7 million monthly searches
Norwegian goal-machine Erling Haaland had an incredible 2023 as he won the Ballon d'Or Gerd Muller Trophy, which recognised him as the best striker last season. He broke the record for the most goals in a single Premier League season with 36 in only 35 appearances.
Powered by Haaland's insatiable hunger for goals, Man City completed a historic treble as the Citizens lifted the FA Cup, Premier League, and a first-ever Champions League, which they had long craved for, but seemed incapable of getting over the line until the arrival of Haaland, who also finished top scorer in Europe's elite competition.
It is hard to argue the result of the 23-year-old scooping the prize, although he was beaten to the prestigious Ballon d'Or honour by Messi in November.
Steven Fletcher and Paul Mullin fired Wrexham to a crucial three points as they ran out 2-0 winners against AFC Wimbledon in League Two on Saturday.
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Either side of a stop-start hour in which the focus of the Delhi Test shifted to the quality of the city’s air, India extended their dominance over Sri Lanka with bat and ball
The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy03-Dec-20172:11
Chopra: ‘Kohli’s hunger for runs is insatiable’
Either side of a stop-start hour in which the focus of the Delhi Test shifted to the quality of the city’s air, India extended their dominance over Sri Lanka with bat and ball. Virat Kohli brought up his sixth double-hundred and carried on to post his highest Test score, and, following a declaration in bizarre circumstances at 536 for 7, India’s bowlers took over, reducing Sri Lanka to 131 for 3 in their reply. An unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 56 between Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal raised Sri Lanka’s morale towards the end of the day, but they still ended it trailing by 405 runs.Sri Lanka’s fielders came out wearing face masks after lunch, and play was twice held up in smoggy conditions, with the air pollution in the vicinity of the Feroz Shah Kotla going up to “very unhealthy” levels. The two fast bowlers, Lahiru Gamage and Suranga Lakmal, went off the field midway through their overs, and eventually, with Sri Lanka struggling to put 11 players on the park, Kohli declared, signalling pointedly that his team was happy to bowl in these conditions.When Sri Lanka began their innings, it was their offspinning allrounder Dilruwan Perera rather than Sadeera Samarawickrama – who had been off the field since being struck on the helmet at short leg on day one – who walked out to open alongside Dimuth Karunaratne.India’s fast bowlers, with a total of 536 behind them, charged in at full tilt in the half hour that remained before tea, and blasted out two wickets. Karunaratne fell to the first ball of the innings, done in by Mohammed Shami, who angled one into the left-hander from around the wicket, hit the pitch hard on a shortish length, and got it to seam away from him. Forced to play by the angle, he feathered an edge through to the keeper.Then Ishant Sharma, going wide of the crease, did the No. 3 Dhananjaya de Silva for length. Shuffling across the crease, and neither coming forward nor going back, he jabbed uncertainly at the ball, playing well outside the line, and was struck on the back leg in front of the stumps.In the first four overs after tea, India dropped two catches at second slip. First, it was Shikhar Dhawan moving in front of Cheteshwar Pujara at first slip, shelling a chest-high chance when Dilruwan drove away from his body at Shami. Then it was Kohli, falling to his left when Mathews poked uncertainly at an Ishant delivery that straightened in the corridor.Dilruwan, who had looked fairly comfortable since his reprieve, timing his cover drives particularly well, then fell at the end of a 61-run stand with Mathews, sent on his way after India successfully reviewed a not-out lbw decision from Nigel Llong. A straighter one from Ravindra Jadeja struck him in line when he stepped out of the crease, and ball-tracking suggested the ball would have hit the stumps. Dilruwan, however, could have survived had he stretched out a little further; it turned out that the ball had struck his pad 2.99m from the stumps – at 3m, ball-tracking cannot reverse the umpire’s decision.Mathews looked extremely shaky in the early part of his innings, camping deep in his crease and poking away from his body on numerous occasions. In an effort to bowl fuller at him, however, the fast bowlers occasionally overpitched, and he put those balls away, a straight drive off Ishant particularly eye-catching. Slowly, he grew in confidence, enough to greet R Ashwin’s belated introduction – he came on in the 28th over – by hitting him for successive sixes to bring up his fifty.In fading light, Mathews and Chandimal survived a testing period before stumps, against Shami’s reverse-swing and the accuracy of Jadeja and Ashwin. With a few overs under his belt, Ashwin began looking particularly dangerous, finding the right pace for this pitch and threatening both edges from over and around the wicket. Bad light brought the examination to a halt three minutes from time, but it will begin all over again when Sri Lanka resume their innings.India began the day’s play on 371 for 4, and Sri Lanka, having picked up two quick wickets late on day one, may have harboured some hope of clawing their way back into the Test match. If they did, Kohli and Rohit Sharma quelled it with a fifth-wicket partnership of 135. It came to an end off what was to be the second-last ball before lunch, when Rohit fell for 65, bottom-edging a square-cut to the keeper off Lakshan Sandakan.India lost two more wickets after lunch. Gamage got one with the first ball after the first pollution break, R Ashwin reaching out at a wide one without moving his feet and steering it to gully – it wasn’t the first time he had been dismissed in this manner in the recent past.Then, in the midst of all the breaks in play, Sri Lanka finally found a way past Kohli. It was Sandakan’s fourth wicket, another good ball amidst an otherwise inconsistent mix, and another reminder of the talent that Sri Lanka will need to nurture with care. Kohli went back to a flat one bowled from left-arm around, perhaps playing the trajectory rather than the length. It skidded on – slow-motion replays indicated it may have been a flipper – and rapped him on the back pad, in front of the stumps. Kohli reviewed, but the ball didn’t have far to travel, and ball-tracking suggested it would have hit a good chunk of leg stump.If the 87 runs Kohli scored on Sunday didn’t come with quite the same ease as his first 156 on Saturday, it had little to do with Sri Lanka’s bowling, which remained unthreatening and inconsistent. Kohli, instead, had to fight his own body, which was beginning to show the toll taken by scoring three successive Test hundreds. A stiff back slowed him down between wickets, and brought India’s physio onto the field, but Kohli just kept batting.Sri Lanka persisted with spin for the first six overs of the morning, hoping for Sandakan to conjure up a wicket or two, but neither he nor Dilruwan made any impact on the pair in the middle. Rohit, on 6 overnight, took no time settling in, and launched Sandakan over long-off in the fourth over of the day before picking up two more fours in the next two overs.On came the second new ball, and Kohli clipped Lakmal’s first ball to the midwicket boundary. It turned out to be the first of six fours – the pick of them a Rohit pull off Gamage, hit just wide of mid-on – in six overs from which Lakmal and Gamage conceded 32. Kohli soon swept past the 200 mark, getting there with a pulled double off Lakmal, after which Rohit reached his fifty with a straight six off Dilruwan.