According to reports in the Daily Mail, West Ham United have launched a £35m-plus bid to sign Lazio attacker Felipe Anderson, who currently earns £70,000-a-week according to the Daily Star, and Irons fans have been quick to have their say on the rumour.
The Daily Mail says that the east London club have already opened talks with the Serie A club and the Brazilian’s representatives, with the 25-year-old said to be keen to work under new Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini.
Anderson, who would likely be a replacement for Michail Antonio seeing as he primarily plays on the right wing, enjoyed another impressive 2017/18 campaign with Lazio, scoring eight goals and providing a further 10 assists in 32 appearances in all competitions.
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West Ham supporters, who have urged their club to splash out £26m on another 25-year-old star, took to social media to give their thoughts on potentially bringing the South American to the London Stadium, and while one said “I’d cry”, another said “Anderson looks like a better player than Antonio”.
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According to reports by Spanish media outlet Diario Gol, Arsenal are among the clubs interested in signing Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic, who is rated at €45m (approximately £39.7m) according to Transfermarkt, in the summer following the arrival of Philippe Coutinho at the Camp Nou over the weekend.
What’s the word, then?
Well, even though the Croatia international has been a regular for the La Liga leaders this season, Diario Gol says that he fears the signing of Coutinho will limit his playing time for the rest of this campaign and the next one, and he is exploring leaving in the summer.
Diario Gol claims that the Gunners, Premier League rivals Liverpool and Juventus all have offers on the table for the 29-year-old, but that he would prefer to wait until after representing his country at the World Cup in Russia this summer in order to receive more offers.
The report adds that an exit isn’t definite, and if the midfielder continues to play regularly in the second-half of the current season then he won’t be looking to move on.
How has Rakitic done this season?
He has done well, and showed his versatility.
The Croatian has often played in either a central or defensive midfield role for Barca this term, scoring one goal and providing a further three assists in 28 appearances in all competitions.
The 29-year-old started four of their six Champions League group stage matches – coming off of the substitutes’ bench in the other two – with his sole goal of the campaign coming in the impressive 3-0 win against Juventus on the opening matchday.
According to WhoScored.com, Rakitic has shown the quality he has on the ball with an average passing accuracy of 90.6% in La Liga and in Europe, while he has made 25 key passes in 24 outings across those two competitions.
Would he be a good signing for Arsenal?
He certainly could be, and he may even be handed a more offensive role if he did join the Gunners.
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With Arsene Wenger already having the likes of Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey available to him in the middle, he may see Rakitic appearing in a more attacking position if he does bring the Croatian to the Emirates.
One concern for the north London outfit could be that he wouldn’t really be a signing for the future given he turns 30 years of age in March, but there is no doubting the ability he has on the ball and Arsenal will need guaranteed quality if the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil have left by the summer.
Had it not been for an injury on mid-week Three Lions duty, at the epicentre today’s FA Cup clash between Arsenal and Everton would have been a midfield battle between two lads in hot competition for a place in Roy Hodgson’s World Cup squad – Jack Wilshere and Ross Barkley.
Regardless, in Wilshere’s absence, the Toffees prodigy gave a strong account of himself, despite the 4-1 scoreline, so we’ve come up with a list of three reasons why Barkley should be on the plane to Brazil, illustrated throughout this afternoon’s ninety minutes.
1. Ability on the ball.
Amid all this talk about English football being in the dark ages and debates over our cultural inability to pass the ball properly, the 20 year-old’s technique is incredibly refreshing. The ITV studio pundits questioned Barkley’s end product before the match, but he soon silenced them with this vital contribution to the Toffees’ only goal of the afternoon, in the form of a whipping, devious cross;
https://vine.co/v/MqOtxdw3b7O/embed/simple
2. Power and penetration.
Another area the Three Lions currently lack is mobility and penetration, especially on the break. But once again, Barkley gave evidence this afternoon that he’s capable of filling that void. Prior to the exceptional delivery discussed in point one, the Goodison starlet picked up the ball just outside of Everton’s box, before driving up almost the entirety of the pitch before linking up with Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku to aid the Toffee’s first of the afternoon. The powerful, surging run delighted Twitter:
3. The competition.
Competition for a place at the heart of England’s midfield is incredibly fierce, but unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the overall quality. In today’s action alone, Barkley convinced a strong Twitter contingent that he’s far more deserving of a spot in the World Cup squad than many of his young, central midfield rivals. Namely Jack Wilshere – who has struggled for fitness and form all season – and Tom Cleverley, who, well… just isn’t very good at football.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright says that Theo Walcott deserves the chance to play a central striker role, according to ESPN.
Walcott is current in the midst of an ongoing contract dispute with the club and has stated in recent weeks that he wants to follow in the footsteps of Arsenal’s all-time greatest goal scorer, Thierry Henry by playing up front in a striker’s role after being utilised on the flanks by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
Wright, who himself scored 185 goals in 288 appearances for the north London outfit, believes that Walcott should be given the opportunity to prove his worth up front, “I love Theo and have been saying for a long time that he should be playing as a striker. Clearly he is not the finished article and could do with some more work from the Arsenal coaches, but Theo has all the ingredients to be a top striker.”
Wright says he cannot understand why Wenger won’t allow the 23-year-old to play up top, “Wenger has been saying for a long time that he sees Theo developing into a striker, so give the guy a chance and prove he can do it. If it doesn’t work, then fair enough, but give it a go it has to be worth a try.”
Wright believes that the jeers Walcott has been receiving from certain sections of the Gunners faithful is unfair, and hopes the negative press aimed towards the winger begins to dissipate, “My hope is the fans get Theo contract situation sorted and then he can get on with showing what he can do on the field. There are so many good things about this guy, but people always tend to focus on the negatives.”
Walcott has always had the weight of expectation on his shoulders, ever since being picked in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England squad for the 2006 World Cup. As a consequence, Wright believes that Walcott has always struggled to live up to the reputation he was given at the age of 16, “The trouble for me is that people believe he should be doing more than he does every week and the expectation around him isn’t his all his own fault. There he was at 16, never played for Arsenal in the Premier League, and he was thrown into the England World Cup squad in 2006. It was stupid. Ever since, people want him to win games on his own every week and nothing he does is good enough.”
The former Southampton man has fallen out of favour at the Emirates ever since the contractual situation has arisen. Despite scoring a brace against Coventry City on Wednesday night, Walcott is expected to start on the bench when the Gunners entertain Chelsea tomorrow.
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Tottenham fans are furious with the latest transfer news, after young midfielder Keanan Bennetts joined Borussia Mönchengladbach on a permanent deal.
Tottenham have been busy since the season ended, wrapping up young stars like Cameron Carter-Vickers, Davinson Sanchez and Harry Winks to new extended deals.
It seems they’re not having it all their own way though, as Keanan Bennetts has become the third English youngster to join Borussia Mönchengladbach, following Mandela Egbo and Reece Oxford to the German club.
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Bennetts has never played for the senior Tottenham team, but has been extremely impressive for the under-23 side this season, grabbing nine goals and eight assists in 32 appearances.
Mauricio Pochettino has a sterling reputation for nurturing young talent, and it doesn’t seem like fans are too happy about letting one slip away.
One would have to assume Pochettino decided against keeping Bennetts, as the club would have surely done more to keep him, but fans are nonetheless furious about losing a potential young star.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
According to reports in French publication FootMercato, Everton have turned down the chance to sign Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri, rated at £22.5m according to Transfermarkt, during the January transfer window.
What’s the word, then?
Well, Sky Sports reported on January 4 that the Toffees were one of a number of Premier League clubs interested in signing the 26-year-old, but FootMercato says that while the Ivory Coast international has been offered to Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City, Everton aren’t interested.
FootMercato reports that Sam Allardyce’s side are well stocked in central areas, and the manager is looking to sign attacking players and a centre-back this month instead.
How has Seri done this season?
He has been good, but not as impressive as last year.
The versatile player scored seven goals and provided a further nine assists in 34 Ligue 1 appearances last term from central and defensive midfield position, but he has scored just one goal and provided a further five assists in 21 outings this season, although the majority of those have come when he has been playing in a deeper role.
The Ivorian is known for his passing and his ability to create chances, as well as making interceptions in the middle of the park.
Are Everton right to not want him?
They certainly are.
The Toffees have plenty of options in the central midfield positions – Morgan Schneiderlin, Idrissa Gueye, Mo Besic, James McCarthy, Tom Davies, Wayne Rooney and Davy Klaassen can all play there if needed – and it is certainly an area that doesn’t need strengthening right now.
Could they target him in the future?
It seems unlikely, unless Morgan Schneiderlin or Idrissa Gueye leave either during the current window or in the summer.
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However, Seri has been heavily linked with an exit from Nice, and if that happens this month it will be too late by the summer for Everton anyway.
Crystal Palace became the eighth league team to have a manager depart this season, after it was announced on Wednesday that Ian Holloway had vacated his position by mutual consent.
The Bristolian exited Selhurst Park having been in charge for just under a year, with the club 19th in the Premier League table, five points adrift of safety.
In spite of the Eagles’ poor start to the season, culminating in Monday’s humiliating 4-1 home defeat to fellow-strugglers Fulham, Palace chairman Steve Parish had maintained his conviction that Holloway was the right man to take the side forward. This opinion, though, had begun to erode the patience of a number of supporters.
But only two days later club and manager parted company, with speculation now rife over who could be the man to save the Londoners’ ailing season.
The hot favourite appears to be former Stoke boss Tony Pulis, who Skybet price as 1/3 to get the nod, an offer no doubt contributed to by Steve Parish’s apparent openness to hold talks with the Welshman. Speaking to talkSPORT the Palace chief said “I’m sure we’ll try and contact him [Pulis] and if he’s interested we’ll have a chat with him and see where we go.”
One of the main attractions in landing Pulis would be his track record, which boasts consistent overachievement at Stoke and a history of never having been relegated.
To appoint him, however, could represent a U-turn of epic proportions on behalf of the club’s owners, away from the passing attacking style that Holloway tried to implement.
There can be no doubt that Palace’s improbable promotion under their now former boss resulted in the development of a long term plan of investment, a measure taken to ensure the club’s long-term safety and stability after being on the brink of liquidation just three years ago.
This included improvements to infrastructure and stadium as well as a clearly defined direction for the footballing side of things, expected to be implemented under the stewardship of the now departed Holloway.
Indeed, should the club have been relegated come the end of the season, it seems the plan was to stick with the manager as he attempted to win promotion straight back to the Premier League next year.
The problem now faced by Parish and his co-owners, is to what extent they will look to pursue those footballing principles under a new manager.
It is clear that the club has budgeted for the strong chance of relegation, having failed in four previous attempts to remain in the top tier for more than a season. As such, players who could put an unnecessary strain on a prospective and probable Championship wage budget, have been confined to short-term contracts, whilst younger players like Jose Campana and Dwight Gayle, were tied in to longer term deals.
And any new manager will now be forced to get the best out of the group of players assembled by Holloway, which both he and chairman Parish have accepted include some naïve signings.
It seemed Palace had been caught napping for long periods of the summer, embodied by the decision to sign six players in the final two days of the transfer window, a move which in hindsight would appear to have eroded the play-off winners’ morale.
These are the issues that Palace must acknowledge in their search for a new man, and ones that may indeed put off prospective applicants.
It has to be said that the current position of the club, with seven losses in eight league games, makes for grim reading. However, in Parish and co. Palace fans have owners of whom they can be proud, with common sense and proven track record of good business acumen. Though a little out of their depth at present, the club has a solid grounding upon which to build for the future, be that in the Premiership, or more likely, Championship, at least for the time being.
Current personnel though, may impede the ability of a Pulis-type character to play the way they would like, with the present squad having been geared around pace and wing-play as opposed to long-ball physicality.
Other names linked with the post have included former boss Neil Warnock and Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy, though Palace fans would almost certainly prefer to secure someone with a more successful Premier League pedigree.
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One potential suitor in that mould could be Newcastle boss Alan Pardew, a legend at the Selhurst outfit and someone who might be keen to work alongside the men at the top of the club. Indeed, with rumours over his future following the appointment of Joe Kinnear as the Magpies director of football, the former midfielder could welcome the chance of a fresh start with his former side.
Regardless of who takes the job, though, Palace fans know only too well that no managerial appointment is forever and would probably accept staying up by any means necessary.
But should relegation occur all will not necessarily be lost for the Eagles, with the opportunity to rebuild and regroup, perhaps facilitating the construction of a stronger side for years to come.
You could be mistaken for thinking there was only one significant piece of transfer activity that happened at Old Trafford this summer. The signing of Robin Van Persie from Arsenal stole all the limelight and even poor Shinji Kagawa had little time to bask in the spotlight as United’s most high profile arrival this summer. It may have skipped your attention then that Sir Alex Ferguson brought in another new striker during the transfer window, 18-year-old Angelo Henriquez.
Henriquez’s arrival was a quiet affair, swamped by the never-ending optimism created by the Van Persie deal. In fact, he wasn’t even the most exciting youngster to sign for United this summer as Crewe’s Nick Powell took that title after joining for £5 million. However, all the signs point to Henriquez proving to be a quality addition as well, indeed United had to fend off interest from rivals City to secure his signature in the first place and they completed a £3.5 million move to bring him over from Universidad de Chile.
In Henriquez’s case, it’s a good example of how a scouting network abroad works wonders for a club. Aged just 15, the striker came over with fellow Chilean Pedro Salgado for a trial and impressed the United staff so much, they set up regular training sessions for the player to monitor his progress, before agreeing a pre-contract arrangement with his club that meant the Red Devils could sign Henriquez at any point before his 20th birthday. With the player showing such promising form in the Chilean division, Sir Alex Ferguson has chosen to activate that arrangement already and Henriquez has now linked up with his new teammates.
The player’s goal scoring record in Chile meant United had to act quickly to ward off interest from a number of other European rivals, including Manchester City. Henriquez broke into the first team at Universidad de Chile at the start of the 2012 season and posted an impressive record, notching 15 goals in 27 games. It’s not like the level of football he played at was of a poor standard either, indeed Universidad are one of the best teams in Chile and are competitive in the Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League. That was enough to convince Fergie that Henriquez can cut the mustard in Europe already, so instead of leaving him to develop in his native Chile, he’s brought him over to continue his progression at Old Trafford.
Numerous people have questioned whether this is the right decision, indeed perhaps Henriquez would be better off returning to Universidad on loan at least for the time being. 18 is a young age to come and settle into a foreign country while trying to break into the first team of one of the best football teams on the planet. It’s a tough ask for the striker, but he’s shown that he’s more than capable already, especially with his performances in his native league.
Internationally, the striker had caught the eye a number of years ago with his progression through the Chilean age groups. He made his debut for the U23 side this year, scoring twice on debut and also impressed for the U20’s, bagging 14 goals in nine games for the Roja. He starred in the South American U17 Championships, scoring three times in four games despite Chile crashing out in the first round of the competition, but this form thrust him into the European limelight and Four Four Two named him one of the five best players in the U17 category that year.
There’s no doubt he’s a talented player, with excellent movement and a good finishing ability. Henriquez is also extremely versatile, equally comfortable with coming deep to pick up the ball or drifting wide and running at defenders. This means he has the all-round game to succeed in the Premier League and his knack of finding the back of the net will undoubtedly ensure comparisons to Javier Hernandez who took to the Premier League like a duck to water after his move over the Atlantic.
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With the riches United now have in the striking department, it may be a while before we see Henriquez in action for the club and perhaps Sir Alex will realise he needs to ply his trade on loan back in South America before he can star for United. However, he’s certainly one to keep an eye on and who knows, perhaps in the future maybe people will remember this transfer window as the one where Manchester United signed Angelo Henriquez and not Robin Van Persie.
The senior allrounder scored his first T20I fifty in two years to help Bangladesh beat Netherlands
Shashank Kishore13-Jun-20241:42
Maharoof: Shakib was prepared for Netherlands’ short-ball tactics
Prior to Thursday, Shakib Al Hasan had last registered a T20I half-century in October 2022. Since then, he’s battled a number of issues, on and off the field, including an eye condition that has hampered his batting.In his first two matches at the T20 World Cup, he was knocked off for 8 and 3. But in a vital group fixture against Netherlands, he broke the 19-match streak without a half-century with an unbeaten 46-ball 64 that helped Bangladesh post 159, which proved to be 25 too many for Netherlands. This puts Bangladesh in an excellent position to make the Super Eights going into their final league fixture against Nepal on Monday.”It was important for someone from the top four to bat throughout the innings,” Shakib said after being named Player of the match. “Happy with the way I contributed. It wasn’t an easy wicket [to bat on] but we held our nerves and put on a decent total.”Related
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Shakib walked into bat with Bangladesh in trouble at 23 for 2 but looked in sparkling form right from the outset. His counterattack along with Tanzid Hasan, with whom he added 48 in just 32 balls, caught Netherlands briefly off guard.The acceleration gave Bangladesh a little bit of breathing space on a surface that slowed down considerably as the match progressed. It set up cameos from Mahmudullah and Jaker Ali as Bangladesh made 54 off the last five overs.Shakib admitted assessing the surface wasn’t easy considering this was the first T20I at the venue in over 10 years. Shakib himself has had some experience of playing here, having featured in Bangladesh’s first-ever Test win overseas, back in 2009.While that may have elicited happy memories, it’s unlikely they could’ve drawn upon something from that experience. “There’s hardly been an international game here in the last four-five years, so we didn’t know what a good score was,” Shakib explained.”We had to keep wickets in hand to see where we would be after 14-15 overs and then see how far we go. Our total [159] was decent, in a World Cup can it’s always tricky to chase. I won’t say it was a winning total, but it was a challenging total.”Netherlands were in the hunt for the first 14 overs of the chase. After losing openers Michael Levitt and Max O’Dowd inside the powerplay, they accelerated courtesy Vikramjit Singh and Sybrand Engelbrecht. Then with Scott Edwards coming in and picking off runs against spin, especially towards the shorter leg-side boundary with the breeze, they brought down the equation to 56 runs needed off 36 balls.It’s at this point that legspinner Rishad Hossain turned the game around by picking up Engelbrecht and Bas de Leede in the space of three deliveries to turn the game around. He would finish with figures of 3 for 33 to take his wickets tally to seven in the competition, just two behind the leader, Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi.”They [Netherlands] had their moments,” Shakib said. “In the 12th over, they were close to 90 for 3. Ten an over from there on this wicket with the wind going one way, it wasn’t easy to restrict them but credit to our bowlers for the way they held their nerve.”
Australian was a part of England backroom staff for victorious tour of 2010-11
ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2023David Saker, England’s bowling coach during their ascent to the No. 1 Test ranking a decade ago, has agreed to return to the role for this summer’s Ashes, after being sounded out by the Test captain, Ben Stokes.Saker, 56, is currently in Bangladesh working with England’s white-ball squad, but has agreed to link up with the red-ball team during the English summer, and reprise a role he last performed from 2010 to 2015, including two previous Ashes wins in 2010-11 and 2013. As a native Australian, he also performed the same role for his home country between 2016 and 2019.”I don’t think I’ll do much Test cricket, but I’m doing the Ashes,” Saker told reporters in Dhaka. “Ben said: ‘I’d like to get you involved in the Ashes.’ Rob Key [managing director] had already floated it a little bit, but being so busy I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to do it. Once Stokesy pushed it, it made it an easy decision. I said yes straight away because of the magnitude of the occasion. I’ve been involved in Ashes with both parties and the cricket is as exciting as it gets. It’s the biggest Test event.”Related
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With his focus on mindset over technique, Saker’s methods would appear to be a good fit for England’s current Test team, which includes two of his previous charges in James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who are set to embark on their tenth and ninth Ashes campaigns respectively.”Working with England the first time was so much fun,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to do the Ashes with this group because they are the best team in the world to watch at the moment.”Baz [Brendon McCullum] will pick a team that he thinks will win and he’ll explain what he wants from the players and then it’s my job to make sure they can deliver that,” he added.”The evolution of Jimmy and Broady, they’re so confident in what they can do and they just go out and do it. That’s what you want from your bowling group. My job is to make sure the bowlers are doing that.”It’s also creating an atmosphere in the dressing room that’s enjoyable. There’s no doubt that people are enjoying turning up to that Test team. It sounds like it’s a small thing, but the dressing-room atmosphere is a huge thing in international cricket.”The England team that won in Australia in 2010-11 before rising to the top of the Test standings the following summer was blessed with a core of outstanding fast bowlers – with Anderson and Broad at the forefront but the likes of Chris Tremlett, Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan also at their peak in that period.England’s stable of quick bowlers for this summer’s Ashes could include two of the fastest in the modern game in Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, a point of difference that Saker believes could give them the edge in their bid for a first series win over Australia since 2015.”To win Ashes and big series you need a good battery of fast bowlers and that is definitely the case about England,” he said. “You can say the same about the Australians, but playing on your home patch is always an advantage for a bowling group.”It’s exciting if we can have Jofra [Archer] and [Mark] Wood available. Whether you play them together is another thing, but you need that pace against the Australians. The thing those sorts of bowlers can do, they can bowl a spell that can crack a game open.”The key is to have a group of fast bowlers ready to get selected, so it makes it tough for the selection committee to make a decision. When you get that you usually get a pretty strong team.”