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Newcastle United are reportedly now ‘interested’ in signing Nantes midfielder Ludovic Blas in the summer.

The Lowdown: Salah comparisons

Mo Salah is having yet another remarkable season for Liverpool, as having already bagged the Carabao Cup, he is currently the outright top scorer in the Premier League with 20 goals so far, while he has also made ten assists (BBC).

Thus, to be compared to him is some praise indeed, and that is exactly what former Reds man Pedro Chirivella has done when discussing Blas, putting his teammate in the same breath as ex-teammates Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho (So Foot).

He also described Blas as a ‘pure talent’ and an ‘incredible’ and ‘spectacular’ player (So Foot), and so the 24-year-old looks to have a very bright future ahead of him.

The Latest: Newcastle interest

As per Italian football journalist Rudy Galetti, the St. James’ Park faithful, as well as West Ham United, are now ‘interested’ in Blas, who ‘could leave’ Nantes this summer.

The Ligue 1 club value the attacking midfield player at around €20m (£16.7m).

The Verdict: Sign

Given his rave reviews, and the fact that he is only 24, Blas could turn out to be a real bargain at just under £17m.

He has scored no fewer than 12 goals and made a further two assists in 32 matches over all competitions, mainly operating from an attacking midfield role (Transfermarkt), which would be useful in easing the goalscoring burden off of the likes of Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin.

Interestingly, he also shares the same agent as both Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood, two players who were signed by the North East club in the January transfer window, and so this is a deal that should definitely be doable.

In other news, find out what ‘huge boost’ NUFC have now received here!

أكد تشافي هيرنانديز، المدير الفني الإسباني لفريق كرة القدم الأول بنادي برشلونة، على أهمية مواجهة أتلتيك بلباو، في مباراة الغد ضمن الجولة 11 من الليجا.

برشلونة منتعش بالفوز على فياريال بثلاثية نظيفة يوم الخميس الماضي، ويسعى لاستغلال ذلك في مواجهة أسود الباسك، غدًا الأحد بملعب سان ماميس.

وقال تشافي في تصريحات بالمؤتمر الصحفي الخاص بالمباراة: “مواجهة أتلتيك بلباو صعبة، ونحن نقدر مدرب مثل فالفيردي، حتى ولو البيئة مختلفة مع أتلتيك بلباو”.

وأضاف: “لقد قام فالفيردي بعمل ممتاز مع برشلونة، إنه مدرب رائع، ومهذب ولا يفتعل المشاكل، طريقة لعبه مختلفة عن مارسيلينهو، ولكن سنحاول التعامل معه”.

وأكمل: “أهنئ جافي على جائزة أفضل لاعب شاب، إنه لاعب استثنائي وفريد من نوعه، على المستوى الدفاعي كذلك مُذهل ويرى كل شيء في الهجوم”.

طالع أيضًا | قائمة برشلونة أمام أتلتيك بلباو في الدوري الإسباني.. استمرار غياب كريستنسن

وعن مقارنة ثنائية بيدري وجافي بـ تشافي وإنييستا، قال لاعب برشلونة السابق: “لا وجه للمقارنة ولا داعي لها، حتى لو كانا متشابهين، فلديهما مستقبل وحاضر، وهما ضمان النجاح لأي لاعب، أتمنى أن يستفيد برشلونة منهما”.

وعن أنسو فاتي، قال تشافي: “لا يوجد لاعب أساسي وآخر بديل، لدينا 25 لاعبًا يتمتعون بمستوى عالٍ ويتنافسون مع بعضهم البعض، يجب أن يشعروا جميعًا بالأهمية، أنسو يصنع الفارق كلما شارك، ونتمنى أن يستمر هكذا”.

وعن صافرات الاستهجان ضد بيكيه، قال تشافي: “إنه بخير، وأرى أنه يلعب بشكل جيد، ومستعد ومركّز، أراه جيدًا وتعامل بطريقة جيدة في الـ10 دقائق أمام فياريال”.

وعن رفقاء ليفاندوفسكي في الهجوم: “لقد سجل أهدافًا مع الجميع، حتى إذا سجل بمفرده، ولكن كما هو الحال دائمًا، سننظر للفيق ونرى الأنسب لكل مباراة. لكن ليفاندوفسكي يتماشى بشكل رائع مع أي زميل في الفريق”.

وأردف بالحديث عن مركز كوندي: “يمكنه اللعب كظهير وكذلك في مركز الدفاع، ولكن هذا يعتمد على المباراة والغيابات. لقد فعل ذلك بالفعل بشكل جيد في المباريات التي شارك فيها”.

واختتم: “فرانك كيسيه دخل بشكل جيد في املنافسة، عاجلًا أم آجلًا سيكون له دورًا، لكن هناك منافسة كبيرة على مركزه”.

West Bromwich Albion are interested in a deal to bring Connor Goldson to The Hawthorns.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Scottish Sun, who claim that Valerien Ismael’s Albion side, as well as Nottingham Forest, are in talks with the Rangers centre-back regarding a pre-contract deal, with the 29-year-old having been free to discuss terms with potential suitors since January 1 as his contract at Ibrox expires at the end of the season.

The report goes on to state that, despite the reigning Premiership champions being in talks with the defender regarding a new deal throughout the current campaign, the former Brighton & Hove Albion man looks certain to leave the light blues this summer, with Gers having already sealed Goldson’s replacement in John Souttar.

Goldson would solve a major issue

While it is true that Ismael currently has seven centre-backs in his first-team squad, the fact remains that, should West Brom go on to secure promotion to the Premier League this season, a number of the Baggies’ current options in the position will need upgrading upon.

Indeed, the performances of Cedric Kipre have been something of a problem for Albion this season with some claiming it’s inconceivable he’s still in the team, while Kean Bryan has also struggled to stake a claim on a starting spot in the Frenchman’s XI.

Furthermore, while Matt Clarke has been impressive when he has been fit – averaging a SofaScore rating of 6.89 – he will more than likely be heading back to Brighton upon the expiry of his loan deal this summer.

As such, it would seem a wise move for Ismael to address his issues at centre-back as quickly as possible, and, considering just how impressive Goldson has been during his three and a half year spell in Glasgow, the defender would very much appear to make an excellent addition to the Baggies’ backline.

Indeed, over his 38 Premiership appearances last season, the £7.2m-rated centre-back helped his side keep an astonishing 26 clean sheets, as well as making an average of 0.9 interceptions, 1.3 tackles, three clearances and winning 6.8 duels – at a success rate of 71% – per game.

The player who Steven Gerrard dubbed “outstanding” also chipped in for his side in an attacking capacity, scoring four goals, providing two assists and creating two big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.1 shots and making 0.5 key passes per fixture.

These returns saw the £27k-per-week defender earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.39, ranking him as the club’s third-best performer in the league last time out.

As such, it would indeed appear as if Goldson would be a fantastic signing for Ismael to get over the line this winter, particularly as the 29-year-old would not cost West Brom a penny in transfer fees.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano drops transfer update that will have West Brom fans buzzing

Wolves would love to complete the permanent signing of attacking loanee Hwang Hee-chan this month, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The Lowdown: Hwang impressing at Wolves

The South Korean joined Wanderers from RB Leipzig last summer, seeing it as an opportunity to earn more regular playing time elsewhere.

Hwang has impressed at Molineux, scoring four goals in 11 Premier League starts and being hailed by Ian Wright as a player who has ‘got everything’.

Wolves have the option to sign the attacker on a permanent deal at the end of the season but other clubs could swoop in before then, highlighting why the Old Gold may need to act fast.

The Latest: O’Rourke backs permanent Hwang move

Speaking to Give Me Sport, O’Rourke confirmed that Wolves want to make Hwang’s loan move permanent, with a reported £14m option to purchase him outright.

The journalist claimed: “They would love to tie up a deal for Hwang. He’s really impressed since his loan move from Leipzig, so that would take up a bit of their finances if they were to do that.”

The Verdict: No-brainer for Wanderers

Hwang’s goalscoring form has dropped off of late, partly due to being sidelined through injury, but it makes complete sense for Wolves to snap him up for good.

The South Korea international has shone in a left-sided role, not only linking up well with Raul Jimenez but also showing a strong work ethic, winning 0.9 tackles and 1.4 fouls per game in the league.

It could be that the exit-linked Adama Troare needs to leave in the January transfer window in order for the funds to be available – Hwang far outstrips his team-mate in terms of goal contributions this term, so the hope is that it will happen.

In other news, Wolves have suffered a potential blow regarding one transfer target. Read more here.

Danish Kaneria had a good day but it could have been better

Osman Samiuddin at the SCG05-Jan-2010

Danish Kaneria had a good day but it could’ve been better. He took 4 for 117 in a familiar marathon spell, leading Pakistan as close to a Test victory against Australia as they have been in 15 years. Yet he could’ve had more; four catches were dropped off his bowling, of which he was at fault for one. A familiar name was at fault for the other three.Kamran Akmal has struggled, to put it politely, keeping wickets to Kaneria. Conservative estimates suggest he has dropped at least 15 catches off him over the last three years as well as missing a handful of stumpings. Michael Hussey was dropped thrice today on his way to a fighting, unbeaten 73, each time by Akmal off Kaneria. Had he held on to even one, the Test might not be going into a fourth day.Kaneria did the only thing he could in such a situation later in the day. He laughed about it. “One is okay, two is okay, three is too much I think,” he said. “I can’t do much else. He is trying his hardest and let’s just hope nothing goes wrong because we have another day and a Test at Hobart. It’s part of the game. He never means to do something wrong but it’s gone now, history. He said ‘Sorry mate.’ Three times.”Kaneria had a poor first session and only picked up as the afternoon wore on. After tea came his most fruitful period; he picked up three key wickets to hasten an Australian slide. The injured finger that had kept him out of the first Test was still playing on his mind; in dropping a catch at deep fine leg, he said he had tried to protect the finger.”I had an injured finger and was out of first Test,” he said. “My rhythm was not coming initially and something was wrong. So I just motivated myself. Waqar, Aaqib, especially the captain, and Inti all did as well. Then I just made myself think what am I doing wrong, I just focused, thought that I am doing everything ok and just lacking a bit of confidence. I came back hard and did well after that.”You don’t know when you will play or not. I was aiming to come back hard here. I’ve played here before and seen so many matches here. The SCG has never been so green but in the second innings it came good and I tried my best to deliver.”For most of a hot day, Kaneria was locked in at one end and only stopped as the day drew to a close. He had a few run-ins with players and officials – “they said you just need to calm down so I put tape on my mouth” – and cramps in his left calf forced him to go off the field. It was nothing serious, requiring only some icing and stretches.Australia are 80 ahead with only two wickets in hand and Kaneria said his side was confident they could pull off the first win against Australia in 15 years. “Hopefully, fingers crossed we can. Get two wickets as soon as possible tomorrow and play positive because cricket is a funny game. The Australians will come hard when they come to bowl. Nobody likes losing, it will be tough but we are very confident and should play our natural game. Australian always play hard cricket and tomorrow is a new day. Let’s see how it goes on. No matter if they get 120 or 130 we need to chase it down. I am and our team is very confident of our batting line-up.”

An update has emerged on Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo, regarding a potential move to Everton in January…

What’s the talk?

According to Italian outlet Sport Mediaset, the Serie A giants want to offload the Brazilian and a swap deal involving Lucas Digne could be on the cards.

The report claims that the Old Lady need a new left-back to replace Alex Sandro and sending their out-of-favour ex-Barcelona gem to Goodison Park could allow them to strike a deal for one.

Rafa would love him

Everton must pounce on this opportunity to sign Arthur from Juventus as he could be an excellent addition to the team. If Rafa Benitez is set on Digne leaving then it could be ideal to, at least, get a player back in return for him to bolster the squad ahead of the second half of the campaign.

Arthur has not had the best of times in Turin, with just two league starts this season, but the £31.5m-rated gem has shown in the past that he has the quality to be a top performer and Benitez would surely love him.

His former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi previously lauded his talent and adaptability upon his arrival at the club, saying:

“Arthur I didn’t know that much about but he seems similar to Xavi. He’s very safe and trustworthy. He has the La Masia style. Playing short passes, without losing the ball, and he grasped it quickly, the dynamic of the team.”

In his last season for the Spanish giants, he averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.84 in La Liga as he played 21 times and chipped in with three goals and three assists from midfield. He also averaged a score of 6.97 in the Champions League that term, proving that he can perform to a high standard at the top level.

Rafa would love him at Goodison Park as he could be a steady midfield presence who can perform consistently in the middle of the park, as per Messi’s comments on him being “trustworthy” and his statistics in his final year at Barcelona.

Of course, the beast’s lack of game time for Juventus is alarming and it remains to be seen how quickly he will be able to adapt to life in England because of his recent bench-warming. However, if the Toffees can get him back to the levels he was showing in La Liga and the Champions League for Barcelona then they could have a top player on their hands.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Digne: Rafa may ruthlessly replace £119k-p/w gem as EFC transfer news emerges…

Alastair Cook, England’s stand-in captain, has been fined 10% of his match fees while the rest of the team received a 5% cut on their earnings, for maintaining a slow over-rate during the second Twenty20 against South Africa in Centurion.Match Referee Javagal Srinath imposed the fines on the England team after they were found to have bowled one over short of the requisite amount after time allowances were taken into consideration.As per the ICC Code of Conduct guidelines, individual players are fined 5% of their match fee for each over that is bowled beyond the allotted time limit, while the captain is fined double that amount.South Africa beat England by 84 runs to square the series at 1-1. The teams will now contest a five-match ODI series starting November 20 in Johannesburg.

تعرض جمال موسيالا لاعب بايرن ميونخ لإصابة في كرة مشتركة بمباراة فريقه أمام شتوتجارت بمنافسات الدوري الألماني، مساء السبت.

واستبدل المدير الفني لـ بايرن ميونخ يوليان ناجيلسمان، موسيالا في الدقيقة 81، حيث كان يعرج في طريقه إلى مقاعد البدلاء، ودفع بساديو ماني بديلاً له خلال المواجهة.

موسيالا قدم تحديثات حول حالته وقال في تصريحاته لـ”SPORT1″ الألمانية: “لا بأس، إنها ليست إصابة!، هي فقط ضربة خفيفة”.

اقرأ أيضًا | ناجيلسمان عقب التعادل أمام شتوتجارت: سنحاول الخروج بأفكار جيدة من أجل مباراة برشلونة

وسيواجه بايرن ميونخ نظيره برشلونة يوم الثلاثاء المقبل في الجولة الثانية لدور المجموعات بدوري أبطال أوروبا، وحول مدى جاهزيته للقاء أفاد موسيالا: “لا بأس، أشعر إنني لائق للمواجهة”.

وتعادل بايرن ميونخ مع شتوتجارت بهدفين لمثليهما وسجل موسيالا هدفًا، أما برشلونة فقد تغلب على قادش بأربعة أهداف دون رد في الجولة الخامسة لليجا مساء السبت.  أهداف مباراة بايرن ميونخ وشتوتجارت في الدوري الألماني

Cricket South Africa has proudly proclaimed that the upcoming domestic competition will be a showcase of the country’s cricketing depth. The South African governing body said the talent pool this season is “greater than at any stage of the post-unity era.”Perhaps they shouldn’t brag about the extent of capacity just yet. The debate is raging on about who is being groomed to succeed Mark Boucher as the country’s wicketkeeper. AB de Villiers is tipped to be next in line but at the franchise-level, few keepers have staked their claim. This may just be their season.Last season, Davey Jacobs (Warriors) and Morne van Wyk (Eagles) stood out as the top wicketkeepers but some eyes may drift westward where Bradley Barnes will be donning the gloves for the Cape Cobras. Barnes was an integral part of the national Under-19 team that went to the World Cup in Malaysia last year. The wicketkeeping role appears to be the one area franchise players are most likely to be aggressively battling over this season.Places in the national team are not the only accolades worth fighting for among the franchises. This season is set to be one of the most “openly” competitive seasons for the three trophies on offer, according to Cricket South Africa. The games begin on Thursday where the Eagles host the Cobras in the first SuperSport series match of the season. The two teams are off to an early start in the cricketing calendar, since they will be headed to India for the Champions League Twenty20 in October.The Cobras have been bolstered by the return of the big-hitting Justin Kemp, who has ended his Kolpak deal with Kent. They also have former Warriors players Robin Peterson and Mario Olivier joining their franchise. The Cobras are the defending Standard Bank Pro20 series champions but coach Shukri Conrad said they want to target the longer version of the game this season.A team that has excelled in the SuperSport Series is the Eagles. The team from the Free State rarely gets disturbed by national call-ups. They welcome back Johan van der Wath who was involved with the rebel Indian Cricket League. He will miss the season’s opening fixture because of county commitments.The Eagles and the Titans are the two teams expected to do battle for the SuperSport Series with the latter boasting a wealth of national players. AB de Villiers, Paul Harris, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe and Albie and Morne Morkel will all make the rare appearance for their franchise. In addition to their big guns, the Titans will hope players such as Farhaan Berhardien and Heino Kuhn stake a claim for higher honours. The South African spin doctors may also be keeping a watchful eye on Imran Tahir who is now eligible to play for the country.Two of the teams who usually perform admirably but are not quite good enough are the Warriors and the Dolphins. They have suffered contrasting fates over the off season with the Warriors losing key players and the Dolphins gaining some. The men from the Eastern Cape have lost Peterson, Olivier and Zander de Buryn but have gained the services of Nicky Boje. Although they may be feeling a little depleted, the Warriors are also home to Johan Botha, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Makhaya Ntini and Wayne Parnell.The Dolphins, meanwhile, have Lance Klusener as part of their coaching staff and have signed fiery opener Loots Bosman. Both these are due a good performance as the Warriors have never won a trophy since the start of the franchise system and the Dolphins have only ever shared the SuperSport Series title.The Lions have a solitary Pro20 crown to their name but that seems to have been forgotten in the pitiful meows the team has squeaked out in the past two seasons. Dave Nosworthy goes into his second season in charge of the team and said that with their pre-season training running from June he expects better results from his men. The Lions will have captain Neil McKenzie to lead the side for most of the season and have also acquired the services of offspinner Thandi Tshabalala, fast bowler Ugasen Govender and veteran de Bruyn.

The ICC has backed Andrew Strauss and the umpires in the runner controversy with Graeme Smith, saying they followed the laws of the game

Cricinfo staff29-Sep-2009The ICC has backed Andrew Strauss and the umpires in the runner controversy with Graeme Smith, saying they followed the laws of the game. Smith suffered cramps when he was on 124 with South Africa needing another 69 from 36 balls to stay in the ICC Champions Trophy and requested for a runner but Strauss declined it.”He [Smith] asked for a runner and the umpires took the view that cramp is a symptom of fatigue,” an ICC spokesperson was quoted as saying by . “Being tired does not qualify batsmen for a runner under the laws of the game. That is the way it will be interpreted by the umpires for the rest of the tournament.”As per the ODI playing conditions, substitutes will “only be permitted in cases of injury, illness or other wholly acceptable reasons. ‘Wholly acceptable reasons’ should be limited to extreme circumstances and should not include what is commonly referred to as a ‘comfort break’.”Smith was unhappy with Strauss’s decision which he said was inconsistent since batsmen have been allowed runners for cramps on previous occasions. However, Strauss defended his move, saying the umpires were also not keen to comply with Smith’s request.