All posts by h716a5.icu

Porto are reportedly interested in signing Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos and if he were to leave Ibrox this summer it would be a huge blow to Steven Gerrard and his hopes of retaining the Scottish Premiership title next season.

What’s the word?

According to Portuguese news outlet A Bola, the Liga NOS side are keen on signing the Colombia international this summer as he would be a dream addition for manager Sergio Conceição, however Rangers’ asking price is likely to be a problem for the Portuguese giants.

The report suggests that Rangers would likely demand €20m (£17.2m) for Morelos this summer, which is no surprise after another impressive season at Ibrox helped Gerrard’s side win the league title unbeaten.

A huge potential blow for Rangers?

If Morelos were to leave Ibrox this summer it would undoubtedly be a huge blow to the Gers’ hopes of winning their 56th league title next season, as he has proven himself to be one of the best players in the league since joining from HJK Helsinki in 2017.

In 182 appearances for the Teddy Bears, El Bufalo has contributed an extremely impressive 94 goals and 43 assists in all competitions, and he also broke Ally McCoist’s record to become their record goalscorer in Europe, so to lose him ahead of their return to the Champions League next season would be far from ideal.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-rangers-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read the latest Rangers transfer rumours and news!”]

After he broke the record, Gerrard was full of praise for Morelos, saying:

“It’s fantastic for him from a personal point of view. Alfredo’s a top-class player, a top-class goalscorer, and it’s fantastic that he’s still here.”

Last season saw the 24-year-old forward contribute 15 goals and 12 assists in all competitions for the Gers and his performances in the Premiership before the season split saw him average an impressive 7.20 rating from WhoScored for his performances, which ranked him as the sixth-best performer in Gerrard’s side.

[freshpress-quiz id=“593776″]

Therefore, it is certainly a blow that a side such as Porto who impressed in the Champions League last season are interested in Morelos ahead of the summer, and it would be a huge shame for Rangers to lose him.

And, in other news… Rangers facing major blow with 25 y/o “Rolls Royce”, Gerrard would be gutted

Gloucestershire v Durham 18, 19, 20 & 21 starts at 10.30am

Gloucestershire CCC Media Release03-Sep-2002Gloucestershire v Derbyshire 4, 5, 6 & 7 September starts at 10.30amGloucestershire v Derbyshire 8 September starts at 12.00 noonGloucestershire v Durham 18, 19, 20 & 21 starts at 10.30am

Pakistan cricket team captain Waqar Younis claimed that seniors and juniors, both have disappointed the nation by losing all three Tests against Australia by humiliating margins especially in the second and third Tests at Sharjah

26-Oct-2002Pakistan cricket team captain Waqar Younis claimed that seniors and juniors, both have disappointed the nation by losing all three Tests against Australia by humiliating margins especially in the second and third Tests at Sharjah.Addressing a press conference Friday, Waqar said that Pakistan lost the series because it inducted several young players, however, he admitted the failure of the seniors also, including himself who failed to perform up to the expectations.Waqar, while accepting the team’s dismal performance pointed out that their opponents were the best team in the world.Waqar explained that personally his morale was high and he hoped the induction of Inzamamul Haq, Yousuf Youhana and more senior players would strengthen the team for its tour of Zimbabwe, starting from Nov 1.Asked as to why he did not follow PCB chief’s example by resigning, Waqar countered that he was not a “coward” and as a cricketer he would fight against reverses.He did not agree with a questioner that Pakistan cricket was passing through its darkest era. “Bad patches are the part of the game and I still believe the Pakistan team will again show better performance in near future”, he said.While elaborating at length on the series, he stated that the juniors performed well in the opening Test in Colombo which raised the expectations of the nation. But the Australians did their home work in the next two Test to emerge worthy winners.When asked if he would find a place in the One-day side as PCB is contemplating to make Test and One-day teams, separately, Waqar said “let the time come”.Regarding team selection, he claimed that the decision nottoinclude leg-spinner Danish Kaneria in the team for the first Test in Colombo was taken after inspecting the pitch. However, the journalists were not satisfied with the response, as they contended with the response that spinners of either side had performed superbly, citing the example of Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne who took 11wickets in that Test (seven for 94 in the first innings and four for94 in the second knock) and Pakistan’s Saqlain Mushtaq capturing eight wickets (four for 136 in the first innings and four for 46 in the second).Similarly questioned about the exclusion of Mohammad Zahid and Rana Naveed-ul- Hassan throughout the series, Waqar said that he had the policy to provide proper chances to every player. For that he could not drop Mohammad Sami who was with the teamforthelast18 months and now he should get regular chances.He was optimistic that a strong team would be fielded for the next year World Cup to be held in South Africa, and explained that young players would get an opportunity to prove their mettle as there was a lot of cricket to be played before the mega event.He dispelled the impression that the players could face burn out because the national side had to play four Tests and 10 One-day matches before the World Cup.Waqar avoided a direct reply about the incident concerning Yousuf Youhana in Kenya, as a result of which the batsman was sent home by Waqar. “I have informed the PCB about that incident and I am not in a position to explain it before the press”, Waqar said,He admitted that the decision of sending back Youhana was made in haste and the matter could have been resolved there, but added it was an unanimous decision of the team management. He promised that no such incident would be happened in future. He denied that any grouping existed in the team.Waqar was all praise for new coach Richard Pybus and deemed him as suitable for the job than the sacked Mudassar Nazar.

An update has emerged regarding Manchester City’s interest in Chelsea defender Reece James.

What’s the talk?

According to The Athletic, the Premier League champions are interested in signing the right-back this summer as they look to strengthen their squad. James caught City’s eye in the Champions League final and now they want to add him to Pep Guardiola’s ranks in the coming months.

The report claims that City believe they could have a chance to land the 21-year-old because of Chelsea’s interest in Inter defender Achraf Hakimi.

After the Champions League final in May in which Chelsea defeated Pep Guardiola’s side, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand lauded the full-back for his “immense” performance that night. He told BT Sport, via Metro: “He’s a product of the youth academy and we’ve seen some people questioning him, for Chelsea and England.

“Well tonight he performed on the biggest stage and was the standout, he was immense.

“If you’re going to play at the top level you have to do that. Today he became a man. Today he answered all those questions.”

Pep would love him

Guardiola would surely love to have James at the Etihad Stadium and Txiki Begiristain must sanction a deal for the defender this summer if there is any chance of a move going through.  Txiki needs to act swiftly to open negotiations with Chelsea and gauge how likely a transfer is for James before any other clubs catch wind of his potential availability.

The England international could be a terrific addition to City’s squad and provide a long-term replacement for Kyle Walker at right-back, whilst giving Guardiola a young player to coach and develop. Walker is by no means at the end of his career, but the right-back turned 31 in May and is 10 years older than James.

The Manchester City man has been an excellent servant for the club over the years, with 184 competitive appearances since his switch from Tottenham in 2017. In that time, he has helped City win three Premier League titles, four League Cups and an FA Cup, highlighting how successful the team has been with him at right-back and why replacing him could prove a difficult task, with Joao Cancelo now excelling at left-back.

James, who is rated at £36m by Transfermarkt, enjoyed an impressive campaign with Chelsea in the Premier League. He averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.94 across 32 appearances whilst also receiving a score of 6.87 for his performances in the Champions League for the Blues.

This shows that the 21-year-old is already able to perform consistently at the top level despite his young age, so Guardiola would surely love him at City as, having seen firsthand the threat he can pose following the Champions League final, the youngster could be the club’s starting right-back for the next decade if all goes well.

AND in other news, Txiki could strike gold with Man City swoop for 27 G/A beast, Pep would love him…

India’s cricket officials refused to reschedule the one-day series against the West Indies despite crowd trouble in all the three matches played so far

13-Nov-2002India’s cricket officials refused to reschedule the one-day series against the West Indies despite crowd trouble in all the three matches played so far.”There is no threat to the series, it will be completed as scheduled,” said Karunakaran Nair, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).While the first two matches in Jamshedpur and Nagpur were briefly interrupted by missile-throwing fans, Tuesday’s game in Rajkot was forced to be abandoned after West Indian fielders were hit by plastic water bottles.Two of the remaining four matches will be played in Ahmedabad and Baroda, which like Rajkot are situated in the sensitive western state of Gujarat where thousands were killed in communal violence earlier this year.BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said he had spoken to state administration officials to ensure the untoward incidents of the first three matches were not repeated.”We are happy the Gujarat government has agreed to our suggestions to increase security in Ahmedabad and Baroda,” Dalmiya said.”We have also issued necessary instructions to the staging associations to install close-circuit cameras as strategic points in the stadiums, so that mischief-mongers can be identified.”Ahmedabad will host a day-night match on Friday, followed by day games in Baroda (November 18), Jodhpur (Nov 21) and Vijayawada (Nov 24).The West Indies lead the series 2-1 after winning the first two matches. The third at Rajkot was awarded to India by a margin of 81 runs after the home side was ahead on run-rate when the match was abandoned.Nair said the problem was not lack of security, but hooliganism by a small section of spectators.”We can control 99 per cent of the crowd. But if the remaining one per cent decides to create nuisance, we are rendered helpless,” he said.”We can only appeal to the sporting public of India who are great fans of cricket to desist from such behaviour as it is bringing a bad name to the country.”The International Cricket Council (ICC), worried at the incidents in India, said it was looking at expanding its powers to remove international status from unruly venues.ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said while it did not at present have the authority to remove the international status of a venue, its Safety and Security Committee would consider it “imminently”.”We have asked this committee to consider appropriate penalties for venues which consistently fail to meet their obligations in meeting minimum standards of security,” Speed said in a statement.”This is likely to include the ultimate sanction of withdrawing international status from a ground, combined with a heavy financial penalty.”

Reliable reporter Fabrizio Romano dropped a little under-the-radar update on Manchester City’s pursuit of Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish following England’s win over Germany on Tuesday evening.

And his post has a number of Aston Villa supporters talking on social media.

Grealish has been linked with a move to Manchester City for a number of months. The 25-year-old came off the bench and played a part in both goals at Wembley, setting up Harry Kane to seal a place in the quarter-finals.

Romano posted on Twitter following the win regarding a number of England players who have been linked with moves during the Euros.

One of those was Grealish, and Romano replied to a Villa fan after he shared a picture of a post from Villa reporter Ashley Preece, who suggested a new Villa Park deal for Grealish was ‘pending’.

The transfer expert claimed ‘nothing advanced and no official bid from City’, concluding it ‘won’t be easy for City with Aston Villa’.

Villa fans react

Romano, who has over three million Twitter followers, tends to get thousands of likes and interactions on his transfer posts. However, his reply to the Villa fan mentioned had a limited number of likes and interaction, seemingly flying under the radar with just 30 retweets.

Here’s what these Villa supporters had to say last night in response to Romano’s answer.

“Thats the stuff I love to hear! Ready to hear you announce Grealish’s contract to Aston Villa soon aswell.”Credit: @avfcIewis”Magnifique”Credit: @Pflipto”Preece mixing it with the big boys now”Credit: @jordstrangeAVFC”Villa want to win things, and have the money to compete. It’ll cost insane money to prize Grealish away. Especially considering his value just went up yet again.”Credit: @socraleese”After the Euros his value will have increased further still, and I don’t mean $. What he means to Villa is immeasurable.”Credit: @JayVtid”Villa don’t want to sell”Credit: @Davidomahony18

In other news: Villa interested in Man Utd defender, find out more here. 

Sunderland fans are eager for the club to sign Alex Pritchard this summer after the club were linked with a move for the 28-year-old.

The Black Cats are preparing for the 21/22 campaign, one in which they will once again be targetting promotion to the Championship. However, despite losing a number of players such as Josh Scowen, Max Power, Grant Leadbitter and Charlie Wyke, they have so far made just one signing – a 20-year-old goalkeeper called Jacob Carney (safc.com).

However, it seems they are at least looking at several targets, one of which is Alex Pritchard as per Football League World. The £2.25m-valued attacking midfielder (Transfermarkt) is currently a free agent and struggled at Huddersfield, but he has plenty of talent and could be an astute signing for Sunderland if they can capture his services.

The Black Cats supporters, it appears, would be keen to take him to Stadium of Light, and they took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts on the speculation.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Pritchard link below

“Massive if true. Would rip up league 1 and proper statement of intent. Can’t see it, he’s too good for L1.”

Credit: @WW4__

“Instantly be the best player in League One by a mile.”

Credit: @kielwats0n

“Bang on exactly what we need especially with Maguire gone now”

Credit: @BenCra1g

“Would be a big statement if he joins!”

Credit: @lewygsafc

“Good signing if we get him”

Credit: @molej4mes

“If this is real it’s CLASS”

Credit: @Johnnnn31230606

In other news, Sunderland fans were far from happy with this club tweet.

International all-rounder Chris Cairns will lead one of the sides in a Canterbury trial match to be played at Hagley Park, starting at 11am on Sunday

Lynn McConnell13-Nov-2002International all-rounder Chris Cairns will lead one of the sides in a Canterbury trial match to be played at Hagley Park, starting at 11am on Sunday.It will be the first outing for Cairns who was forced to have more surgery on his leg after breaking down on the first day of the first Test against England last summer.He will be up against a powerful-looking team to be led by Canterbury captain Gary Stead but which contains recent international players in Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Chris Harris and Chris Martin.However, Cairns will be able to call on fast man Shane Bond and he will also have former Test spinner Paul Wiseman in his side.Also included as wicket-keeper in Cairns’ side is Ben Yock, who along with Brendon Donkers and Neil Broom were members of the non-aligned players who took part in Canterbury’s match with Otago earlier this week before the end of the players’ strike.The two teams will practice as Jade Stadium tomorrow at 4.30pm.Unavailable for consideration for the trial were: Robbie Frew, Cleighten Cornelius and Leighton Burtt.Canterbury Black: Chris Cairns (captain), Michael Papps, Shanan Stewart, Ben Yock, Neil Broom, Peter Fulton, Shane Bond, Paul Wiseman, Andrew Ellis, Ryan Burson, Brendon Donkers, James Ward.Canterbury Red: Gary Stead (captain), Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Jarrod Englefield, Chris Harris, Aaron Redmond, Carl Anderson, Gareth Hopkins, Warren Wisneski, Stephen Cunis, Wade Cornelius, Chris Martin.

Nottinghamshire’s search for an experienced batsman ended today when theycompleted the signing of Rusell Warren from Northamptonshire

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club04-Dec-2002Nottinghamshire’s search for an experienced batsman ended today when theycompleted the signing of Rusell Warren from Northamptonshire.A new middle order strokemaker was targeted following the retirement ofveteran Paul Johnson and Notts have moved quickly to secure the signature of31-year-old Warren on a three-year deal.He said: “I think now’s a good time to try and further my career and I’mdelighted to make the switch to Notts.”Promotion to Division One in the County Championship helped me make up mymind because every cricketer wants to play at the top level.”But I also believe there’s a great squad at Notts and I wanted to be partof what looks like being a very exciting and successful time.”Trent Bridge is accepted on the circuit as one of the premier grounds inthe country, producing good cricket wickets and hopefully it will be a greatplace for me to play my cricket.”Warren made his debut for Northants in 1992 and was capped three yearslater. He is approaching 6,000 first class runs, has 10 first classcenturies to his name and boasts a healthy career average of 36.27.Notts’ Director of Cricket Mick Newell said: “Northants have decided to letRussell go as part of their current restructuring and we are very pleasedhe’ll be joining us at Notts.”He’s been a pretty successful batsman for them, scoring heavily down theyears and I think the pitches here at Trent Bridge will suit his game.”His arrival will increase competition for places and he has kept wicket inthe past so will give us an added option should Chris Read get back into theEngland squad.”

Leicester City have been linked with a move for Sampdoria winger Mikkel Damsgaard after a string of impressive displays at Euro 2020.

What’s the story?

According to Sky Sports reporter Ben Grounds (as reported by Leicestershire Live), the Foxes have opened negotiations with the 20-year-old’s representatives over a potential transfer.

Damsgaard has starred for Denmark over the summer, scoring one goal and providing an assist, helping his nation reach the semi-finals of the European Championship.

Fans surely buzzing

The youngster is a product of the famed Nordsjaelland academy and only moved to the Serie A 12 months ago via a £6 million deal.

However, after a solid first campaign in Italian football and an outstanding contribution to Denmark’s run to the last four of the Euros, he could be on the move once again over the coming months.

Damsgaard recorded modest numbers last term as he settled into life at Sampdoria, bagging just two goals and providing a modest four assists in 35 top-flight appearances.

Nevertheless, he still managed 1.5 dribbles per league game, the highest tally amongst his teammates. His potential is clear for all to see, and he’s showcased it on the international stage to devastating effect.

After playing a pivotal part in a shock 2-1 victory over eventual champions Inter back in January, TV2’s football expert Martin Mikkelsen hailed Damsgaard as being “magical”, praising his decision-making in the final third despite his tender years.

“He’s magical – what speed! He is dynamic and can go both ways. He is creative but also so mature in his decisions,” Mikkelsen claimed.

After Harvey Barnes suffered a season-ending injury in February, Leicester were left with the ageing Marc Albrighton, and the underwhelming Cengiz Under as the only recognised wingers in their squad.

The likes of Ajoze Perez and Ricardo Pereira were forced to play out of position as the Midlands outfit narrowly missed out on a Champions League qualification spot once again.

Brendan Rodgers has already secured the signatures of Patson Daka and Boubaary Soumare as the Northern Irish tactician plots another assault on the top four, but acquiring another winger is thought to be high up on his wish list.

Damsgaard would certainly fit the bill of a typical Leicester signing, and news that the club have opened talks with his representatives will surely have the club’s supporters buzzing.

And, in other news…Rodgers can save millions by unleashing never-seen LCFC gem, he’s “absolutely class”