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Everton are reportedly closing in on the signature of Dynamo Moscow midfielder Arsen Zakharyan, with Rafael Benitez keen to add further reinforcements to his first team squad.

What’s the story?

According to Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb (as relayed by the Liverpool ECHO), the Toffees are ‘pressing hard’ to secure the signature of the highly-rated 18-year-old.

The report added that there is an ongoing ‘strong attempt’ from the Merseysiders to strike a deal with the Russian club, and contact is said to be ‘proceeding quickly’. Dynamo are set to demand €10m (£8.4m) for their prized asset, so a January move for Zakharyan could be on the cards for Everton.

Everton could secure Benitez’s next Hamsik

If Toffees director of football Marcel Brands is able to lure Zakharyan to Goodison Park over the coming months, he could secure Benitez his next Marek Hamsik. The Slovakian playmaker prospered under the Spaniard’s tutelage during their time together at Napoli, with 45 goal contributions in 95 appearances, and the Spaniard and Russian could strike up a formidable partnership on Merseyside.

After making his first team debut for Dynamo back in 2020, Zakharyan has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting talents to come out of Russia in recent years. In just 13 Premier Liga appearances last season, the creative talent scored three goals and provided a further five assists, earning a call up to his national team’s senior setup before going on to feature in four World Cup qualifiers.

The youngster was described as having “exciting potential” by journalist Ben Bocsak after putting in a string of standout displays for his hometown club, and Zakharyan has taken his game to new heights this term.

In just 15 appearances for Dynamo throughout 2021/22, the teenager has already notched up three goals and a whopping seven assists, playing a crucial role in their rise to second place in the top-flight table.

With James Rodriguez’s late departure for Qatari club Al-Rayyan leaving a creative void in the final third of the pitch for Everton, Zakharyan could be the ideal solution to their attacking woes, and everyone associated with the Blues will surely be eagerly anticipating the 18-year-old’s potential arrival at Goodison Park.

In other news… Forget Townsend: Everton beast who has won 58 duels has been Benitez’s overlooked star

At the start of the series Chris Gayle tipped a 4-1 win for West Indies, but given their predicament he would probably settle for 1-4

Peter English11-Feb-2010Match FactsIn the mood: Ricky Ponting finished Tuesday’s win in Adelaide with 57 not out•Getty ImagesFriday, February 12, SCG
Start time 1325 (0325 GMT)The Big PictureAt the start of the series Chris Gayle tipped a 4-1 win for West Indies, but given their predicament he would probably settle for 1-4. Calling the tourists out-classed in the opening exchanges is being polite to guests and if they lose in Sydney on Friday the five-game contest will be decided with two matches spare.After West Indies’ fight in the Test series earlier in the season, the follow-up campaign has been hugely disappointing, although Gayle hasn’t been helped by a batch of injuries which kept many of his best men at home. Batting has been the most serious problem, with the tourists managing 143 on the way to a 113-run loss in Melbourne, and 170 in Adelaide after being 4 for 16. The second game, which was watched by only 8378 spectators, was finished in the 27th over of the chase.Australia have been outstanding throughout the limited-overs segment of the summer and are on a 10-match winning streak. With a 2-0 lead, the hosts have been able to rest key players in Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, but there won’t be any relief for West Indies as the locals pursue an undefeated summer.Form guide (most recent first)Australia WWWWW
West Indies LLLLL
Watch out for…Everything for West Indies currently revolves around Chris Gayle. The match in Adelaide was basically over after Gayle’s first-ball departure and he must find a way to escape from the restrictions Australia have placed on him. Over the past week Gayle has remained cheery and upbeat in public but in his private moments he must feel like a one-man band. He is so important that at the moment the scenario is Gayle out, game over.Ricky Ponting has run into some good form with scores of 55, 49 and 57 not out in his past three games, but will be wanting more. With his developing team doing incredibly well, he can relax at the crease, which isn’t a good thing for the opposition bowlers. He pulled Kemar Roach in Adelaide, showing he is not haunted by the fast man’s short balls which got him in the Perth Test, and will look to sign off with a century to seal the series.Team news The wicketkeeper Tim Paine and Adam Voges come into the squad for Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, who are resting. Paine has opened in 14 of his 15 ODIs and will slot in with Shaun Marsh at the top. With Watson out, Australia could play all four fast men and Nathan Hauritz, which would leave James Hopes and Voges to miss out.Australia (possible) 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Mitchell Johnson, 8 Ryan Harris, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Doug Bollinger.West Indies were unchanged in the second game but after two horrible defeats will have to do something to spruce up the side. Gayle has talked about needing some substance in the middle order, which could give Brendan Nash an opening, while Wavell Hinds is another option, possibly for the struggling Runako Morton.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Travis Dowlin, 4 Narsingh Deonarine, 5 Brendan Nash, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Dwayne Smith, 9 Nikita Miller, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Kemar Roach.Pitch and conditionsPakistan chose to bowl first at the SCG last month and were rolled for 127 in their chase as the bowlers took advantage of seaming conditions. It has been another wet lead-up and there are storms predicted for Friday afternoon, along with a maximum of 31C. If that happens the bowlers will be happy again.Stats and trivia West Indies’ top six batsmen have scored 150 runs in the past two games while Australia’s top four have managed 310 Only one game at the SCG has been won by the batting side from the final ball of the 50th over. That came in 1995-96 when Michael Bevan starred against West Indies West Indies have twice scored fewer than 100 at the SCG, with 87 in 1992-93 and 91 in 2000-01Quotes “At 2-0 down in a five-match series, this is the time for some of our players to come of age.”

“Every time we start a series that’s our goal, to go undefeated. It’s no different in this series. We played really well against Pakistan. We gave them nothing and we’ll be doing that against the West Indies.”

Eric Simons, India’s bowling coach for the South Africa series recently, will return to India as assistant coach for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Mar-2010Eric Simons, India’s bowling coach for the home series against South Africa, will return to India as assistant coach for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. Simons, who will assist Greg Shipperd, fills the position left vacant by Australia’s David Saker, and will focus on working with the large bunch of young bowlers in the Delhi squad.”He is a very valuable resource, and has a lot to offer to our performance,” Amrit Mathur, Delhi’s chief operating officer, told Cricinfo. With Glenn McGrath deciding against returning to the IPL, Delhi’s fast bowling department will be led by the left-arm pair of Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes. Delhi bought Wayne Parnell, another left-arm pace bowler, at last month’s auction. But the rest of the Delhi fast bowlers are short on experience at the highest level.Simons served as South Africa’s head coach from 2002-2004 and later held various capacities at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria. He also has some coaching experience in the IPL, having worked as a consultant with Ray Jennings last year for Royal Challengers Bangalore when the tournament moved to South Africa.Another reason that might have necessitated Simons’ appointment was the exit of TA Sekar, who was in charge of the bowling department for Delhi for the first two years of the IPL. Sekar, more famous for his long association with Dennis Lillee at the MRF Pace Foundation, moved to Mumbai Indians after last year’s IPL.”We have Umesh Yadav, Aavishkar Salvi, Pradeep Sangwan, Yo Mahesh, Jesuraj – bowlers who require special attention in terms of their growth,” Mathur said.

Liverpool will take on AC Milan tonight in a Champions League clash that means very little to the Merseyside giants’ campaign but will mean everything to their opponents who desperately need to win this game to boost their chances of moving forward in the competition.

Jurgen Klopp will go into this game with full confidence and nothing to lose, as Liverpool have taken maximum points and subsequently qualified with ease from their group in the Champions League after five wins out of five so far.

Despite being through to the knock out stages already, the German manager is not the type to happily concede a game and will be fully intending to continue the unbeaten run Liverpool find themselves holding on to in Europe this season, with the potential to qualify on maximum points.

If the Reds beat AC Milan at the San Siro this evening, they will become the first English side in the history of the Champions League to win every single group stage game, a record that we’re sure Klopp would love to have under his belt.

With that being said, Klopp will be buzzing to learn that his opposition go into this game with a number of injury concerns that could have a negative impact on their chances to put goals past the in form Reds, and will only encourage the German coach further to rotate his team with ease.

Milan have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of hosting the six-time Champions League winners, with both Pietro Pellegri and Rafael Leao set to miss out on the action due to sustaining muscular injuries.

These fresh injuries couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Italian giants, as they need to take all three points off the Merseyside outfit in the upcoming clash to qualify for a spot in the final stages of the competition, currently on four points in third position of the group, one point behind Porto.

It also represents a huge boost for the 19-time English champions as Leao has proven to be a devastating asset in the final third this term, scoring five and assisting three times. Thus, Liverpool’s defence will likely have an easier night defending their own goal, presenting them with the opportunity to perhaps field a young makeshift backline.

Not only will Milan need win tonight’s game, but they will also need to hope Porto do not take maximum points from their last game against bottom of the group, Atletico Madrid, who are also only on four points.

Atletico still have their chance to qualify too despite being bottom of Group B, needing to take three points from their last fixture against Porto and will need Liverpool to beat Milan.

Whilst the rest of their Champions League group remains open, Liverpool are now in a position to give their key players a rest and let their squad from the bench and youngsters step into cover positions, gaining a start in the line up and some much-needed game time on Tuesday evening.

In other news: Klopp could finally sign Wijnaldum replacement

Andrew Hall, Johann Louw, Alfonso Thomas, Pierre de Bruyn and Hylton Ackerman have been informed that they are no longer required by the Durban-based team

Firdose Moonda17-Feb-2010The Dolphins franchise has terminated the contracts of five senior players with immediate effect, with a view to developing younger players and unearthing local talent. Andrew Hall, Johann Louw, Alfonso Thomas, Pierre de Bruyn and Hylton Ackerman – whose contracts were to expire at the end of the season – have been informed that they are no longer required by the Durban-based team.”We need to develop younger players,” Jessie Chellan, the KwaZulu-Natal CEO said. “Everything was done in an amicable way and all the players understood why we were letting them go.” He said the franchise wanted to concentrate more resources on unearthing local talent that would form the squad’s base. Richard Pybus and Lance Klusener have also been roped in as additional coaches to work alongside Graham Ford.Ackerman believed the franchise did the “right thing”, given the unsuccessful season they have had. “In terms of moving forward, the franchise, literally, does not have the right personnel in terms of players,” he told Cricinfo. “If you look at the players, all of them do okay but there are no match-winning performers.”Ackerman has not played for the Dolphins since November last year and he said he was “not surprised” to hear that they had no further use for him. “I’m not upset, but for someone like Johann, who has been successful, it’s not a nice thing to have happened. There was a general feeling that the franchise was shopping around too much and not bringing their own players in, so it’s a good thing that they are going to develop players.”Of the five players, Louw is the only one from the region. Ackerman is originally from the Cape, but spent time at the Lions and the Warriors. Hall is from Johannesburg as well but signed with the Dolphins on his return from the unofficial ICL. De Bruyn and Thomas were part of the Titans.Despite the amicable settlement, Tony Irish, CEO of the South African Cricketer’s Association (SACA) said his organisation would be looking into the matter. “We don’t believe that what happened was right for the players,” said Irish. “All of them are technically out of a job from today.” Chellan confirmed that Irish had began discussions with him but said that only one player had an issue regarding the termination of his contract.All five players – who will be paid the amounts outstanding on their contracts – appear to have plans in place for the future. Ackerman was due to retire at the end of the season and will be doing television commentary, while Thomas and Hall both have County contracts. Louw will be playing for the Cape Cobras.The Dolphins have had a poor season and are winless in the Standard Bank Pro20, with one match to go. They did make it to the MTN40 final, after a surprise victory over the Titans and they lie second from the bottom in the SuperSport Series. They have named an inexperienced side, with four franchise debutants, to take on the Lions in a Pro20 match on Friday. The new faces are Cameron Delport, Vyash Gobind, Ruan Pietersen and Khaya Zondo, all of whom hail from Natal and have been playing in the amateur divison.

Since Marcelo Bielsa took charge at Leeds United, the Argentine has taken the club back to the Premier League after a 16-year absence and got them to a top-half finish in their first season back in the top flight.

One figure that has played a massive part in Leeds’ rise from the Championship to the Premier League is Luke Ayling, who has made a total of 200 appearances for the Yorkshire club across all competitions in which he has managed to score seven goals and provide 17 assists along the way.

Last season saw Ayling start all 38 of Leeds’ Premier League games as well as Stuart Dallas, showing how vital he is for Bielsa’s side.

Having now hit the age of 30 and with his current contract at Elland Road set to expire in the summer of 2023, there’s every chance that the club will be looking at who could be their potential long-term replacement for the long-serving Englishman.

With that in mind, it seems as though Bielsa could already have the perfect long-term heir for Ayling that could save Victor Orta millions in potential future transfer fees.

Since joining Leeds’ U23 side from Fulham’s U23 squad back in August last year, 20-year-old right-back Cody Drameh has made 33 appearances for Leeds’ youth side, scoring one goal and providing four assists along the way.

Drameh has also made two appearances for Leeds’ senior side, showing that Bielsa has enough confidence in him already to perform to a high standard in the first team alongside the senior players at Leeds.

This season has seen Drameh be involved in Leeds’ senior matchday squad on eight occasions in the league with one 19-minute cameo appearance in their 2-1 win away at Norwich City.

Labelled as a “revelation” in the past by Tom Hill and as a player that “loves defending” by Ben Parker, Drameh won Leeds’ U23s Player of the Year award last year, highlighting the quality he has.

Given how Ayling managed to rack up an average of 2.8 tackles per game in the league last season as well as winning 61% of the duels he was involved in, these are the sort of defensive numbers that Drameh will have to match if he wants to be recognised as Ayling’s long-term heir at Leeds.

However, with the praise he’s garnered since joining the Yorkshire club, it seems as though that Drameh is more than capable of doing that in the next few years given his apparent love for defending.

In other news: Exciting 4-word January transfer claim emerges that will have Leeds fans buzzing – opinion

After finishing their first season back in the Premier League after a 16-year absence in ninth place, Leeds United were active in the previous summer transfer window by signing the likes of Dan James, Junior Firpo and Kristoffer Klaesson to help boost their squad.

One other business deal the Yorkshire club managed to secure was the permanent signing of winger Jack Harrison from Manchester City after originally joining Leeds on a loan deal back in 2018.

With a total of 143 appearances, 20 goals and 22 assists under his belt for Leeds across all competitions, Harrison has not shown this season why Leeds were right to sign him on a permanent basis with no goals and just one assist provided in 13 league appearances.

Given how Harrison managed to end last season with eight goals and eight assists in the Premier League, these are the numbers that he will undoubtedly be aiming to reach or even improve on this time around.

Harrison has also only managed to successfully complete 43% of his dribbles in the league this season as well as winning just 33% of his duels, showing how ineffective he has been on and off the ball.

As well as this and his lack of goal contributions in the Premier League this season, the 25-year-old’s overall performances have also been underwhelming with Harrison racking up a season rating of 6.48/10 from SofaScore, lower than Leeds’ other summer signings James (6.73/10) and Firpo (6.61/10).

With that in mind, it’s hardly a surprise that Leeds journalist Phil Hay said he’s “wildly out of form” when speaking last month.

Taking this into account, it seems as though that Victor Orta and the Yorkshire club may have dropped a clanger in signing Harrison, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £60k-per-week according to Salary Sport, based on his performances so far this season.

However, the Englishman still has enough time in the campaign to turn his form around and prove to everyone connected to the club that they made the right decision to offer him a permanent deal in the summer.

With Leeds’ next game in the league putting them up against Harrison’s former side on Tuesday evening, this could be a perfect opportunity for the winger to really kickstart his season with Leeds, especially if he can grab his first league goal of the season and potentially secure a much-needed positive result for Bielsa’s side.

In other news: “Screams class”: £16.5k-p/w Leeds beast who won 100% duels proved Bielsa wrong v Chelsea

The PCB remains tight-lipped about the nature of charges laid against senior players and the procedure followed in punishing them

Osman Samiuddin11-Mar-2010A day after carrying out the most comprehensive player cull in Pakistan cricket in recent memory, the PCB remains tight-lipped about the nature of charges laid against senior players and the procedure followed in punishing them.Seven senior players were punished by the board following an inquiry committee report into a disastrous tour of Australia. Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik were handed bans, while the Akmal brothers and Shahid Afridi were handed fines.But concerns have been raised about the legal process followed in handing out the punishments and the lack of information on the charges. Calls have been made to make the complete report of the inquiry committee public but the board is unwilling to do so.Ijaz Butt, speaking to the BBC

On coach Waqar Younis’ limited options
We have no dearth of players, young ones, up and coming and under consideration. We will, as normal, be announcing 15 players, as required by the ICC and keep five players on standby. He won’t be handicapped.
On Rana Naved-ul-Hasan’s ban
He should have asked the committee, he had long sessions with the committee. It told him what was wrong. This is not something we want to [do] to create alarm among other players. It was something that was confidentially taken up with him. Without any charges, we are not taking any [player] out of the side. There are definitely positive charges.
On Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan
When one was captain he threw the other out, when the other was the captain he threw the other man out in spite of the fact that they would have been selected. Things of that sort. This is only one instance I am quoting to you. The committee also reported in detail that this is the effect [on the team]. But we haven’t fined these two gentlemen on anything. For the [World] Twenty20, they will not be considered

“It is a confidential report and not one for public consumption,” Ijaz Butt, chairman PCB, told Cricinfo. “If a certain level of people ask we will give them, but essentially this is a confidential report.”Butt insisted, however, that the committee – the composition of which has also been criticised – had carried out its objectives fairly. “We have given everyone a fair hearing,” he said. “The committee has spoken to many people, almost all of those concerned, we have collected evidence, everything has been done properly and all of it is documented and is available. It was a very thorough and comprehensive report. We have given details in the press release.”Butt was unwilling to comment on individual charges, such as the one-year ban on Naved, who had no previous disciplinary transgressions, or the nature of charges against Younis, Yousuf and Malik. Because of the lack of details, there remain concerns that the punishments are of an arbitrary and inconsistent nature. But the board says the players were punished not under the code of conduct that governs central contracts, but under the “inherent powers” of the board.”The punishments are not given under the central contracts code of conduct,” Taffazul Rizvi, the board’s legal advisor and a member of the six-man inquiry committee, told Cricinfo. “These are under the inherent powers of the PCB. The disciplinary policy of the board applies to all players who play for Pakistan, not just those on central contracts and that’s what has taken effect here.”The players can appeal against the punishments, Rizvi confirmed, though he clarified that is not a right the board gives, but an intrinsic right of the punished in any matter. “That is their fundamental right, it isn’t the board’s to give.” None of the players has yet issued a public response.Those who have criticised the PCB have also asked why no action has been taken against the board hierarchy or whether any will. Butt’s response was only that “some action has already been taken.”

A core of match-winners supported by upcoming youngsters make Sri Lanka a formidable opponent

Siddarth Ravindran29-Apr-2010OverviewMahela Jayawardene will be the lynchpin of the Sri Lankan top order•AFPSri Lanka have experimented with their limited-overs combination over the past year, but the core of the squad remains the same as the one that Kumar Sangakkara nearly took to glory in his maiden captaincy assignment at the 2009 World Twenty20.Several promising allrounders have come along to back up the old guard, the most exciting of whom is Angelo Mathews, who has become a national regular in the shorter formats. Then there is the duo who impressed in the nearly forgotten ODI tri-series against India and Bangladesh early this year – offspinning allrounder Suraj Randiv, who Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss picked as his side’s best slow bowler in the tournament, and Thissara Perera, who showed his hitting skills and temperament during a stiff chase against India. The wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal also makes the squad on the basis of a strong showing in the domestic Twenty20 tournament, where he was the leading run-getter.Only a handful of Sri Lankan players were regulars for their IPL sides, which means most of the squad will be well-rested going into the Caribbean competition. They are grouped with a tough New Zealand side and a Zimbabwe outfit whose recent tour of the West Indies makes them one of the better-prepared teams in the tournament.Twenty20 pedigreeSri Lanka were virtually unstoppable in England during the previous World Twenty20, sweeping all before them to reach the finals unbeaten, but have had a rough time since, losing four of their past five matches. Like in the final against Pakistan last year, their top-order buckled in a winner-take-all Super Eights match against Australia in 2007, which led to their early elimination. Overall, they have a solid Twenty20 record, with a winning percentage only behind Pakistan and South Africa among the Test nations.Strengths and weaknessesThe side is littered with match-winners, both with bat and ball. Their top three of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Sangakkara match the best in the world, and their bowling is full of unorthodox and dangerous operators, including Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis. One worry is that the supporting players to this bunch are generally inexperienced and have yet to prove themselves in a pressure-cooker tournament like the World Twenty20. The other concern is that Sri Lanka’s fielding standards don’t match the benchmark set by the likes of Australia and South Africa.Key menMahela Jayawardene has been confirmed as the opening partner to Tillakaratne Dilshan, who lit up the 2009 World Twenty20 with his inventive strokeplay. Dilshan is coming off a lukewarm spell with Delhi Daredevils, and captain Sangakkara didn’t hit the heights in either the IPL or the domestic Twenty20 competition. That increases the responsibility on Jayawardene, who showed during the second half of the IPL that classical shot-making doesn’t rule out scoring at Twenty20 pace.Lasith Malinga was among the best fast bowlers on display in the IPL: the unconventional action, the ability to bowl yorkers at will and a mix of slow bouncers and slow full tosses unnerved batsmen and was instrumental in taking Mumbai Indians to the top of the league. He hasn’t played for Sri Lanka this year, and will make his comeback at Providence, the scene of his finest moment – the unprecedented four-in-four against South Africa in the 2007 World Cup.X-factorIn a Sri Lankan team where most of the big names are specialists, Angelo Mathews is multi-skilled, one of the reasons he was an automatic pick for Kolkata Knight Riders in every match this season, where Twenty20 specialists Brad Hodge struggled to hold down a place. He shot into prominence with an outstanding bit of fielding at last year’s World Twenty20, since when he has added steel to Sri Lanka’s lower middle order and capably filled in the fifth bowler’s slot.Vital stats Sri Lanka still hold the record for highest total in a Twenty20 international, when they stacked up 260 on their way to pulverizing Kenya by 172 runs in 2007. Ajantha Mendis’ international career may be suffering from sophomore syndrome, but his Twenty20 figures still make for stunning reading: 25 wickets at the world-beating average of 9.76, economy-rate of 5.30, strike-rate of 11.0

Wolves remain interested in signing towering Lille centre-back Sven Botman in the January transfer window, according to a fresh report.

The Lowdown: Botman a past Wolves target

Wanderers have been linked with the Dutchman in the recent past as Bruno Lage eyes up January and summer reinforcements. The 21-year-old may still be a very young player but he is already a hugely important figure for Lille, making 12 starts in Ligue 1 so far this season.

It looks as though Botman could still be on the move next month, though, with an encouraging update provided from a Wolves perspective.

The Latest: Interest in defender remains

According to Tuttomercatoweb, Wanderers and Roma are both interested in acquiring Botman’s signature and they continue to track the 21-year-old, with AC Milan and Newcastle also now joining the race for his services.

However, the Lille defender’s current deal with the reigning French champions doesn’t expire until the summer of 2025, so a hefty free may be required to prise him away.

The Verdict: Fantastic potential signing

While centre-backs Max Kilman, Conor Coady and Romain Saiss have all impressed for Wolves this season, the opportunity to sign Botman should not be dismissed. The monstrous defender has averaged 2.3 successful headers and 4.6 clearances per game in the league in 2021/22, with only Saiss (2.6) averaging more aerial duels won among those in Lage’s squad.

The Moroccan is also the only Wanderers player to outdo Botman in terms of clearances (5.2), highlighting how good a signing the Dutchman could be in making competition for places even stronger at Molineux.

In other news, some Wolves fans have fumed over a transfer update. Read more here.