Category Uncategorized

West Bromwich Albion are now very keen on signing an “incredible” defender who has experience at the very highest level, according to a report.

Mason's arrival marks start of new era at the Hawthorns

West Brom’s 2024-25 campaign ultimately petered out, with Tony Mowbray being dismissed just three months after his arrival, having failed to build on the foundations laid by Carlos Corberan.

However, the appointment of former Tottenham Hotspur coach Ryan Mason marks the start of a new era for the Baggies, with reporter Steve Hermon claiming the board have made a “brave” decision by replacing Mowbray with a manager who has no Championship experience.

At just 33-years-old, Mason is certainly young for a manager, but the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion manager Fabian Hurzeler and Germany boss Julian Naglelsmann have proven that experience isn’t the be-all and end-all when it comes to being successful.

Contact made: West Brom considering move to sign "ruthless" new striker

Ryan Mason is wasting no time in looking to strengthen his new West Brom team.

ByBrett Worthington Jun 5, 2025

Despite a poor end to the 2024-25 campaign, Albion finished just four points adrift of the Championship play-off places, which suggests Mason may not need to ring the changes this summer, but he will certainly be looking to put his own stamp on the squad.

According to a report from The Athletic, West Brom are now showing strong interest in signing Liverpool defender Nat Phillips, who is attracting the attention of a number of second-tier sides after impressing on loan at Derby County.

Derby boss John Eustace has confirmed he would like to sign Phillips on a permanent basis, with the defender’s time at Anfield surely coming to an end, having not featured for the Reds in the Premier League since the 2022-23 campaign.

"Incredible" Phillips impressed Klopp during Liverpool spell

Perhaps most memorably, the Bolton-born defender featured regularly for Liverpool during the 2020-21 season, at which point Jürgen Klopp was having to deal with an injury crisis.

Ultimately, the Reds managed to seal qualification for the Champions League despite the injury issues, and Klopp was left impressed by some of the £45k-a-week centre-back’s performances, particularly catching the eye during a 2-1 win against West Ham United.

Speaking after the match, Klopp said: “He’s a brilliant guy, smart guy, intelligent, everything. He’s not easy on the eye, he’s not Messi but who cares? In the air, he’s a monster! He was incredible.”

Since then, the 28-year-old has arguably gone on to find his level in the Championship, but he has continued to impress in the air, placing in the top 1% for aerials won per 90 over the past year, when compared to other defenders in similar leagues.

Phillips, who has seven Champions League appearances to his name, could be an excellent signing for West Brom this summer, and the hope will be that he is available on a permanent basis, having not been a part of Liverpool’s plans for a number of years.

Chelsea are set for a busy summer period. Not only is it the transfer window, but Enzo Maresca’s side will be one of 32 teams competing in the new-look Club World Cup, which will take place in the United States of America, beginning in mid-June.

The Blues’ three group stage opponents are Mexican outfit Club Leon, Tunisian side Esperance de Tunis and Brazilian giants Flamengo. Other sides from Europe competing include Real Madrid, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, so the West Londoners are certainly not considered favourites.

However, with the transfer window set to open early, on the 1st of June, it gives Chelsea a chance to bolster their side before the tournament begins. They could be in line to make a real statement signing.

Chelsea's major summer target

There is no doubt that the Blues’ squad already has plenty of firepower in attacking areas. The likes of Cole Palmer is someone who springs to mind, but Chelsea could be about to get even stronger in attacking areas.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Expand Collapse

Indeed, according to Wednesday’s print edition of Spanish paper, Sport, the West London outfit are one of the sides set to make a serious move for Rodrygo this summer. They are thought to have made contact with the Real Madrid star recently.

However, they will face competition in order to bring the Brazilian to Stamford Bridge. Premier League rivals Man City are also in the race to sign him.

A report on Tuesday from Football Insider stated Rodrygo could cost £85m this summer, a hefty fee for either Premier League side chasing him.

Why Rodrygo could be Chelsea's best winger since Hazard

If Chelsea manage to convince Rodrygo to swap the Spanish capital for the English capital, then it would be an astronomical signing.

He has been important for Real Madrid once again this season, in what has been a campaign of much disappointment for Los Blancos, who will almost certainly go trophyless after winning the UEFA Super Cup back in August.

The Brazil international has amassed 50 appearances across all competitions, scoring 13 goals and grabbing ten assists in that time. However, he has gone 12 games in La Liga without a goal or assist, after a run of eight goal involvements in five games.

Regardless, the 24-year-old is certainly a “big game player” as Dougie Critchley described him. Just this season, he has scored a crucial goal in the Champions League last 16 against Atletico Madrid, and has found the back of the net in one of the El Clasico’s.

The attacker has some excellent underlying stats from this season via FBref, too. Per 90 minutes, he averages 4.49 shot-creating actions and 2.04 key passes, both of which rank him in the top 3% of forwards in Europe’s top five leagues.

Rodrygo key stats vs. forwards in last 365 days

Stat (per 90)

Number

Percentile

Key passes

2.04

97th

Progressive passes

4.46

97th

Shot-creating actions

4.49

97th

Take-ons completed

2.13

97th

Progressive carries

5.06

98th

Stats from FBref

With numbers like that, Rodrygo could certainly become Chelsea’s best winger since a certain Eden Hazard graced the Bridge. The Belgian legend departed the club in 2019, having made 352 appearances, scoring 110 goals and grabbing 89 assists.

It is not hard to pinpoint exactly which Premier League season was the 34-year-old’s best at Stamford Bridge. In his final campaign, he played 37 top-flight games, contributing an outrageous 16 goals and 15 assists.

Since his departure, however, the Blues have struggled to find a replacement for their former number 10, though not for lack of trying. They have spent hundreds of millions of pounds trying to make up for the loss of their talisman.

Raheem Sterling’s 14 Premier League goals are the most by a winger since Hazard left, with Noni Madueke currently on 13 and Timo Werner, who managed ten, the only other players in double figures. No winger has come remotely near his high standards.

However, it seems as though Rodrygo, if the deal gets done, could finally be the player to replace Hazard. For example, his best season in terms of average key passes per game was 3.1 in 2017/18, according to Sofascore, which is not much more than Rodrygo’s current tally of 2.04.

£85m is a huge investment, but signing Rodrygo could be the addition they need to finally replace Hazard, after what will be six years of trying. He is a genuine goalscorer and a huge creative threat, and could be the man to take on the mantle of an all-time Chelsea great.

Related A better signing than Osimhen: Chelsea in talks to land the "next Haaland"

Chelsea appear to be making moves to land a star who would be better than Victor Osimhen.

Posts 1 ByEthan Lamb May 14, 2025

Manchester City are now preparing an offer for an “excellent creator”, as Pep Guardiola believes the midfielder would be a perfect fit in his system, according to a report.

Man City eyeing Kevin De Bruyne replacement

Kevin De Bruyne’s time at the Etihad Stadium is set to come to an end this summer, and there is now a feeling he could end up remaining in the Premier League, as Aston Villa are ready to back Unai Emery with a move for the Belgian.

As such, Guardiola will be tasked with bringing in a replacement for De Bruyne at the end of the campaign, and a number of top-level attacking midfielders have been identified as potential targets, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Desire Doue recently emerging as an option.

Doue will not come cheap, with the Blues preparing a £102m offer for the Frenchman, and he is not the only expensive signing they are considering, as Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz is also of interest, and the £129m German would be keen on a move to the Etihad Stadium.

Development: Man City now close in on move to sign "world-class" £54m star

The Blues have received a boost in their pursuit of a defender, who they are expected to make a move for this summer.

ByDominic Lund Apr 29, 2025

Man City have set their sights on some renowned attacking midfielders from across Europe, but there is also an indication they may take a gamble on an up-and-coming talent, with a report from Spain revealing they are preparing a super offer for River Plate’s Franco Mastantuono.

Guardiola believes Mastantuono would be a perfect fit for his system, which means City chiefs are now seriously considering making a big offer for the 17-year-old, who has caught the eye with his performances for River Plate this season.

A number of other major clubs have set their sights on the Argentine, including Manchester United, but he is protected by a €45m (£38m) release clause and isn’t expected to leave his current club until 2026 at the earliest.

"Excellent" Mastantuono could be De Bruyne heir

De Bruyne has a remarkable assist record during his time with City, setting up 177 goals in 417 games, so it will be a very difficult task to replace the 33-year-old, but there are signs the River Plate youngster could be the ideal heir.

Football scout Ben Mattinson believes the teenager is an impressive playmaker, while also taking the time to praise his ability from free-kicks.

Most recently, the starlet scored a remarkable free-kick for River Plate in his side’s 2-1 victory against bitter rivals Boca Juniors.

At 17-years-old, it would be a tall order for Mastantuono to replace De Bruyne any time soon, but there is every indication that he could be a future star.

Having last played in India in 2015, he has returned with much more knowledge and skill, and it was on display on the second day of the Kolkata Test

Firdose Moonda15-Nov-20252:21

What did Simon Harmer do right?

Pretend you’re reading just this after both teams had batted once in the Eden Gardens Test. Pretend it’s the point at which South Africa have limited India’s lead to just 30 runs and the match is still evenly poised and bubbling with promise. Pretend that the most important talking point is how a South African attack did what South African attacks are known for and brought their side back into the game, this time without Kagiso Rabada, this time thanks to Simon Harmer.The offspinner made the most important incisions on the day when he removed Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel and Ravindra Jadeja, all of whom threatened to bat South Africa out of the game, and finished with 4 for 30. He extracted more turn than anyone else in the match so far – including the Indian spinners – with an average of 4.3 degrees, and quickly assessed the right lines, length and pace to bowl for maximum efficacy.Harmer’s game plan developed in the solitary over he bowled on the first evening when he started off bowling quite full to Washington, then pulled back the length a touch, drew Washington forward and nearly took the edge. The ball spun away sharply and didn’t find Washington’s bat but Harmer knew he could use that to his advantage on day two.Related

The Bavuma-Bosch 'turning point' in Harmer's Test at Eden Gardens

Shubman Gill under observation, out of remainder of Eden Gardens Test

Gill hospitalised after suffering neck spasm

South Africa get Bumrah-ed on a surface they couldn't 'trust'

Irresistible force Bumrah bosses percentages and moments at Eden Gardens

“From that first over last night over against Washington, it was quite evident that the ball was going to turn and you want to be testing batters on the front foot,” Harmer said at the post-day press conference. “If you allow them time to go back, it allows them to adjust and play the turn off the wicket. So you try to test batters on the front foot and test their front foot defence, which allows the ball to spin past the bat and brings in both edges. Then you also try and get one not to turn to bring in lbw, but overall, it was pretty evident that you needed to be fuller rather than shorter on that wicket.”Fuller but not entirely full. Harmer bowled 47 of his 92 balls on that length and was especially effective against left-hand batters. He only conceded nine runs off the 38 length deliveries he bowled to left-handers. He was also accurate with his line – 39% of his deliveries were sent down in line with the stumps, leaving batters little room to do anything but defend.That’s ultimately how he got Washington, an hour into the second day’s play. Harmer first went very full and then more on a good length, Washington stepped forward to defend and the ball took the edge as it turned away. He similarly challenged Rishabh Pant. Jurel also went forward and popped a return catch to Harmer and with Jadeja, it was the arm ball that skidded on.”It’s also about having the subtle variations of balls that don’t turn,” he said. “Sometimes you get onto turning wickets, you’re just trying to turn it more and more and more and the skill lies in bowling a ball that doesn’t turn on a wicket that is turning. Obviously, I’ve got a lot more experience since the last time I was here.”Simon Harmer rattled India•Getty ImagesIf there is a secret to Harmer’s success, it’s that he has returned to India a decade after first playing in the country, armed with much more knowledge and skill, and his bowling demonstrates his full evolution.Harmer’s international career can be divided into three parts: his emergence in 2015, his needs-must recall in 2022 during the late Covid-19 pandemic period when several frontliners were at the IPL, and his proper comeback now.In 2015, Harmer was a spinner who had been highly successful on the South African domestic circuit, but because it was not a place known to produce great spinners, he did not come into the national set-up with the reputation of a match-winner. He played one Test at home before tours to the subcontinent and he felt the weight of expectation to perform. “I was quite new to Test cricket. Ravi Ashwin was bowling like a jet and it was the expectation that I needed to do the same, so I was dealing with that and putting myself under even more pressure,” Harmer said.South Africa lost that series 3-0 (and would have lost 4-0 if not for rain in Bengaluru) and Harmer was one of the casualties of the tour that went as badly as it could. Looking back, he can acknowledge his own shortcomings. “When I got dropped from the national side in 2015 was when I realised that I wasn’t good enough,” he said.So he worked on it. “I came back to India in 2016 to work with Umesh Patwal in Mumbai and I discovered a lot about spin bowling that I didn’t know. That was probably the point of my career that gave me the ammunition to get better and develop and become a decent spinner.”That was only the start. In 2017, Harmer signed a Kolpak deal, which began a nine-season-and-counting stint at Essex, where he took his game to the next level. In those nine years, he has not once been outside the country championship’s top ten wicket-takers (he was also the leading bowler in 2019, 2020, and 2022) and the consistency of his returns shows a commitment to continual upskilling. “In the UK, bowling on flat wickets or when there are footmarks and nothing outside of those footmarks, you need to find a way to get the ball to spin quickly,” he explained. “It’s a skill that I’ve developed there by being able to bowl it a little bit flatter, not always just relying on the loop. Sometimes on slow wickets, it’s too slow and batters can play off the back foot. So it’s about understanding my game more and finding ways to be better.”Harmer picked up the key wicket of Washington Sundar•BCCIWhen the Kolpak system ended after the UK’s exit from the European Union, Harmer was available for South Africa, but Keshav Mahraraj was established as their No. 1. Harmer has understood that he will likely only be called on when South Africa need additional spin resources. And then, he can bring the wealth of experience he has gained on the county circuit to the national side.”I’m a lot more confident in my ability. I don’t have as many doubts as I did back then and I was fighting for a place in the team,” he said. “Now I feel like I have the skill set to compete. Whether or not it goes my way is sometimes the luck of the draw, but as long as I can look back and say that I put a good amount of balls in the right area, then I can be happy with that.”If the day had ended there, Harmer could have left the ground entirely satisfied with his work and where he had put South Africa. From a first innings blowout, they were in a position where they could put themselves in the driving seat but to think they did that, we’d have to pretend.South Africa finished effectively 63 for 7, with Harmer next in to bat. He will have to do the same job he did with the ball, and drag South Africa into the contest to give them, and mostly himself, a chance to bowl India out cheaply. He knows it won’t be easy.”In an ideal situation, you’ve got 300 on the board, and you can set attacking fields but it becomes quite intricate when you’ve only got 150 on the board, and you need to take wickets but you also can’t leak runs,” he said. “It’s quite evident that the pitch is going to do enough. It’s just about not getting carried away and making sure that you’re putting as many balls in the right areas as you possibly can. We all know that we need to be at our best but we have the belief that we can still pull ourselves back into this game.”Or, at least, they can pretend to.

After a series of injuries at a very young age, she’s ready to grab her WPL opportunity to move to the next level

Srinidhi Ramanujam21-Feb-2024SB Keerthana is a purpose-driven player. After losing almost three to four years to injuries – she is still just 23 – when she was doing well, getting picked by Mumbai Indians in this WPL has reignited the legspinner’s hopes of playing cricket at the highest level.Having been drawn to the sport at a very young age, she represented Tamil Nadu at the Under-16 level at the age of ten and quickly moved from Under-19 to Under-23 and then the senior side. However, life slowed down for Keerthana a year before the pandemic. At 18, she featured in the Senior Women’s Challenger Trophy in 2018-19 and was playing alongside the likes of Sneh Rana and Renuka Singh. But, soon after the season, she had knee and ankle injuries back-to-back – ACL, LSL, meniscus tear – and a few years were lost just doing a lot of rehabilitation and recovery. Though Keerthana kept playing tournaments with these injuries, the results weren’t enough for the take-off she was aiming for.”Your career peaks from the age of 19 to 25,” Keerthana told ESPNcricinfo. “I led India Red in the Challenger Trophy at the Under-19 level, Under-23 level, and the senior level. I was there in the limelight [2018-2019 season]. But after the injury, I was off the radar. Only in the last two seasons I have been injury-free.Related

Bengaluru ready to jazz up women's cricket through WPL

'Unlearn and rewire' – The WPL is changing how Indian players think about cricket

Gouher Sultana's ten-year hiatus

How the WPL squads stack up for the 2024 season

WPL 2024 FAQs – Ins and outs, and everything else you wanted to know

“In cricket, if you go off the radar, it’s very difficult to come back because it’s a competitive game. You know you are replaceable. For me, to make that comeback, it took a lot of mental strength.”Now, to be able to share a dressing room with a star like Amelia Kerr – who is the same age as her – Keerthana had to undergo several changes. This included having a dairy-free and gluten-free diet, shedding two to three kilograms by focusing on strength and conditioning workouts and, as a result, feeling lighter on the run-up.In the initial days, she trained under Sundar, India allrounder Washington Sundar’s father, at Wesley Higher Secondary School in Chennai, before moving to MAC Spin Academy to be coached by Peter Fernandez. Sometime in 2019-2020, she sought the help of TS Mukund, father of former Tamil Nadu – and India – opener Abhinav Mukund, to work on her variations and ball speed.”After the injury, she was very slow,” Mukund said. “She had the talent even in 2015. Having known her from a young age, I found her good for her slinging action. A few years ago, I met her somewhere and asked her to come to the Mylapore Club. She was not able to turn the ball either way, googly or legspin, she was just bowling straight.”I had to fine-tune a few things – from the run-up to her bowling action to the placement of the leg. She used to come to the academy at 5.30am and bowl for an hour-and-a-half without a break to the Under-19 boys. She did the same drill for more than an hour in the afternoon to rectify her errors. This routine went on for six days during off season as well.”She was almost on the verge of breaking down because of the strenuous drills we had after the injury. But she had the dedication and willpower.”

****

Hailing from a middle-class joint family that had great enthusiasm for cricket, Keerthana used to accompany her cousin and father – Balakrishnan, who owns a taxi business – to the ground to “get some physical activity done because my father was keen on it”. Growing up in the lanes of Triplicane – a locality that’s merely a kilometre from Chepauk – her exposure to cricket was not limited. She was immediately fascinated with spin bowling.Cut to last year…Technical fine-tuning aside, she had a major learning curve when the former Middlesex cricketer Tom Scollay spoke about the importance of mental conditioning in a seminar conducted by Mukund in Chennai.”I got a great perspective on life after Scollay’s interactive session,” Keerthana said. “Not everybody touches upon the emotional part of an athlete while speaking on mental conditioning… how you can’t control people’s expectations while going through a lean patch. He also explained how emotions can help you improve in your cricket. Even we have certain expectations of ourselves, but when the performances don’t match our expectations, how do you handle yourself, mentally and emotionally. About expectations from coaches and people around us. I learnt how to accept failure during a low phase from him. This realisation has helped me move forward tremendously.”

“The only thing I had in mind was, ‘I have to grab this opportunity and use this platform to move to a higher level’. There’s a saying, ‘What’s meant for you will find its way’. I started to believe strongly in this phrase after getting picked in the WPL”SB Keerthana

All those learnings were viewed in tangible terms in the domestic circuit very soon. In the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy last November, Keerthana picked up 12 wickets in seven games at an economy rate of 5.40, finishing as the joint-fifth-highest wicket-taker. In the Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy that was held in January, she took 14 wickets in seven matches at an economy of 3.24. A week before the auction in December, she was called for trials by Mumbai Indians. After going unsold initially, she was bought by the franchise for INR 10 lakh in the final round of the accelerated auction.”Everyone was calling my father, and not me, to congratulate after the news came out,” she said with a laugh. “The only thing I had in mind was, ‘I have to grab this opportunity and use this platform to move to a higher level’. I also realised that, somewhere, your hard work will pay off. There’s a saying, ‘What’s meant for you will find its way’. I started to believe strongly in this phrase after getting picked in the WPL.”Being a part of the title-winning squad that also has the likes of Jhulan Goswami, Charlotte Edwards and Kiran More in the support staff, Keerthana wants to just utilise the tournament to gather as much knowledge as possible.”There’s so much to learn from players on their work ethics and how they approach the game, mentally too. When you have someone like Amelia Kerr in the squad, who has done so much for New Zealand cricket, being at your age, I feel I have so much to learn to move up the ladder.”Only time will tell if Keerthana can progress to the next level, but for an optimist like her, the WPL spot is a reminder that it can happen.

He’s no Shoaib Akhtar but one had to watch him close to notice how good he was, and his very few magic balls

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Mar-2022Did you watch Suranga Lakmal bowl? No, really. Did you watch him closely? It’s ok. It’s human. Be honest. If anyone wouldn’t really mind, it’s Lakmal.Our man captained five Tests for Sri Lanka. In the third of these, he did not bowl at all in the first innings. In the second innings, he sent down just two overs.Related

• Karunaratne wants Sri Lanka to 'reverse a little pressure' and put plans 'in motion' during pink-ball Test

• Injury-hit Sri Lanka run into pink ball and red-hot India

• KSCA allows 100% stadium capacity for Bengaluru Test

• Karunaratne quietly confident of SL doing to India what they did in SA

• Lakmal signs for Derbyshire after announcing international retirement

Why? Because he is who he is, and felt largely surplus to requirement. In this 2018 series, South Africa had surrendered en masse to Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera in the first Test. They were nosediving spectacularly again on a bone-dry SSC pitch, until, inside 35 overs, they were all out for 124, three spinners having bowled right through the innings. Lakmal’s two overs in the second dig were mainly to give the spinners a break.That’s Lakmal concentrate. Rational. Ego-free. Almost invisible. Bring a great ball of his to mind? Yeah, neither can I. Great bowling performances, though, there’s the thing. You don’t have to bowl magic balls to bowl a good spell. And that is where Lakmal lived. Draw a venn diagram. The space common to “bowls line and length”, “swings it a bit”, “seams a little”. Colour that segment in. That’s Lakmal territory.Perhaps, you’ll look at that Test average of 36.38, and think he was just a plodder. If you were being unkind, you’d say he one. Long of hair, longer of face, a gangly tumbling of over-long limbs – he’s no Shoaib Akhtar. He’s not even on that spectrum. He never tried to be. A gentle away-seamer, a smirk when the batter misses it. A turning of the heel, returning to his crease, a doing of all of the above again. You had to watch him to notice how good he was. Otherwise, he was almost invisible.Almost invisible to the Sri Lanka public, because his bowling only really got to really fly overseas, where Sri Lanka generally lost. A 5 for 63 in Port Elizabeth, 5 for 54 in Christchurch, 3 for 25 in Bridgetown, 4 for 39 in Port Elizabeth again, 5 for 47 in North Sound. Since 2016, he’s averaged 28.74 away from home.In that 2019 series that Sri Lanka won in South Africa, which perhaps should go down as their greatest Test triumph ever, there he was, averaging 25.5, keeping a lid on the opposition scoring while the younger bowlers hunted (successfully) for wickets around him. Not a man for the glory spells. The hard ones. In Galle, when nothing was happening, and there was a mild hope the ball would reverse. At the SSC, when the batters have started sweeping well, and the runs are flowing too quickly, and you need a guy to bring the rate down again, even if there’s no real chance of a wicket.When all you want is for balance to be restored, which for Sri Lanka, is a lot of the time in overseas Tests, it is where he shines. Those are the Lakmal overs.He probably would have got more overs if other fast bowlers had stayed with him. Sri Lanka would have prepared some slightly seamer-friendly tracks, if they had a seam attack, instead of a lone, reliable seamer. What could have he been if Nuwan Pradeep didn’t injure his hamstrings that often, or Shaminda Eranga didn’t have a kink in his elbow, or Dhammika Prasad’s shoulder hadn’t fallen apart, or even if Lahiru Kumara had delivered on his early promise?Instead, what Lakmal got at home were intensively spin-friendly pitches, on which he, and most others who bowled at more than 110kph, were sometimes redundant. In some ways, it is typical that Lakmal is right at the centre of an intentional erasure of seam bowling in Sri Lanka’s home Tests.He may get a fair showing from the pink ball, though. Across the two day-night Tests Sri Lanka have played, the first in Barbados, the second in Dubai, Lakmal averages 19.13, playing a significant role in winning both matches.At 35, he’s choosing to look after his financial future, moving to Derbyshire, instead of staying with the Sri Lanka national side, who pay him less than $60,000 a year, not including match fees. Here, for the first time, he appears to be acting in (understandable) self-interest.But in this last Test that he will play – against India – however, remote Sri Lanka’s possibility of pulling off an upset, we should do something most of us don’t really do with Lakmal. Watch him. Watch him close. There are very few magic balls. Only good spells. We can meet him there. He deserves that much.

كشفت تقارير صحفية إسبانية حقيقة بيع نادي برشلونة لولي العهد السعودي الأمير محمد بن سلمان، بعد ما تردد من تكهنات خلال الساعات الماضية.

وذكرت قناة “الشيرينجويتو” التلفزيونية، أن ولي العهد السعودي الأمير محمد بن سلمان يستعد لتقديم عرض بقيمة 10 مليارات يورو لشراء نادي برشلونة.

وتردد بأن ولي العهد السعودي يعتقد بأن برشلونة يثقل بديون تبلغ 2.5 مليار يورو، وقد يكون هناك اتجاه لبيعه مقابل الحصول على سيولة نقدية.

اقرأ أيضاً.. أزمة أراوخو تكشف عن رد فعل مميز من لاعبي برشلونة تحت قيادة فليك

وأكدت مصادر متعددة أن برشلونة لن يباع للعائلة المالكة السعودية، حتى مع العرض الفلكي الذي قد يصل لـ10 مليارات يورو، لأن النادي مملوك لأعضاء جمعيات وليس لفرد واحد.

وتعد أندية مثل برشلونة وريال مدريد مملوكة لأعضاء جمعياتها، الذين لن يسمحوا أبداً باستحواذ أي جهة أجنبية عليها، لذا من غير المرجح أن يمتلك السعوديون برشلونة في أي وقت على الرغم من السماح لهم بالاستثمار فيه.