Legspinner Sarah Glenn claimed a four-wicket haul in only her third ODI but rain ruined the prospect of a result in the final match of the series between Pakistan and England. Having been put in to bat, Pakistan were 145 for 8 from 37.4 overs before the weather intervened, meaning England took the series 2-0.Looking for their first ODI win over England, Pakistan made an impressive start in reaching 96 without loss. Glenn then removed both openers in consecutive overs, dismissing Javeria Khan for 37 and Nahida Khan for a fluent half-century.The spin pairing of Glenn and Sophie Ecclestone wheeled their way through 16 overs in tandem, as England dragged the game back their way. Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof was caught behind off Ecclestone and Glenn bowled Kaynat Hafeez and Nida Dar to give her figures of 8-1-18-4.”I was really happy to get four wickets today, but it’s a shame the rain came and the game had to be abandoned,” Glenn said. “We came back really well with the ball after Pakistan had started on top. We kept it tight and we got our rewards.”I’ve really enjoyed the three matches and it’s good to come out with a series win. The girls have been really welcoming and I’m looking forward to the T20s.”Anya Shrubsole returned from an expensive opening spell to pick up three wickets, with only Umaima Sohail’s unbeaten 27 offering much in the way of middle-order resistance for Pakistan. There was also an economical performance with the ball from Freya Davies, making her ODI debut, but England’s chances of claiming a third consecutive win were ended by the rain.The result means England finished their ICC Women’s Championship campaign with 14 wins from 21 games, placing them second on the table behind Australia. Pakistan moved up a spot to fourth, level on 16 points with South Africa, but having played three games more. The top four teams qualify automatically for the 2021 World Cup.
Leeds United may well sell one player this summer who has been a regular under Daniel Farke in 2024, according to Phil Hay.
Leeds form in 2024
The Whites have been well and truly ‘Marching on Together’ this year in the Championship, looking for an immediate return to the Premier League.
After a slow start to the season and a tricky festive period, Leeds have been in unbelievable form in 2024 and now sit in the second automatic promotion spot, three points behind Leicester City at the top.
Leeds United 3-0 Birmingham City
1st January
Cardiff City 0-3 Leeds United
13th January
Leeds United 2-1 Preston North End
21st January
Leeds United 1-0 Norwich City
24th January
Bristol City 0-1 Leeds United
2nd February
Leeds United 3-0 Rotherham United
10th February
Swansea City 0-4 Leeds United
13th February
Plymouth Argyle 0-2 Leeds United
17th February
Leeds United 3-1 Leicester City
23rd February
Huddersfield Town 1-1 Leeds United
2nd March
Leeds United 1-0 Stoke City
5th March
Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Leeds United
8th March
The Whites have nine days between the win at Sheffield Wednesday and the upcoming game against Millwall, with Farke’s intentions for the welcome break made clear.
“Like always: sofa, cake, coffee. I am looking forward to a relaxed weekend. So much load. Important for the players and staff. We have had so much travel and miles. Enjoying myself means recovering on the sofa for me. Not too much thinking about football over the next few days.”
However, behind the scenes, the 49ers Enterprises and co may well be looking to the summer, with Borussia Monchengladbach left-back Luca Netz thought to be a possible target. He may well replace Junior Firpo, with Hay making a claim on the left-back’s future.
£60,000-a-week star could be sold by Leeds
The reliable reporter shared an in-depth story on Firpo, stating that a new Elland Road deal is looking unlikely, with his current contract up in 2025. Therefore, Hay claimed that offers ‘would be well received’ by Leeds in the upcoming transfer window.
Junior Firpo
Firpo, previously labelled "immense" by Conor McGilligan, was recently named in the Dominican Republic squad for the upcoming international break and has played an important role for Leeds this year.
He’s started all but one of Leeds’ Championship games in 2024, registering five assists with the Whites conceding just three goals, all of which have come from set pieces.
Leeds United 3-0 Birmingham City
8.68/10
Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Leeds United
8.15/10
Swansea City 0-4 Leeds United
7.62/10
Leeds United 1-0 Norwich City
7.55/10
Leeds United 2-1 Preston North End
7.41/10
Alongside Archie Gray, Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu at the back, Leeds have a settled defensive line at this moment in time, but we have seen in the past Firpo’s struggles with injuries and form in the Premier League.
For example, Jermaine Jenas slammed the £60,000-a-week defender's “torrid time” for Leeds in the run-in last year when the club were relegated, but hopefully, he can help the club win promotion before potentially leaving in the summer.
Veteran quick says accepting new deal was a ‘no-brainer’ as 200-match milestone beckons
ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2019
Graham Onions bounces in wicket-taking delight•Getty Images
Graham Onions will play at least another season at Lancashire after signing a one-year contract extension.Right-arm quick Onions, who turned 37 in September, will play his third season with Lancashire in 2020 having taken 45 Championship wickets at an average of 19.57 in 2019, including three five-wicket hauls, as the club topped the Division Two table and secured promotion.Onions, who played nine Tests and four ODIs for England between 2009 and 2012, joined Lancashire at the end of the 2017 after 14 seasons at Durham. The move came after Onions rejected a two-year deal to stay at Durham where the second year depended on him remaining injury free.He finished his first season with Lancashire in 2018 as the fourth-highest wicket taker in Division One with 57 wickets at 21.77 and is now just eight matches shy of making 200 first-class appearances.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the club so far and it was a no-brainer to sign a new contract,” Onions said. “I feel as fit as I ever have and owe a lot to the strength and conditioning team at the club for their hard work and expert advice.”Part of the attraction of joining Lancashire was the chance to explore coaching opportunities – he holds a Level 4 qualification, the ECB’s highest certificate level – and he will continue to work with the club’s academy and age-group sides in that capacity.”I will continue to work with the club’s up-and-coming bowlers, something which I have loved doing over the last two years,” Onions said. “There are some real talents coming through the system and I hope I can positively influence their careers. It is an exciting time to be a part of Lancashire Cricket and I am delighted to be here for at least another season.”Lancashire’s Director of Cricket, Paul Allott describe Onions as “exceptionally skilled” with “substantial knowledge to pass on to our younger bowlers”.”He has repeatedly proven himself as a high-class Division One bowler and we are delighted to keep him for at least another season,” Allott said. “He is the ultimate professional both on and off the field and we’re delighted to have given him further coaching opportunities with both the Lancashire academy and age-group sides, which is something that I know he’s enjoyed doing over the last couple of years.”
Pressure on hosts after second-Test defeat, but England still dealing with loss of key players
George Dobell in Port Elizabeth15-Jan-2020It’s the expectations that are the problem. If most young cricketers claimed three five-wicket hauls in their first seven Tests, the reports would be glowing. Equally, if most young cricketers achieved a bowling average of 27.40 in that time and showed the skills and maturity to be trusted with the Super Over in the World Cup final a couple of months into their international career, you could think they were doing pretty well. But for one reason or another, more seems to be expected of Jofra Archer.Look at Sam Curran. He’s played 14 Tests and not taken any five-fors. And if that feel like an unfair comparison – Curran is an all-rounder, after all – then compare Archer’s record to those of Stuart Broad and James Anderson over a similar period. After seven Tests, Broad had a Test bowling average of 45.33 (with a best of 3 for 54), while Anderson’s was 31.57 (with two five-fors and a best of 5 for 73). Even compared to the best of modern England, Archer is flying.One of the things that has become clear from watching England training in Port Elizabeth over the last few days – and not everyone with the strongest opinions has been doing so – is that Archer is not fully fit. It’s not a case of him coasting or England demanding anything unreasonable. It has been a case of them asking him to prove his match fitness and him struggling to do so.He was significantly slower than Mark Wood on Monday – not 5 or 6mph, but 10 or 20 – and spent much of Wednesday talking to the physio and doctor. After one of the 20 or so deliveries he bowled, Paul Collingwood – one of the assistant coaches – said “Well bowled, Colly” to him; a reference to the gentle pace he was generating. It was said, and taken, in good spirits but it wasn’t as inaccurate as you may think. Archer simply did not look match-fit.In such a scenario, it would not just be unwise but irresponsible to include him in the team for the Port Elizabeth Test. He has a precious skill and he requires careful and sympathetic handling. He is not the first fast bowler to miss a game or two through injury and he will not be the last. Such incidents do not usually precipitate questions about the management of the player or the player’s desire for the task. There’s not much evidence to suggest they should here, either.The good thing, from an England perspective, is that they have Mark Wood to come into the side in his place. Wood is probably the one man in England who can bowl at least as quickly as Archer and he has worked hard to earn this opportunity. He has reported some soreness after his exertions on Sunday and Monday and hardly bowled on Wednesday but, as long as he suffers no adverse reaction on Thursday morning, he is likely to be selected ahead of Chris Woakes here. With a bit of luck, Archer and Wood may play together in Johannesburg.But for all the Tests Wood has missed and all the injuries he’s suffered, it’s hard to recall an occasion when his desire has ever been questioned. For some reason – and it may simply be that Archer, like David Gower before him, makes the game look so absurdly easy that we set unreasonably high standards for them – Archer seems to face questions over his commitment and his desire. It’s far from clear the motivation of all the critics is good.Jofra Archer looks on during England nets•Getty Images
It’s surely relevant, though, that Archer moved to a nation crying out for a fast bowler. Yes, England has had glimpses of fast bowlers in recent times – Devon Malcolm, Andrew Flintoff (who took just four five-fors in his 183-match first-class career), Steve Harmison and Wood for example – but not for many years have they had a man with what appears to be the whole package: the repeatable action; the pace; the skill; the fitness. There were times during the World Cup when he made bowling over 90mph look ludicrously easy.But it never is. And England’s desire to play with their new toy has seen Archer used pretty unsparingly in the first eight months or so of his international career. He was the only man in the World Cup to bowl 100 overs and required a pain-killing injection ahead of the Super Over in the final. He bowled 42 overs in an innings – more than Broad has ever managed in a Test innings – in Mount Maunganui and then heard Joe Root, his captain, suggest “there are certain spells when he can unleash a little more”.To be fair to Root, it’s understandable he would want to keep returning to a man of Archer’s skill so often. Previous captains used to rely on James Anderson and Graeme Swann in a similar way. But we have, perhaps, been spoiled by Anderson’s resilience. He really has been something of a freak. It’s better, perhaps, to remember that Swann retired relatively early with an elbow injury.Comparisons with Anderson probably don’t help, either. “He’ll never play 150 Tests,” a sour-faced England supporter sneered as he watched nets on Wednesday. Well no, he probably won’t. But only one fast bowler in history has. If all others are deemed half-hearted failures, we are setting the bar impossibly high.Root also seems to be learning how to handle his key fast bowler. Ahead of this game, he spoke sensibly of the need to take the long-term view with fitness management and provided another reminder of Archer’s relative inexperience. Temper those expectations, was the basic takeaway.”Jofra is very much at the start of his career and I think managing workloads is important,” Root said. “He’s played a huge amount of cricket since he’s come into the international arena and we’ve seen a little bit of pushback from his body with that elbow injury.”He’s come into international cricket off the back of some brilliant domestic Twenty20 cricket, in particular. His reputation was made in IPL cricket, Big Bash cricket and performing and excelling in that. He came into Test cricket already with a reputation on a standard of Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad. People were matching him with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc. These guys have played a lot of Test cricket, very experienced.ALSO READ: Series in the balance as familiar foes take it to the wire”For him it’s about managing where he is in his career and for us as a management group understanding that he’s very young and every game he’ll pick things up. He’s a very fast learner – he showed that in white-ball cricket – and we have to give him that opportunity in Test cricket as well.”But even then, Root suggested Archer needed to be bowling not just well, but quickly, too.”Of course, if he’s fit and raring to go you want him in your side,” Root said. “But you want to make sure he’s 100 percent ready and he can deliver all his skills: not just seam and swing it around but bowl at 90mph too. We’ve got to look after him as a player as well as just trying to win the series.”The very best – the likes of Malcolm Marshall and Richard Hadlee – did not bowl flat out all the time. Far from it. They used their pace as one of the skills in their armoury and unleashed it when required.Perhaps Archer is still learning when it is required. Perhaps there is something to be said for him warming up better and bowling quicker at the start of spells rather than easing into them. But his Test-best performance to date – 6 for 45 at Leeds – came when he concentrated on control and movement and rarely operated at anything approaching the pace seen for a while in the previous Test at Lord’s. And his quickest spells – notably against Steve Smith at Lord’s and Matt Wade at The Oval – didn’t necessarily produce many wickets. The point being, Archer is about far more than pace. He’s much better than that.Perhaps he is having something of a tricky second album phase to his career. Perhaps he is struggling with the Kookaburra ball and a series of surfaces – in New Zealand, in particular – that might have been designed to thwart him. Perhaps, as Root says, his body is simply pushing back after being asked to do a bit much.But he’s doing very well, really. Extraordinarily well, by comparison to England’s other seam-bowling newbies in recent times. Craig Overton (averaging 44.77), for example, Jake Ball (114.33) or Tom Curran (100.00).Archer is missing this Test due to an elbow injury. It happens. He’ll be back. And in him England have something quite special. He deserves appreciating and looking after.
حدد نادي الهلال السعودي موعدًا للتعاقد مع نجم فريق ليفربول، محمد صلاح، خاصة في ظل التكهنات المنتشرة بشأن مستقبله في ملعب “الأنفيلد”.
وسينتهي العقد الحالي للنجم المصري مع ليفربول في صيف 2025، أي نهاية هذا الموسم.
وسبق أن صرح محمد صلاح بعدم وجود مفاوضات بينه وبين مسؤولي ليفربول بشأن تمديد عقده مع النادي الإنجليزي.
وأثار صاحب الـ32 عامًا المزيد من الجدل بسبب تغريدته مساء أمس، والتي شعر البعض بأنها رسالى وداع لجماهير ليفربول (لمطالعة التفاصيل من هنا).
من جانبها، ذكرت شبكة “talkSPORT” الإنجليزية أن نادي الهلال السعودي يرغب في التعاقد مع محمد صلاح قبل كأس العالم للأندية، نسخة 2025.
وتنطلق منافسات النسخة الحديثة من كأس العالم للأندية، في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، الصيف المقبل بمشاركة 32 ناديًا.
وكشف مراسل “talkSPORT” لكرة القدم السعودية، بن جاكوبس، أن الهلال يسعى جاهدًا إلى ضم محمد صلاح قبل مونديال الأندية المرتقب.
وقال بن جاكوبس: “عام 2025 هو الهدف، الهلال هو النادي، سيتناول الاتحاد السعودي لكرة القدم هذه النافذة الاستثنائية قبل كأس العالم للأندية”.
وفتح فيفا المجال أمام الأندية المشتركة في كأس العالم للأندية لضم لاعبين جدد، قبل البطولة، في نافذة انتقالات استثنائية مخصصة لهم فقط.
وأضاف: “لذا يمكنهم من الناحية النظرية محاولة التعاقد مع صلاح بين 1 و10 يونيو، مما يعني أنهم ينظرون إليه ليس فقط للدوري السعودي للمحترفين ولكن لكأس العالم للأندية”.
وسبق أن حاول الدوري السعودي التعاقد مع محمد صلاح، وتحديدًا نادي اتحاد جدة، الصيف الماضي.
وتابع: “كل الدلائل تشير إلى أن السعوديين سيعودون وإذا كان صلاح وكيلًا حرًا، فمن الطبيعي أن يحصل على رسوم أكبر مقابل التوقيع”.
وأردف: “ليفربول يريد تجديد عقده، والسعودية تضغط بقوة، المدير الرياضي للدوري السعودي للمحترفين، مايكل إيمينالو، الذي تربطه علاقة جيدة بمحمد صلاح، يقود الحملة”.
واستمر: “لذلك فإن الشيء الوحيد الذي تغير حقًا هو النادي، من الاتحاد إلى الهلال، والتوقعات هي أن السعودية ستبذل جهدًا كبيرًا”.
وأوضح: “توقع آخر هو أن حقوق البث التلفزيوني ستتغير إلى بلد محدد في مناطق معينة، أحد هذه المناطق هي مصر، وبالتالي إذا انضم محمد صلاح، فهذا يتعلق أيضًا بعائد الاستثمار لأن مصر سيكون لها حقوق في إطار البث”.
واسترسل: “ومع وجود صلاح هناك، تتوقع أن يتمكن الدوري السعودي للمحترفين من جلب صفقة مربحة نسبيًا”.
واختتم: “ولذلك فإن انتقال محمد صلاح إلى السعودية لا يزال مطروحًا والهلال هو الوجهة الأكثر ترجيحًا مع وضع كأس العالم للأندية في الاعتبار”.
Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz has responded to the jokes made about his love for plain potatoes.
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Wirtz goes viral on social media
Picks baked potato as best potato dish
Finds jokes about choice 'not funny'
WHAT HAPPENED?
In a recent video with the German national team's social media, Wirtz was asked to rank types of potato dishes and the forward bizarrely ranked a plain baked potato as his first choice. The video immediately went viral on social media as fans joked about the German star's bizarre choice. Wirtz has voiced out that he does not understand the reason behind the jokes.
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WHAT WIRTZ SAID
Speaking to , the German said: I don't find it entertaining. I and people who know me don't understand why it went viral. I think people made fun of me a little when I said it. But it's not really that bad. I stand by it, I still like potatoes. But when people keep shouting that at me from left and right, I just try to ignore it. It doesn't bother me, but at some point, it gets to the point where it's not that funny anymore.
Getty
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Wirtz has been a top performer over the last year as his performances helped Bayer Leverkusen beat Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title. He also shone for Julian Nagelsmann's Germany at the Euros despite their knockout in the tournament's quarter-final.
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WHAT NEXT FOR WIRTZ?
The 21-year-old joined up with the Bayer Leverkusen squad earlier this week for pre-season training and is likely to be a part of their clash against Lens on Saturday, August 3.
O adeus do Coringa está oficializado. O Flamengo anunciou, nesta quarta-feira, o acordo pela transferência definitiva de Gerson ao Olympique de Marseille, da França.
O Rubro-Negro publicou uma breve mensagem confirmando a venda do meia. O clube francês também confirmou a contratação de Gerson nas redes sociais.
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O Clube de Regatas do Flamengo anuncia um acordo em princípio pela transferência permanente de Gerson para a Olympique de Marseille. #CRF
— Flamengo (@Flamengo) June 9, 2021
L'Olympique de Marseille annonce un accord de principe avec le club brésilien, @Flamengo, pour le transfert définitif de @GersonSantos08. pic.twitter.com/Z2vrqKVOrU
— Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) June 9, 2021
A venda gerará aos cofres cerca de 25 milhões de euros (R$ 160 milhões) para os cariocas. Dentro do elenco, entre jovens e referências, há algumas opções para suprir a ausência do craque. O técnico argentino Jorge Sampaoli precisou esperar apenas três semanas para que a novidade fosse concretizada.
A ida de Gerson para a França ainda não tem data definida. Agora, após os amistosos na Sérvia pela seleção olímpica, o atleta volta ao Flamengo, fica à disposição de Ceni e no aguardo da lista final para os Jogos de Tóquio.
Celtic could drop down to second in the Scottish Premiership table this week if their closest rivals win their game in hand on Wednesday night.
The Hoops could have gone four points clear at the top of the division with a win against Rangers on Sunday but failed to make the most of their leads during the match.
Brendan Rodgers' side were 2-0 and 3-2 up at points throughout the game and allowed the hosts to get back into the clash on both occasions at Ibrox.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers looks on.
The Scottish giants are still fighting to end the season with silverware to show for their efforts, having already been knocked out of Europe and the SFA Cup, and the Premiership title looks set to go down to the wire.
One player who will be particularly keen to secure a trophy or two before the summer is veteran goalkeeper Joe Hart, who has confirmed that he will be retiring from professional football when his contract expires at the end of the campaign.
Celtic's interest in international goalkeeper
The Hoops will need to dip into the market to replace the former England international shot-stopper ahead of the 2024/25 season, and they are reportedly keen on a Turkey international.
According to Turkish outlet Kontraspor, Celtic are interested in a deal to sign Trabzonspor number one Ugurcan Cakir to replace Hart this summer.
The report claims that the Bhoys have requested permission from the Super Lig side to negotiate a possible transfer for the experienced titan.
Ugurcan Cakir
It states that Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson has invited the player's agents and lawyers to Glasgow to discuss a move ahead of the upcoming transfer window, whilst Rodgers is said to have requested a meeting with Cakir via a Zoom call – seemingly to convince him to make the switch to Scotland.
Konstraspor add that Celtic are prepared to pay as much as £7.5m to sign the talented colossus this summer, but the Turkish side are currently looking for €15m (£12.8m) to allow their star to depart.
His current contract with Trabzonspor does not expire until the summer of 2027, and this means that they are not under any pressure to cash in on the 28-year-old giant, as his deal is not close to running down at this moment in time.
Therefore, it looks like the Hoops will need to negotiate with the Turkish outfit and attempt to either drive the price down or add incentives, via add-ons and clauses, to get a deal over the line for a reasonable price.
If Celtic can secure a swoop for the Turkey international, however, then Rodgers could land an upgrade on the retiring Hart ahead of next season.
Joe Hart's season in numbers
The 36-year-old ace, who turns 37 later this month, has been a solid, if unspectacular, performer between the sticks for the Scottish giants this season.
22/23 Premiership
Joe Hart
Appearances
37
Penalties saved
0/7
Save success rate
65%
Errors leading to shots
4
Ground duel success rate
50%
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Hart ended a difficult 202/23 campaign in the Premiership under Ange Postecoglou, with a whopping four errors that directly led to shots for the opposition.
This term, however, the English veteran has only made one error in 31 league appearances and has improved his save success rate to 67%, which means that he has kept a higher percentage of the efforts on his goal.
The former Manchester City star has, though, let himself down in ground duels as opposition forwards have beaten him in 60% of his contests on the deck.
Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Hart also struggled in the group stages of the Champions League earlier this season. He ranks within the bottom 22% of goalkeepers in the competition for percentage of crosses stopped (1.2%), and the bottom 1% for average distance of defensive actions (5.9 yards).
This shows that the experienced stopper is hesistant to come off his line to deal with crosses or balls in behind his defence to alleviate pressure off the backline.
Celtic could now land an upgrade on the Englishman by securing a deal for Cakir, whether that is by convincing Trabzonspor to lower their asking price or by Rodgers convincing the goalkeeper – in the proposed Zoom call – to push for the transfer to be completed.
Why Ugurcan Cakir would be an upgrade on Joe Hart
The impressive titan, who only turned 28 earlier this month and is almost nine years younger than Hart, has been in fine form so far this season in Turkey.
He has saved 68% of the shots on his goal across 28 Super Lig appearances for Trabzonspor, and prevented 0.23 xG. This shows that he has been a fantastic shot-stopper and has not been a liability between the sticks.
23/24 league season
Ugurcan Cakir
Joe Hart
Appearrances
28
31
Save success rate
68%
67%
Errors leading to shots
0
1
Ground duel success rate
80%
40%
Ball recoveries per game
7.8
7.6
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, they have performed to a similar level in terms of their shot-stopping quality but the Turkish star has been significantly better in ground duels and has not made a single error leading to a shot or goal for the opposition.
In fact, Cakir has only made two errors leading to shots since the start of the 2021/22 campaign, which shows how reliable he has been in goal for Trabzonspor in comparison to Hart – who has made five since the start of last term.
The 28-year-old titan could also be an upgrade on the current Celtic number one in terms of his ability to come off his line to deal with danger.
In the 2022/23 Europa League campaign, Cakir collected 4.3% of the crosses into his box – in comparison to Hart's 1.2% in the Champions League this season – and his average distance of 10.0 yards per defensive action was also higher than the Hoops man's 5.9 yards this year in Europe.
This suggests that the £12.8m-rated star could provide more quality when it comes to commanding his box and coming out to act as a sweeper, rather than being rooted to his line.
Overall, Cakir's quality as both a shot-stopper and a dominant figure in the box suggests that he could come in as an upgrade on Hart, which is why Celtic must push to get this move done in the summer.
Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to terminate Chandika Hathurusingha’s contract as head coach, while Hathurusingha has moved for compensation through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), following months of deadlock.Although SLC had suspended Hathurusingha as far back as August last year, they had continued to pay him for several months, while lawyers traded letters and the board sent Hathurusingha a list of alleged failings as head coach. The charges levelled by SLC include failure to adequately prepare the Sri Lanka side for various assignments, and failure to maintain good relationships with players.The board has finally resolved to terminate Hathurusingha’s contract, but the possibility that they will have to pay Hathurusingha a substantial amount for early termination remains. His contract was due to run until December this year.”At the last executive committee meeting, on Friday, it was decided that the contract would be terminated,” board CEO Ashley de Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “I can’t say by memory when we stopped the payments to [Hathurusingha], but I believe it was somewhere around October last year.”The board’s decision came after CAS, a global sporting body that aims to settle disputes related to sports via arbitration, sent them a letter listing Hathurusingha’s demands. De Silva confirmed that SLC is bound to the CAS process, and the board is now understood to be required to respond. This is likely because Hathurusingha’s contract with the board had stipulated that CAS could become involved if something like an early termination did eventuate. CAS will facilitate arbitration, and will effectively function as the intermediary between the parties for as long as this process lasts.Hathurusingha’s demands, conveyed to SLC by CAS, are understood to include not only loss of income from the early termination, but also compensation for damages to his reputation. He had remained in Sri Lanka through the early months of his legal tussle with SLC, but had returned home to Australia after the board’s payments ceased.Hathurusingha is the third head coach in the last five years whose tenure with Sri Lanka was ended before the contracted term was served. Marvan Atapattu and Graham Ford were both elbowed out of the position in 2015 and 2017 respectively.In 2013, SLC had also had to pay Geoff Marsh a substantial settlement after the board had terminated his contract early in 2012.
Arsenal are believed to be willing to make a £94m offer to sign an “incredibly energetic” star this summer, according to a fresh transfer update.
Arsenal transfer news
Mikel Arteta has assembled arguably one of the Gunners' most impressive squads of all time, ensuring that they are still fighting for both Premier League and Champions League glory in April. That doesn't mean that more top-quality signings aren't needed in the summer transfer window, in order to make the north Londoners an even more daunting proposition moving forward.
Bologna attacker Joshua Zirkzee is one player who has been linked with a move to the Emirates, even being called "better than Erling Haaland", summing up how highly he is rated. He has 13 goal contributions (10 goals and three assists) in 26 Serie A starts in 2023/24 to date.
Another reported target is Martin Zubimendi, who Arteta is believed to be a huge fan of, with his compatriot shining at Real Sociedad currently, starting 27 La Liga matches this season and scoring four goals in the competition.
Martin Zubimendi
Arsenal could also look to add to their attack in the summer, in order to have a more prolific striker leading the line than Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, and both Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres have been backed to join in the coming months.
Arsenal want "incredibly energetic" Real Madrid star
According to a new claim from Defensa Central, Arsenal are willing to spend as much as €110mm (£94m) to sign Real Madrid midfielder Edouardo Camavinga. The £205,000 per week midfielder's current deal doesn't expire until the summer of 2029, however.
The Gunners believe he can be an even greater force in the Premier League than in Spain, in terms of the attributes he possesses in his game.
In truth, Arsenal could find it hard to snap up Camavinga, considering what a prized asset he is at Madrid currently, arguably standing out as one of the finest midfielders in Europe. At just 21 years of age, he is already a key man for the European giants, showcasing his versatility by excelling at left-back, too.
Carlo Ancelotti has made it very clear how highly he thinks of the France international recently, saying of him:
"This is exactly what he's shown since arriving here, that he can make more of a difference coming off the bench. He is incredibly energetic. Eduardo is very young, he has to improve and learn more about how positioning, but he is still very important to us."
It is so encouraging to see Arsenal even in the conversation for such a brilliant footballer, outlining how much progress has been made under Arteta in recent years, and Camavinga could be a sensational addition to the squad.
Arsenal ready contract offer for striker called "better than Haaland"
He could earn just under £100,000-a-week at the Emirates.
ByCharlie Smith Apr 7, 2024
He is a player who may go on to become world-class for a long time, assuming he avoids serious injury, but it would be a surprise if Madrid were willing to part ways with him any time soon unless he suddenly decides that he wants a fresh challenge. It'll be interesting to see if Arsenal launch a huge bid, though.