Newcastle have begun talks with Galatasaray over a summer transfer for Garry Rodrigues, according to Turkish news outlet Aksam.

What’s the story?

The 27-year-old winger joined Galatasaray in January 2017 and has since scored ten goals in 49 games for the Turkish club.

According to the report, Galatasaray want £17.5million for the player who can play on both wings, but Newcastle are hoping to make a deal at a lower price.

The Cape Verde international is valued at £7.2million on Transfermarkt, but Galatasaray’s manager Fatih Terim is reluctant to see their star player leave, according to Aksam.

Is he worth it?

Rodrigues is a pacy winger with the ability to beat a defender and get a cross in.

With nine goals and ten assists in the Super Lig, he clearly has an end product and would be a versatile addition, being comfortable on the right and left wing, as well as playing as a second striker.

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If Newcastle can strike a deal with Galatsaray then they will add some real quality to their flanks for the coming season.

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Liverpool fans can be forgiven for getting ahead of themselves with regards to the club’s transfer pursuit of Lyon playmaker Nabil Fekir.

All indications were that the 24-year-old was poised to sign on the dotted line, but in the eleventh hour, the deal collapsed.

According to The Mirror, an underlying knee problem was the reason behind the Reds decision to walk away.

However, in a report published by the publication on Tuesday, it is believed that Lyon are working on how to restructure the deal, which was going to cost Liverpool around £53m.

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It is unlikely that a transfer will go ahead, but the newspaper states that the door is not completely closed on an agreement being reached.

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Fekir himself remain keen on the move, and this latest news has sparked a reaction from the fans.

Some are still hopeful that the 12-capped France international will be a Red by the end of the window, while others are fed up of the merry-go-round.

Stoke City attacker Xherdan Shaqiri made a big impact and scored a brilliant winner in Switzerland’s crucial 2-1 win against Serbia in their second 2018 World Cup group game on Friday, and Newcastle United fans have urged their club to sign the 26-year-old ace.

According to reports in The Mirror, the forward is available for £12m this summer thanks to a release clause in his contract following the Potters’ relegation to the Championship.

Having scored just 39 goals in their 38 Premier League matches last term, the Magpies are certainly in desperate need of reinforcements in attack, and the Stoke man showed the quality he has when a fantastic curling effort hit the crossbar in Kaliningrad, before he ran from the halfway line to net a fine winner.

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Newcastle supporters, who are desperate for their club to keep a £9m first-team star this summer, were quick to have their say on Shaqiri’s latest display via social media, and while one said “we would be nuts not to take Shaqiri if we got the chance”, another said “buy him with the Mitro money”.

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Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Cricket Australia’s chairman Jack Clarke has conceded that the game could be better served with a less crowded international calendar when the new Future Tours Programme (FTP) is devised

Cricinfo staff06-Nov-2009Cricket Australia’s chairman Jack Clarke has conceded that the game could be better served with a less crowded international calendar when the new Future Tours Programme (FTP) is devised. His comments came as a stiff and sore Peter Siddle arrived home in Melbourne for the first time after more than five months on tour.Siddle has been one of the hardest-working members of Australia’s squad this year, having not been at home since April, when he enjoyed a brief spell following the Test series in South Africa. Since then he has been in England for the World Twenty20, the Ashes, and the one-day series, then went straight to South Africa for the Champions Trophy and from there dashed to India to play for Victoria in the Champions League Twenty20 and stayed on for the ODI series.”It has been a long tour, I guess,” Siddle said in the Age after touching down in Melbourne. “The guys have been away for a long time now and we’ve probably played a bit too much cricket, but we will see how we go and I’m sure the boys will go well in the next three matches and come home with a [series] win.”The biggest thing is probably the mental side of things. Just being away from family and friends, all the normal stuff you do when you’re back home. You’re always changing hotels, different sceneries and living out of a suitcase, those are probably the things that take their toll the most. It’s always going to be a lot of games and a lot of cricket played, that’s what the spectators want to see and that’s our job.”The questions over Australia’s packed schedule have become more intense due to the high injury rate over the past couple of months. Five men have flown home from India mid-series and four first-choice players were unavailable in the first place, but in several cases the injuries appear not to be due to over-use.Tim Paine and Brad Haddin both broke fingers, Callum Ferguson wrenched his knee in the field, while James Hopes and Moises Henriques tweaked hamstrings despite not being part of the long Ashes tour. But Jack Clarke said it was still worth pushing for a less packed FTP when the current programme expires after 2012.”It is not fixed yet as to what’s going to happen, that’s been one of the hold-ups in releasing the FTP, the ICC events,” Clarke told the . “The type of events and the regularity is one of the things.”I suspect the game can’t support an ICC tournament every year, but the ICC’s also got to get money to get countries dividends, and not just the Test-playing countries but the associates and affiliates. So hopefully less will be more, and I’d be surprised if there’s an ICC event every year, going forward in 2013-2020.”When the Australians – those who haven’t departed already – fly home from India after next Wednesday’s final ODI, they will have only a fortnight to prepare for the first of six home Tests of the summer. The coach Tim Nielsen said the crammed schedule had made things hard and a seven-match ODI series was probably too long, but the squad had to keep doing its best under the circumstances.”It does make it difficult but at the same time I think it is the same for pretty well everyone around world cricket at the moment,” Nielsen said in the . “Five [games in India], to me, would be probably about right but … we know the reasons for seven-game series. There’s television involved, all different things.”

The issue of West Indies’ poor form was analysed in forensic detail after the first Test

Alex Brown03-Dec-2009The issue of West Indies’ poor form in Brisbane has been discussed in many quarters, but never in more forensic detail than in the tourists’ change-room immediately after the first Test. The crisis meeting in the bowels of the Gabba stretched well into Saturday night, and included extensive video analysis of their various failings and solemn pledges to never again open themselves to such embarrassment and ridicule.It is customary after a Test match for the vanquished to slip away early while the victors entrench themselves at the ground into the wee hours recounting their performances. But whereas Australia’s players took advantage of the three-day finish to return home for a rare mid-season weekend, West Indies’ senior management used the occasion to impress upon their players the gravity of their innings-and-65-run defeat.Chris Gayle, Joel Garner and David Williams all addressed the squad and discussed, among other topics, the need for each individual to take more responsibility at the crease. It was the collective failure of the senior batsmen in the face of disciplined Australian bowling that contributed most heavily to the lop-sided scorecard and Gayle, one of the main culprits, vowed a better display in Adelaide from Friday.”We did have a long discussion about what took place in Brisbane,” Gayle said. “We’ve tried to put that behind us. We all know where we went wrong. It wasn’t any secret at all to debate. That was the situation, we’re looking forward to [Friday] and hopefully we can get away to a better start. We all know where we went wrong with our batting. The display was terrible. A better batting surface here should put us in a good position but we’re not going to take anything for granted.”Travis Dowlin, West Indies’ sole source of resistance in the first innings at the Gabba, looms as the unlucky omission if, as is expected, Ramnaresh Sarwan recovers from a back injury. Sarwan was ruled out of the first Test after an awkward fall on match eve, but has successfully completed two net sessions in Adelaide and is favoured to resume his place at No. 3.The tourists are also considering a double-switch in the bowling department. The uncapped Gavin Tonge is rated the front-runner to take the place of Jerome Taylor, who has withdrawn from the tour with a back injury, while Darren Sammy is placing pressure on Ravi Rampaul for the final place in the XI. Sammy’s all-round skills are viewed by team management as a potential asset on an Adelaide wicket expected to adhere to its batsman-friendly reputation, although a final decision will be delayed until the morning of the match.”One will definitely get an opportunity,” Gayle said of Tonge and Sammy. “We’ll have a selection meeting sometime today. Maybe Gavin Tonge might make his debut and Darren Sammy might fit in as well. We’ll have some discussion about it. The last couple of one-dayers [Tonge] played he looked really good. He got the ball to do a bit. He swings the ball a bit, not at great pace, but he hits good areas.”[Sarwan] said he felt a bit stiff but batting was okay. I’m guessing coming back from the injury automatically these things will happen. Hopefully he’ll be fine. With so many Test matches under his belt, having Sarwan around, who has been in good form, will be a big boost for us.”On a personal level, Gayle is confident of improving upon his modest first-Test returns of 31 and 1 against an Australian attack that, for just the second time since 1986-87, will feature a pair of left-arm pacemen. His 11th hour arrival into Brisbane hardly helped his preparation, and with an extra week to shake out the jetlag, Gayle is expecting better things.”It would have been nice to have Ben [Hilfenhaus] around to even things up a bit more,” Gayle said of the injured Australian paceman, who accounted for him in both innings at the Gabba. “He’s out and it’s tough luck that they have lost their match winner from their last game. Another guy will get his opportunity. The first game was a bit of a rush for me. A lot has been happening. I’m settled down now and acclimatised a bit and I’m back and ready to go again.”

Backed by a formidable first-innings total and a good start by the fast bowlers, Ramesh Powar ran through Delhi’s batting line-up to pick five wickets and put Mumbai firmly in control on the third day at the Brabourne Stadium

The Bulletin by Nagraj Gollapudi at the Brabourne Stadium05-Jan-2010
ScorecardRamesh Powar turned the match firmly in Mumbai’s favour with his five-wicket haul•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Ramesh Powar turned this match in the second session with a spell of 5.3-3-9-5, virtually sealing Mumbai’s entry into their second consecutive Ranji final. His five-for, the first by a Mumbai bowler this season, ended Delhi’s efforts to ensure some parity in the contest and the defending champions ended the day with a 412-run lead.Though Delhi picked up a couple of quick wickets as the shadows lengthened across Brabourne Stadium, the fightback came too late for the visitors, who were never able to gain a foothold in the match. On the first day Abhishek Nayar and Onkar Khanvilkar repaired the early damage and raised a platform for the lower order to push the score to 500; on Monday the Mumbai medium-pacers rattled the visitors’ top order with incisive seam and swing bowling.The onus on Tuesday morning was on the overnight pair of Shikar Dhawan and Rajat Bhatia to ensure Delhi did not lose their grip entirely. But Ajit Agarkar got rid of the dangerous Dhawan immediately, snaring him with a classic fast bowler’s trap. He fired in a shorter delivery that Dhawan duly hooked for two runs. Immediately Agarkar moved the long-leg fielder slightly towards the deep square-leg, selling Dhawan the dummy. The next ball was fuller, pitched on a length, and Dhawan fished at it, but the ball moved away to take a thick outside edge on its way to Vinayak Samant behind the wicket.Bhatia remained unruffled. His strengths have been perseverance and bloody-mindedness – the second characteristic is a Delhi cricketing trait but the first is not. When Agarkar tested him with a short one in the second over of the day, Bhatia immediately turned his hips to hook an effortless boundary, the first of the morning. When Usman Malvi pitched it fuller Bhatia punched a firm straight drive for another four. He brought up his fifty with an on-drive that rolled past the mid-wicket boundary as Malvi pitched full on his legs.At the other end Gaurav Chhabra, who scored a crucial century in the quarterfinals, continued his good run, hitting some textbook drives and adopting an aggressive style to relieve the pressure. Half an hour before lunch Bhatia hoisted Powar over long-off for a huge six as Delhi finally seemed to start their rebuilding phase.Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer continued to deploy two slips and a gully for the fast bowlers in the second session. The plan was to attack the off stump and force the opponent to commit a mistake. But the wicket was on the drier side today and though Agarkar continued to bang it short both Chhabra and Bhatia were watchful. Chhabra smartly came up with a mixture of steers, glides and cuts to beat the Mumbai strategy. In the fifth over after lunch, when Agarkar overcompensated and sprayed it wide of off stump, Chhabra quickly stepped back to cut strongly twice in successive deliveries: the first was a miscue but the ball flew over the slips to the third man boundary but on the second occasion, the ball raced in front of square for four more.In the next over, Bhatia slog-swept left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla over long on for his second six of the day. A glide past Jaffer, who was at second slip, got him into the 80s and the Mumbai captain was probably ruing the easy offering that he spilled Monday evening when Bhatia was on one.But Powar, who had bowled a tight seven-over spell from the Pavilion End switched to the Churchgate End mid-way into the second session and it worked wonders. The pitch was taking decent turn and imparting considerable bounce but Powar, a classical offspinner, was not looking for assistance. Relying on loop and flight, he became increasingly accurate with every ball. Bhatia was tempted to slog-sweep one such loopy delivery but missed the line completely as the ball broke off the pitch and hit off stump.A couple of balls later Powar pitched it on a length and Puneet Bisht stood his ground to defend, but was beaten by the turn and bowled. Powar was on a roll. In his next over he surprised Pradeep Sangwan by the bounce as the helpless batsman top-edged into the hands of Onkar Khanvilkar at forward short-leg. Ishant Sharma charged Powar casually and was stumped while Parvinder Awana top-edged a sweep to Jaffer. An excited Powar started celebrating as though he was in an aerobic class, and was joined by the entire team.This was Powar’s first five-for after a match-winning spell against Hyderbad last year in the league phase. He has missed three games this season with a side strain but has been at his attacking best since his return. Going into the quarterfinals he just had six wickets in five matches but he bounced back with four crucial wickets to quell Haryana’s challenge and today he proved his worth once again.

Salman Butt’s third Test century and Ricky Ponting’s decision not to enforce the follow-on should ensure the Hobart Test goes for the full five days

The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale at Bellerive Oval16-Jan-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSalman Butt made 102 as Pakistan fought hard, but they are well behind after three days•Getty Images

Salman Butt’s third Test century and Ricky Ponting’s decision not to enforce the follow-on should ensure the Hobart Test goes for the full five days, although Australia remain in control with a 277-run advantage. After the second day’s play, Ponting talked up the likelihood of making Pakistan bat again straight away, but his mind was changed when it took the bowlers 105.4 overs to dismiss them the first time.Eventually, after a 60-minute last-wicket partnership between Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif that spanned both sides of the tea break, Nathan Hauritz finished off Pakistan for 301, leaving them 218 short of Australia’s total. But Ponting wanted a break for his fast men and, despite the expected showers over the next two days, will set Pakistan a fourth-innings target.Australia reached 1 for 59 at stumps with Simon Katich on 33 and Ponting on 25 after Shane Watson departed in the second over for 1. Watson skied a catch when he miscued Mohammad Aamer and it was the first time since the summer-opening Gabba Test match that he had failed to post a half-century in either innings.Batting wasn’t difficult on the good surface, as demonstrated by the inability of Australia’s fast men to break through with the second new ball when they were trying to prise out Gul and Asif. Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger and Mitchell Johnson didn’t help their cause by abandoning the key principle of new-ball bowling – pitching up to allow swing – and banged it in far too short against the tailenders.The pair added 53 for the final wicket and provided some entertaining highlights, including three powerful sixes from Gul, who finished unbeaten on 38. Asif posted 29, his highest Test score, before he skied a catch to mid-on off Hauritz, who ended up with 3 for 96. The tail-end pluck only served to highlight how disappointing much of Pakistan’s batting effort was, with the exception of Butt and Shoaib Malik.Their fighting three-hour stand that lasted until after lunch was characterised by concentration and patience, two traits that Pakistan’s batsmen have so often lacked on this trip. Butt was strong off the back foot through the off side and Malik put in a good audition to permanently return to the Test line-up before the part-time spin of Katich split the pair up.Katich had Butt caught at slip for 102, which was his first Test century for four years and a much-needed one after he was responsible for running out Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Akmal on the second afternoon. It was enough for Yousuf to brand Butt a “lazy” runner and although the captain wasn’t spotted cheering Butt’s century, he must surely have been pleased that his opener took on the extra responsibility after his lapses.The loss of Butt led to a collapse of 5 for 35 as Katich ran through the lower middle-order and finished with 3 for 34, his second-best Test figures. Katich tossed one up across the body of the right-hander Sarfraz Ahmed, who edged to slip for 1, and then drew Aamer into an exotic slog-sweep that flew high in the air and was swallowed by Watson at cover.In between, Hauritz had chipped in with the key wicket of Malik, who by then was Pakistan’s best hope of avoiding the follow-on. He threw his innings away with a lusty aerial drive that was taken at mid-on, and Hauritz followed with Danish Kaneria, caught at cover.Then came the last-wicket stand, which was Pakistan’s best in Tests for three years. Together with the efforts of Butt and Malik, it was enough to make Ponting think twice about the follow-on and the next two days will reveal if it was enough to save the match.

Shane Warne has raised concerns about playing in the IPL this year and believes the organisers may need to think about moving it again after a terror threat against sporting events in India

Cricinfo staff17-Feb-2010Shane Warne has raised concerns about playing in the IPL this year and believes the organisers may need to think about moving it again after a terror threat against sporting events in India. Last year’s event was relocated to South Africa and Warne said it was something that should be considered again this season.”The threats of the past 24 hours have certainly got me thinking twice and is of deep concern to athletes across several sports,” Warne told the . “If the threats are proven to be real, then organisers of the IPL may look at moving the tournament.”We moved it last year at short notice, so it can be done. There is no way organisers will risk the safety of players and officials.”Warne will wait for advice from security expert Reg Dickerson before deciding whether to head to India for the tournament, which begins on March 12. The threat specified the Hockey World Cup, the IPL and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, where players will be staying in the relative safety of an athletes’ village, unlike the IPL players.”We’ll be staying in hotels and travelling on buses and as we saw with the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, it can be dangerous,” Warne said. The paper also reported that Australia’s high-profile players were considering hiring their own security staff for the tournament.

With the series wrapped up, Nathan Hauritz and Michael Hussey have been rested from the final match against West Indies at the MCG in Friday

Cricinfo staff16-Feb-2010With the series wrapped up, Nathan Hauritz and Michael Hussey have been rested for the final match against West Indies at the MCG in Friday. Steven Smith, the rookie legspinning allrounder, has won a national call after a promising Twenty20 debut against Pakistan recently.”The panel has decided to give Mike Hussey and Nathan Hauritz the final match of series off in order to prepare for the upcoming tour of New Zealand,” the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said. “Both Mike and Nathan have been significant contributors to the success of the team this summer and managing their workloads now will ensure they are well-prepared for what lies ahead.”It’s been an exciting season already for Steven Smith and he thoroughly deserves this opportunity in Australia’s one-day international squad.”Smith has made a name for himself in Twenty20 cricket having helped New South Wales win the inaugural Champions League title in India last October. He was also New South Wales’ leading wicket-taker during the 2009-10 Big Bash tournament with seven at 10.28.Hussey and Hauritz have featured in all of Australia’s engagements during a busy and unbeaten summer. Hussey has been Australia’s strongest middle-order player in one-dayers this season while Hauritz has assumed the mantle of first-choice spinner in all formats. The pair has been given a much-needed chance to rest up ahead of the trip to New Zealand. Brad Haddin will also return to the side, replacing the Tasmanian Tim Paine.Australia squad Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Shaun Marsh, Brad Haddin (wk), Cameron White, Adam Voges, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Steven Smith, Clint McKay, Doug Bollinger.

Shashank Manohar’s strong objection to the controversial clauses in the tender process on Sunday is believed to be the prime reason for the auction to be postponed to March 21

Cricinfo staff09-Mar-2010The BCCI president Shashank Manohar’s strong objection to the controversial clauses in the tender process on Sunday, the day the two new owners for the fourth IPL season were to be unveiled, is believed to be the prime reason for the auction being be postponed to March 21. Reportedly, Manohar made it clear that the IPL, despite its unprecedented success, was merely a BCCI sub-committee with the board president in charge.Speaking to the , Niranjan Shah, the vice-chairman of the IPL governing council, said, “The [BCCI] president felt a few clauses were too stiff and he wanted some modifications. Since the president’s approval is necessary for going ahead with the process and naming the winning bids, the entire process was cancelled and we asked for fresh tenders, which will now be opened on March 21.”The tournament has been launched under the BCCI banner and the committee, which runs the tournament and sets the rules and regulations for the franchises, is formed by the cricket board. The BCCI is the final authority in all cricket-related matters in the country. It is mandatory to have the BCCI president’s approval before the IPL committee decides on anything.”Unlike the first season, the bidders for the new franchises had to establish that their net worth was $1 billion. An advance guarantee of $100 million as well as a rolling bank guarantee for the sum of the winning bid had to be provided as well. The clauses had forced some big names, including the MCC and Muthoot Group, to back out from the bidding process, leaving just two serious bidders – the Adani Group and Videocon – in the race.Manohar wanted more parties to be involved in the process and proposed that the tender clauses be scrapped altogether. The bids were not opened and were returned to the bidders. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, had no option but to drop the contentious clauses in the invitation to tenders, though the floor price to bid for a franchise – $225 million – was retained.The re-tendering process is believed to have irked the bidders as well. A consortium comprising the Videocon group, led by Venugopal Dhoot, Panchshil Realty’s founder chairman Atul Chordia and the Bollywood couple of Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, may opt out of the bidding process the second time, having been keen on purchasing a franchise in Pune.”We had a very good consortium between me, Saif, Kareena and Videocon,” Chordia told the . “Our mood is off now, I don’t think it will happen now. For the last eight days, we have worked so hard on it – things like branding, merchandising, paper work.””When the BCCI have an efficient team with eminent lawyers and businessmen, why did they put stringent conditions in place and then take a U-turn? There were three legitimate bids. I just can’t understand the motive behind this.”They just cancelled the bid without giving any reason. We were completely legitimate, we had completed all the paper-work, we had fulfilled all the conditions. If they didn’t want a stringent tender, why did they float one in the first place? The manner in which it was done was not at all sporting.”Chordia proposed that instead of rebidding, the IPL should have cancelled the tenders if they didn’t want to open them. “The minimum valuation was $225 million, which is about Rs 1,100 crore. So we had definitely put at least Rs 1,100 crore. We must have spent more than Rs 10 crore to get everything organised.”